Bircher Muesli
Oats soaked overnight in apple juice and yoghurt, with grated apple folded through in the morning. The original, from a Swiss doctor in 1900, and still better than granola.
Photograph credit: Fresh-muesli by Markus Kuhn at en.wikipedia · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Don't Make These Mistakes
Rolled oats, not instant. Instant oats dissolve into wallpaper paste overnight.
Grate the apple in the morning. Done the night before it goes brown and limp.
The base keeps three days, so make it once and grate a fresh apple in each morning.
How to Make Bircher Muesli
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The night before, mix the oats, apple juice, yoghurt, half the lemon juice, the salt, honey and raisins in a bowl.
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Cover and refrigerate at least 8 hours. It will thicken considerably.
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In the morning, coarsely grate the apples — skin on — and toss them immediately in the remaining lemon juice to stop them browning.
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Fold the grated apple and most of the hazelnuts through the soaked oats.
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If it has set too stiff, loosen with a splash of apple juice or milk until it drops from the spoon.
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Spoon into bowls, top with more yoghurt, the berries, the remaining hazelnuts and a dusting of cinnamon.
Related guide: Prep, cook and total time.
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Why the Method Works
Soaking is not just softening. Overnight hydration lets the oats' own enzymes begin breaking their starch into simpler sugars, which is why bircher tastes faintly sweet without much added sugar and why it is easier to digest than dry muesli. The apple goes in on the morning rather than the night before because grated apple browns and because its texture collapses — the point of it is crunch and freshness against the soft oats.
Leftovers, Reheating and Keeping
The soaked base keeps 3 days refrigerated. Add the apple and nuts to each portion as you serve it.
Good With
- Strong coffee
- A soft-boiled egg
- More berries
Still Wondering?
How long does Bircher Muesli take to make?
15 minutes of preparation and of cooking, plus 8 hours of soaking, so allow 8 hours 15 minutes from start to finish. The recipe serves 4.
Bircher Muesli Nutrition Facts
Per serving, calculated from the ingredient list with USDA FoodData Central figures (SR Legacy). A calculation, not a laboratory analysis: brands, cuts and how you measure change the real numbers. How the figures are worked out.
Your notes on this recipe
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Compiled by Turab
Checked by script for timings, diet labels and nutrition arithmetic. How the recipes are checked. Found a mistake? Tell us.
First published ; last changed .
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