I’ve been eating muesli for breakfast for the last several weeks – it’s a great hot-weather alternative to oatmeal, and easier for me to prep in the morning than a smoothie bowl (which I do very much enjoy). But I got tired of the recipe I had been using from Joy the Baker, as the crystallized ginger was just making it way too sweet, and the prep time to chop the dried fruit and ginger was getting to be a drag given that I’m making this about every other week.

Then I came across this recipe from Cookie and Kate, which got me thinking. I didn’t want to add chocolate or deal with the maple syrup and oil, but I realized that at the core, these recipes were just variations using a very similar core proportion of oats, nuts, and dried fruit.

So, I pared down to a very basic, super fast and easy to prepare formula. This has a minimum of chopping and is ready before the oven has preheated.

4 cups rolled oats
3 cups other stuff
salt (between 1/2 and 1 tsp)
a few shakes of ground cinnamon

All that gets dumped in a big bowl, mixed well, and spread on two half sheet pans. It goes into a 350 oven for 20 minutes, stirring and/or rearranging the pans halfway through. I have an airtight canister that fits about 8-9 cups, so when that gets low, I make a new batch.

As far as the “other stuff” goes, lately I’ve been using various combinations of chopped nuts and coconut flakes, based on what I have. These recipes both call for unsweetened, large-flake coconut, which I can never find, so I just use the regular stuff. Slivered almonds are particularly great because there’s no chopping involved, so those are always included. Most recently I did 1 cup each slivered almonds, chopped walnuts, and coconut flakes. Dried fruit would also be good, too – I want to try this with almonds, pecans, and dried cherries – but right now I don’t miss it.

To serve, I measure 1 cup into a bowl, and add enough almond milk to cover. I let it sit for around 30 minutes/however long I’m in the shower, and then top with a sliced banana and a little more milk. (Others like to use yogurt and leave it in the fridge overnight.) I think my way is particularly excellent with the addition of ripe strawberries or blueberries. I don’t find that I need it, but for some sweetness, you could add a little maple syrup, honey, or jam.