Välkommen till Sverige: Müsli

Müsli, known as muesli in the US, has been gaining in popularity in the states. While I hadn’t had it before I left for Sweden, it quickly became a staple of my diet here. Essentially, it is similar to granola, without the toasting (at least as far as I can tell). The weirdest thing for me is that it is never sweet. This isn’t just true for the very basic müsli that greeted us when we arrived, but also for flavors that by all regards should be sweet. The most disconcerting was probably the raspberry, coconut, and chocolate. I kept expecting the müsli to be a sweet granola-like concoction, but while the flavors of raspberry, chocolate, and coconut were definitely present, any kind of sweetness was obviously missing. The taste wasn’t bad (it had almost nutty elements) but it was definitely unexpected.

Much like homemade granola is growing in popularity in the States, homemade müsli also seems to be reasonably popular in Sweden. One of my roommates, whose aunt lives in Sweden, comes home from visits with large sealed jars of homemade müsli. Ingredients, at least in store-bought müsli, tend to be along the lines of oats, nuts, and fruit. Dried raisins, berries, and tropical fruits are some of the more common types I’ve seen.

While I have taken to having my müsli with milk, typically it is eaten with latt yoghurt, a sort of thin, plain yoghurt. Müsli in Sweden is the equivalent of cereal in the US, complete with a whole aisle in the grocery store. Müsli is undeniably a breakfast of choice in Sweden.

Homemade Müsli
For this recipe, I added a mix of ingredients that would fit the fall weather. However, the great things about müsli is that you can add whatever you like (typically dried fruit and nuts). So, here are the ingredients I used measured in parts (because all my measures over here are in metric), and you can vary them as you see fit. I also used a pre-mixed grain base of rye, barley, oats, but if you can’t find one, I recommend this base from Bon Appétit.

Ingredients:

1.5 cups old fashioned oats
1 cup barley flakes
1 cup rye flakes
3 parts grain mixture
1 part chopped dried apples
1 part chopped walnuts
1 part chopped dried figs

Simply mix the ingredients together in an airtight container. Serve with plain yogurt or milk.

-Chloe Kaczvinsky

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