Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Large mixing bowl with tight-fitting lid
• •Box grater
• •Serving bowls, preferably ceramic or wood

Instructions

1. 1

   Combine the base

   In a large bowl, stir together the oats, yogurt, and apple juice until everything is evenly coated. The oats should look wet and loose. They will absorb the liquid overnight and soften into something creamy without any heat. This is the whole point of Bircher: time does the work.

   Use oats you can see through, the old-fashioned kind with texture. Instant oats dissolve into paste.
2. 2

   Grate the apple

   Grate the apple on the large holes of a box grater, skin and all. The skin holds flavor and color. Toss the shreds immediately with the lemon juice to keep them from browning, then fold into the oat mixture. The apple becomes part of the muesli itself, not a topping.

3. 3

   Add sweetener and nuts

   Drizzle in the honey or maple syrup and fold through. Add the chopped almonds and hazelnuts. The nuts will soften slightly overnight but keep enough bite to remind you this is food with substance. Stir everything together until uniform.

   Taste your apple juice before adding sweetener. Fresh cider from a good orchard may need less honey than store-bought.
4. 4

   Rest overnight

   Cover the bowl tightly and refrigerate for at least eight hours, or up to two days. The oats will drink in the liquid and become tender and creamy. By morning, the texture should be soft but not mushy, with the grated apple melted into the whole.

5. 5

   Prepare the fruit

   The morning of serving, wash and prepare whatever fruit is ripe and alive. In summer, this means berries that stain your fingers and stone fruit sliced off the pit. In fall, thin pear slices and pomegranate jewels. In winter, citrus supremes and persimmon. Let the season decide.

   Cut fruit just before serving. The aliveness matters. Fruit prepared yesterday has lost something you cannot recover.
6. 6

   Serve and finish

   Divide the muesli among bowls. If it has thickened too much overnight, stir in a splash of apple juice or milk to loosen. Top generously with the prepared fruit, scatter with pumpkin seeds for crunch, and add a small drizzle of honey if you like. Serve cold, with a spoon that can reach the bottom of the bowl.

Chef Tips

• •Seek out fresh-pressed apple cider from a local orchard or farmers market. The flavor is incomparable to pasteurized juice that has traveled thousands of miles.
• •Whole milk yogurt gives the muesli body. Low-fat versions produce something thin and unsatisfying. If you can find yogurt from a small dairy, the difference will be obvious.
• •The base keeps for three days refrigerated, but prepare fresh fruit each morning. Yesterday's berries are not this morning's berries.
• •In deep winter when fresh fruit feels sparse, try roasted pears or baked apples with cinnamon as a warm topping over the cold muesli. The contrast is beautiful.
• •If you cannot find good stone fruit or berries, do not force it. A single perfect apple, sliced thin, is better than mediocre fruit piled high.

Advance Preparation

• •The oat base must be made at least 8 hours ahead and can rest for up to 2 days refrigerated. The flavor deepens with time.
• •Prepare fruit only on the morning of serving. The aliveness of just-cut fruit is the whole point.
• •For meal prep, portion the base into individual jars and refrigerate. Top with fresh fruit each morning before eating.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 340g)