Recipes

Deborah Ryan’s Apple and Walnut Bircher muesli

Deborah Ryan’s Apple and Walnut Bircher muesli. Photograph: Deborah Ryan

Deborah Ryan
Wed Feb 27 2019 - 17:03
Serves: 1
Course: Starter
Cooking Time: 0 hr 10 mins
Ingredients
  • 1 cup oats
  • 1-1½ cups milk (you can substitute half with water or apple juice, for a bit more sweetness)
  • 1 apple, coarsely grated or chopped
  • A handful of walnuts, chopped
  • 1 tsp honey
  • Small pinch of salt
  • Pinch of cinnamon (optional)
  • Mix all of the ingredients together in a bowl or a lunchbox, cover and leave in the fridge for at least 3 hours or overnight. You might have to add more liquid to get the consistency you prefer.
  • You can eat it as is or top with some yoghurt, cinnamon (if you like), more apple and walnuts.

My mom is a bit of a hippie. She’s an artist, tai-chi teacher and fears gluten.

I recently received a parcel from her with a multitude of vitamins and supplements I can’t pronounce and some smoked tofu that went off three months ago. She has a tattered secondhand cookbook called, ‘The Mystic Cookbook’ and it’s exactly as virtuous as it sounds.

One of her frequently made recipes from it is called, ‘Gratitude Granola’. At the beginning of the recipe, the author recalled how one night, she peckishly roamed about her kitchen looking for something to eat and the only thing she could think of was a frozen pizza.

But wait!

She looked into the cupboard and found out she already had the 22 ingredients needed to make her granola recipe.

She was so grateful for the universe sending her this granola. Yes, really. My mom loves this kind of stuff and there’s always a jar of gratitude granola in the house, which you must eat ‘with gratitude’ (I’m not allowed to eat it because apparently I’m a sarky b**tch and won’t cease making fun of it).

Anyway, I find making granola at my student flat a bit of an arduous task. I either make too much of it and cover my kitchen in stray oats or just spend way too long just making enough for a bowlful.

It can be expensive too.

Maybe I’m just not grateful enough or spiritually ready for homemade granola.

On the other hand, I make this Bircher muesli every so often. It’s less effort and more economical, plus it also reminds me that I could have my life together if I was this on top of breakfast every day.

Usually, I make one or two portions at a time, just in case I forget about it and accidentally ferment it in the fridge. Don’t look at me like that, we’ve all done it. The walnuts work really well because they absorb the liquid and take on a creamy texture.

The apple also adds some tartness and texture. Make it the night before and have ready-made breakfast the next day.

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