German-Style Muesli
Makes 13 Cups
Lightly adapted from Washington Post
9 cups rolled oats, divided into 6 cups and 3 cups
1¼ cup raw sunflower seeds (unroasted and unsalted)
¾ cup unsweetened flaked coconut (if larger flakes, coarsely chop)
⅓ cup whole flaxseed, brown or golden
¾ cup almonds, sliced and skin-on
½ cup raw honey, warmed and runny (This is key!! If it’s not runny, it won’t spread out evenly while mixing and baking)
½ cup olive oil
⅓ - ½ cup dried apricots, coarsely chopped
⅓ - ½ cup dried cranberries
⅓ - ½ cup raisins
⅓ - ½ cup dried blueberries
½ cup mini semi sweet chocolate chips (if you can’t find mini chocolate chips, use you normal chocolate chips, but coarsely chop them)
1½ - 2 teaspoons salt
Position oven racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven. Preheat to 315° F.
Combine 6 cups of rolled oats, sunflower seeds, flaked coconut, flaxseed, and almonds in a mixing bowl.
Add the honey and olive oil and toss gently to coat evenly.
Line 1-2 baking sheets with tin foil (makes clean up super easy!), and divide the mixture between the baking sheets.
This is a large mixture, so depending on how large your baking sheets are, you may need more than one!
Bake for 10 minutes and stir the oat mixture around. If you’re using more than one baking sheet, rotate the positioning of the sheets.
Bake for an additional 10 minutes until the mixture turns golden brown. The mixture will be done when the coconut flakes start to turn golden on their outer edge’s.
Don’t gauge the doneness by how malleable the mixture is. When taking it out of the oven, the mixture will be easy to work with because it’s still so hot. But once it cools, the honey will set giving the oats and seeds a slight crunch.
If mixture isn’t quite golden brown yet, stir the oat mixture around again, increase the oven heat to 350° F, and bake no more than 5 additional minutes. Watch the mixture carefully for burning, at this point.
Leave the mixture on the baking sheet and let it cool completely. If you stir the mixture around, it helps cool everything quicker and makes sure the mixture doesn’t stick to the foil.
Put mixture back into the original large mixing bowl and add the dried fruit, chocolate chips, the remaining rolled oats, and salt. Mix well.
Enjoy!
