Movenpick Inspired Yogurt Muesli

When I was a child, we used to go to the Movenpick restaurant in Toronto for brunch. My favourite thing to eat was their muesli. I have created my own version based on this childhood treat, for a healthy and delicious breakfast, made in advanced for a fast morning meal.

This version is different from every muesli recipe I could find on the Internet because it is not a dry cereal, but a wet, yogurt-based muesli. Imagine a dry oat based cereal combined with yogurt and fruit and left overnight for the flavours to meld and the oats to become soft, almost like a cooked oatmeal. The red berries give it a lovely pink colour.

You need to make this at least the night before, because it has to sit in your fridge for the oats and seeds to soak in the yogurt, and the flavours to meld. If you make extra, it is even better then next day.

I have been reading up on the advantages of soakings grains and I think this recipe could be easily adapted to soaking. Soaked grains are not refrigerated during the soaking period, and oats should be soaked for 24 hours. I have included my suggestion for soaking directions at the bottom, but I haven't tried this method yet. I will update when I try this next week.

This muesli is very filling and you won't need much. It also makes a great snack, or even desert.

Ingredients:
1 whole apple, a sweeter variety (I often use Empires)
1 1/4 cups yogurt (375 g)
about 1/8 cup honey
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
1/8 cup sesame seeds
1/8 cup raisins
1 cup frozen mixed berries

Grate the apple into a large bowl. I keep the peel on. Combine with the yogurt and honey. You want to make the yogurt sweet enough for your family's taste, using the apple and the honey. Keep in mind that their will be added raisins, which are very sweet!

Add the rolled oats, the seeds, the raisins and the frozen berries.

Put into a covered container to store. It should sit in the fridge at least 8 hours.

Makes about 3 cups, which can easily serve 4 for breakfast.

The recipe is very flexible. You can exchange the seeds for any other type of seed or nut, the raisins are optional, and the berries can be of any sort you like.

Recipe Cost: about $2.75 for 4 servings, or $0.69 per serving.

Suggestion towards a soaked method:
The morning before you want to eat the muesli, combine the oats and seeds and enough yogurt to make it moist. Cover and leave on the counter for 24 hours.

That same evening, combine the grated apple, the rest of the yogurt, and honey to your ideal sweetness. Add the raisins and frozen fruit. Keep in the fridge overnight. This will allow the raisins to plump up, the fruit to defrost, and the sweetness to melt with the yogurt.

In the morning, combine the soaked oats with the refrigerated fruit/yogurt mixture, and enjoy.

I am including this in The Nourishing Gourmet's Breakfast recipe carnival.