Mango and Coconut Muesli

Each year for Christmas, we go to the Blue Mountains and rent a house to stay in. And every year I've brought a batch of my own Home Made Muesli or Granola so that the healthy eaters can have it for breakfast . Don't worry, there's also sky high stacks of french toast and pancakes made, we're not all virtuous at this time of year. Last year I made a cranberry, macadamia and yogurt coated berry version of this but this year I thought I'd make it a bit more tropical, a toasted muesli studded with dried mango, macadamia and coconut.

Most toasted mueslis or granolas spray the oats with oil so that they crisp up nicely but this also means that the healthy breakfast you were seeking is effectively negated by the generous spraying of oil. Not this one, it gets its crunchy texture via apple juice.I don't want to give any claims or low fat since the nuts and seeds have fat in them(but the healthy kind) but the fact is that this is free of all added fat. It's not exactly low in sugar with the amount of honey and sugar in it but I'll take what I can at this point. It's fabulously filling and low GI which means that a small bowl will sustain you easily until lunch. If I have a medium sized bowl I sometimes find I don't even get the urge to have lunch but of course my eyes take over and I see something that I just must eat.

This also makes the most delicious Bircher Muesli, that lovely juice and yogurt soused breakfast. The apple juice and yogurt also plumps up the fruit and gives it a gorgeously cooling quality in the hot weather. A quick way to Bircher-ify your muesli is to take a cup of the muesli, mix in  1 1/2 tablespoons of yogurt (I used a Hastings Valley honey yogurt my friend Lou gave me but plain unsweetened yogurt is also fine) and 1/4 cup of apple juice. Cover and refrigerate overnight and in the morning, it's absolutely delicious. I make this when I feel like something sweet and dessert like and save the regular crunchy muesli for when I yearn for some crunch. And I find that this coffee cup always makes me smile in the morning. It has the famous Oscar Wilde quote "Only dull people are brilliant at breakfast". As someone that loves their sleep a bit too much, I wholeheartedly agree.

Tropical Mango and Coconut Muesli

Ingredients

• 400g rolled oats

• 120g sunflower seeds

• 120g dessicated coconut

• 175ml apple juice

• 2 tsp ground cinnamon

• 1 tsp ginger

• 7 tablespoons runny honey

• 100g light brown sugar

• 150g unsalted macadamias

• 1/2  tsp sea salt

• 150grams dried mango

• 50g shredded coconut extra

Step 1 - Mix everything except the mango and shredded coconut together very well in a large mixing bowl using two large spoons.

Step 2 - Spread this mixture on two baking tins and bake in a gas mark 3/170c oven turning over after 20 minutes and redistributing the granola evenly during the baking process. The object is to get it evenly golden without toasting too much in any one place. This should take anything from about 40 minutes.

Step 3 - Once its baked, allow to cool and mix together with the dried mango and shredded coconut. Store in an airtight jar or container.

Adapted from Feast by Nigella Lawson