Making these treat bars has been on my to-do list for a number of weeks now. I've been getting into the whole healthy eating thing recently and my snack habits have been transformed completely. I don't often reach out for that unhealthy chocolate bar any more instead opting for fruit or vegetables. This is great progress for me, a massive chocoholic, but sometimes I feel like I need something a little more substantial to snack on. I don't want to fill up with unhealthy, empty calories so I put these together as a way to try to help me feel full and to give me a bit of an afternoon energy boost.
This is a great base recipe which you can change to suit your own tastes and is super easy to make with no baking required. I modified this recipe subbing the peanut butter for almond butter. I had some crystallised ginger in the cupboard which I thought would work really well. It adds a lovely but subtle warm spiciness and the addition of the lemon balances out the sweetness. To make your own flavour just leave out the ginger and add 1 cup of whatever you like. It could be any type of dried fruit, nuts or even chocolate chips.
INGREDIENTS
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup desiccated coconut
1/3 cup almonds
5/8 cup sunflower seeds
5/8 cup pumpkin seeds
1/8 cup flax seeds
1/8 cup poppy seeds
rind and juice of one lemon
1 cup crystallised ginger, roughly chopped
1/4 cup agave syrup
1/8 cup golden syrup
1/4 cup almond butter
SERVES 12
Into a large pan put the oats, coconut, almonds, sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds. Toast over a medium heat until the coconut starts to turn a golden brown colour.
Remove from the heat and pour into a large bowl. Add the flax seeds, poppy seeds, lemon juice and rind and the chopped ginger.
Over a low heat melt together the syrups and almond butter. Pour into the seed mix and stir until well combined.
Line a baking pan with greaseproof paper. I used a loaf tin but you could use an 8x8 tin or similar.
Pour the mix into the tin and press down firmly. This is the important bit to stop it from falling apart! Press down as hard as you can to compress the mixture together as much as possible. When lining my tin I made sure to leave some paper overhanging. I used this to fold over the top of the mixture so that I could press down hard with my hands without getting all sticky.
Place in the fridge for a few hours, I left mine in overnight. Once chilled turn out onto a chopping board and slice using a very sharp knife. Store in the fridge.
For anyone interested I used the Calorie Count website to work out nutritional values.
One serving provides:
| Nutrition Facts | ||||||
Serving Size 52 g
| ||||||
Amount Per Serving
| ||||||
Calories
200
Calories from Fat
113
| ||||||
% Daily Value*
| ||||||
Total Fat
12.5g
19%
| ||||||
Saturated Fat
3.3g
16%
| ||||||
Trans Fat
0.0g
| ||||||
Cholesterol
0mg
0%
| ||||||
Sodium
14mg
1%
| ||||||
Potassium
227mg
6%
| ||||||
Total Carbohydrates
18.6g
6%
| ||||||
Dietary Fiber
2.9g
11%
| ||||||
Sugars
2.0g
| ||||||
Protein
5.6g
| ||||||
| ||||||
Let me know if you give this a go, whether you use this version or make your own flavour.
Post a Comment