In the mood for a healthy snack recipe? I know you'll enjoy these make-ahead Supercharged Breakfast Bars especially if you're stuck in a breakfast time-warp.
Or if you're a little bit partial to the not-so-healthy big-brand energy bars with their bold health claims, well maybe then you'll welcome them with large pincer grips.
It turns out that sadly, that many commercially produced health bars are home to inflammatory ingredients such as sugar, partially-hydrogenated oils, soy protein isolate and artificial colors, flavours and preservatives. And even ones touted as healthy are cereal offenders. With that in mind, if you do partake, you may as well be eating a chocolate cookie!
You don't need to buy your fuel from a petrol station. These easy-to-make-at-home wholesome energy bars are so high in the popularity stakes, it would appear that these little tinkers have also been involved in highly competitive bake offs and come up trumps!
Not to sound too over-confident but I'm quite sure that they would pass bake-off scrutinization well ahead of any crumbling croquembouche or Victoria Sponge oozing with Raspberry Jam.
They glow in the nutrition stakes too, with respectable levels of good fats, zinc, dietary fiber and B vitamins. Easily transported in your bag for a quick-snatch snack, eaten as a portable breakfast or popped into a lunchbox, there's no reason to not have them on hand when you need a little somethin' somethin'.
Wondering what to do it you are nut free? All you need to do is to swap out the nuts with seeds such as pumpkin and sunflower and add flax seed meal in place of almond meal.
If you're lacking in energy, my healthy breakfast bars will pep you up in no time minus the immune system overload.
Supercharged Breakfast Bars
Ingredients (makes 8)
Unsalted butter, or coconut oil for greasing
125g almond meal
Pinch of Celtic sea salt
1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
60ml coconut oil
60ml rice malt syrup, or sweetener of your choice
1 tsp alcohol-free vanilla extract
40g cashews, crushed
160g combined flax seeds, sunflower seeds and slivered almonds
40g dried cranberries (optional) no additives
Method
Preheat the oven to 175°C.
Grease a 20 x 20 x 5 cm square ovenproof tin.
Mix the almond meal, salt and bicarbonate of soda together in a bowl.
In a separate bowl, combine the coconut oil, rice malt syrup and vanilla. Add the almond meal mixture, and mix in the nuts, seeds and cranberries, if using.
Wet your hands and then transfer the mixture to the tin, using your hands to press down firmly on the mixture.
Transfer to the oven and bake for 15 to 20 minutes.
Remove from the oven, transfer to a wire rack and cool before dividing into eight bars and serving.
By the way these bars will keep in an airtight container for seven to 10 days (if they last that long!).
