During this daunting, boring, negative, scary, unfair, bleak, dull, never-ending time that Coronavirus has created, we need to treat ourselves with fun and yummy goodies to brighten these uncertain time. Moreover, maintaining good health is more crucial and valued than ever before. So, lets bake some treats that will be super nourishing for our bodies and distract our racing minds with some fun and creative baking. Now lets dive into the yummy recipe details…
No I haven’t got a typo in the title, these aren’t just breakfast bars but LITERAL breakfast bars!!! Because I have packed staple breakfast foods into a chewy “granola” style bar. There’s toast, cereal, oats, apple juice and good old breakfast tea crammed into these bars.
They are gorgeously chewy thanks to the juicy sultanas and syrupy oats. Crispy rice puffs and toast crumbs provide all the crunchy textures too.
These flapjacky delights are refined sugar free and naturally sweetened. The perfect snack to prep on a Sunday to see you and your family throughout the week. They will last all week stored at room temperature in an air tight container, providing you can stop yourself snaffling them all in one sitting!
(Makes 9″x9″ tin cut into 8 large bars or 16 mini squares)
INGREDIENTS:
- 100g raisins, soaked in 100ml of breakfast tea
- 125g apple or orange juice if you prefer (not with added sugar or from concentrate)
- 125g fruit syrup (or maple, honey, agave or whatever syrup you prefer)
- 125g vegan spread
- 50g seeds ( I like pumpkin and sunflower)
- 50g toast (blitzed to crumbs)
- 50g puffed rice cereal
- 200g porridge oats (if you only have jumbo oats, pulse them in a food processor several times to break them down a little)
METHOD:
Preheat the oven to 180 or 170 degree fan and line a 9×9 inch baking tin with greaseproof paper.
Melt the juice, syrup and vegan spread in a saucepan, mix gently so they all combine, don’t let the mixture come to a boil you just want to melt the fat.
Meanwhile, in a large bowl roughly combine the seeds, toast, cereal and oats together.
Pour the sweet liquid and soaked raisins over the dry ingredients and stir everything until all the dry ingredients are well coated in the syrup.
Tumble the oaty mix into your prepared tin and tightly compress the mixture, flattening the surface. Bake for 30-35 minutes until the surface is golden and the edges are crisp. Here’s a sneaky trick!.. As soon as the bars are baked, keep the dough in the tin but slice them into bars or squares then set aside to cool completely. Cutting the bars whilst still hot and soft ensures your get even slices, if you try and cut the bars when they have hardened and cooled they’re more likely to crumble and break up. This way you will get perfectly even slices everytime!
If you like this recipe you will love my apricot & gingernut flapjacks or vegan panforte.
