Everyday Bircher Museli

Bircher muesli is basically overnight oats, a make-ahead healthy breakfast with all sorts of goodies to make it tasty, nutritious and festive. This version is gluten free, can be made vegan and altered to whatever you have on hand.

What is Bircher Muesli

The recipe for Bircher muesli was invented by a Swiss doctor named Maximillian Bircher-Benner around the early 1900s. He encouraged his elderly patients to eat raw fruits to cure aliments and illnesses.

According to my google research including Wikipedia, Bircher-Benner was inspired by a meal he and his wife ate while hiking the Swiss Alps, he developed his own recipe that included lots of fresh apples, some oats, lemon juice, nuts, cream and honey. He served this to his patients as a healthy appetizer before meals. Maybe this is where the quote ” an apple a day keeps the doctor away” comes from.

Muesli in its basic form is uncooked granola essentially, a combination of oats, nuts, seeds, and dried fruits. Bircher muesli has the same ingredients as traditional muesli, but it’s softened by soaking the rolled oats in milk or grated apples, ground seeds, nuts and dried fruit preferably overnight. There are many variations to bircher muesli some recipes add yogurt while others use lemon juice, milk or cream, in fact the original had condensed milk. One of the reason why I love this recipe is for it’s versatility! 

This recipe makes a soft, nutritious breakfast porridge with rolled oats, dried unsweetened cranberries, chopped nuts, ground flaxseeds, grated apple, almond milk, Greek yoghurt and a couple of spices. 

Ingredients You’ll Need

• Oats – Rolled (old-fashioned) oats are best for just the right balance of texture and softness. Don’t use steel-cut oats.
• Apple – grated apples or pears are best, they add flavor and keep the oats well hydrated. Plus a good source of complex carbs and fiber.
• Dried fruit – Use your favorite dried fruits or anything you have on hand. I always have unsweetened dried cranberries, dried cherries or raisins, chopped dried figs, dates or prunes all work well. Just make sure naturally dried and no added sweeteners.
• Seeds – I’ve used ground flax seeds, I love that it provides good dose of healthy fats to keep me full and for its texture, alternatively use pumpkin, sesame seeds, hemp or chia seeds.
• Nuts and Coconut– I love little crunch, and soaked nuts add another layer of healthy fats. Im not a fan of coconut flakes, but for people who love coconut its delicious.
• Yoghurt – This makes it really creamy and for probiotic goodness. Plain or vanilla flavor is good, make sure its unsweetened. You can use regular, Greek or plant based yoghurt.
• Milk – Dairy or non dairy.
• Cinnamon, vanilla & optional pinch of salt – for flavor, it will taste a bit bland otherwise.
• Lemon juice- I like the contrasting flavor, and a little vitamin C is always a good thing.
• Maple syrup or honey– optional and only if you want a touch of extra sweetness, I found between the dried fruit and fresh fruit there’s plenty of sweetness for my taste..