Toasted Muesli with Almonds, Coconut and Dark Chocolate

Polar vortex warning for next week. Chicago takes these seriously and is correct to. The week is being planned around the forecast — which days the school might close, whether to bring extra supplies to the classroom on Friday, which soups in the freezer will see me through a potential several-day closure. I have three containers of frozen soup. I have rice and beans and lentils. I am weather-ready in the way of a person who has been cooking preemptively since 2017.

T. has been quiet this week — a different quiet from his usual focused quiet. Something is going on at home, I think, though I do not know what. He came in Monday with the look that means a hard weekend, the slightly pulled-in posture I have learned to read. I did not ask. I made sure the book basket had new books. I made sure his transition warnings came with a little more time. By Thursday he had told me in five sentences about a thing that happened, which I will not record because it is his to have. I said: I hear you. He nodded and went to his desk.

Made baked oatmeal for the week — a full pan, with apples and cinnamon and brown sugar and a little maple syrup, baked in the Dutch oven at 350 for thirty-five minutes. Scooped out of the pan and reheated each morning with a splash of milk. Under three dollars for a week of breakfast. This is the anti-granola bar. This is the breakfast that says: I am taking care of myself the way I would take care of one of my students if they showed up hungry.

I thought about that while I was making it. What I say to the kids when they need something and I can provide it: here, this is for you, eat first and then we will work. I say it to them and I have to also say it to myself. Here is the baked oatmeal. Here is the coffee. Eat first and then we will work. This is the whole job, outward and inward simultaneously.

The baked oatmeal reminded me of this muesli I come back to every winter — different texture, same logic: make it once, eat well all week, spend very little. When T. was having his hard week and the polar vortex was bearing down and I needed to feel steady, toasted muesli was the other thing I reached for — a dry batch in a jar on the counter, ready to stir into warm milk or cold yogurt without any decision-making required. It is the breakfast that says the same thing the baked oatmeal says. Here. Eat first. Then we will work.

Prep Time: 10 min | Cook Time: 25 min | Total Time: 35 min | Servings: 10

Ingredients

3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
3/4 cup sliced almonds
1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted (or neutral vegetable oil)
3 tablespoons honey or pure maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/2 cup roughly chopped dark chocolate (or dark chocolate chips)

Instructions

Preheat oven. Heat oven to 325°F. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
Combine dry ingredients. In a large bowl, toss together the rolled oats, sliced almonds, and shredded coconut until evenly mixed.
Add wet ingredients. Drizzle in the melted coconut oil, honey (or maple syrup), and vanilla extract. Add the salt. Stir well until every oat and nut is lightly coated.
Spread and bake. Spread the mixture in a single even layer on the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 20–25 minutes, stirring once at the halfway point, until the oats and coconut are golden and fragrant. Watch closely in the last five minutes — coconut browns quickly.
Cool completely. Remove from the oven and let the muesli cool on the pan for at least 15 minutes. It will continue to crisp as it cools.
Add chocolate. Once fully cooled, scatter the chopped dark chocolate over the muesli and toss gently to combine. (Adding it while hot will melt the chocolate into a clump.)
Store. Transfer to an airtight jar or container. Keeps at room temperature for up to two weeks. Serve over warm milk, cold yogurt, or with a splash of oat milk straight from the jar.

Nutrition (per serving)

Toasted Muesli with Almonds, Coconut and Dark Chocolate — The Breakfast I Make When I Need to Take Care of Myself