Homemade Healthy Snacks Series - #16 Cereal Bars - An Original Recipe
Most so-called 'healthy' cereal bars contain sugar, glucose-fructose syrup, MSGs and vegetable oils... Not a healthy snack at all. Kellogs (Nutri-Grain, Rice Krispies, Coco-Pops, Special K), Nature Valley, Go Ahead, Belvita, Flahavans, Fibre One, Weightwatchers... Just to name a few of the popular UK & Irish brands. I'm assuming the brands in other countries contain similar ingredients too. Considering these cereal or breakfast bars are marketed as being suitable for 'breakfast on-the-go' and are clearly aimed at children as well as adults, it really is alarming that many of us start the day with sugar and a while host of harmful ingredients, and yet we think we're choosing something healthy because the packaging tells us it's wholegrain and filled with fruit, nuts and other good things.
Thankfully it's very easy to make your own, and that way you can be 100% certain what they contain, and that they will in fact do you good! These are just as sweet as those brands filled with sugar, but contain honey and dates instead. Yep, I know I tend to use these 2 ingredients a lot, but they are wonderful as binding agents as well as natural sweeteners. I'd recommend always having these two things in stock if you fancy homemade baked goods instead of wasting your money on products that do you no good. This recipe also uses bananas as they add to the sweetness and help all the crunchy ingredients stick together.
What you will need:
2 x ripe bananas
100g butter
50g coconut oil
150g dates
75g apricots
5 tblsp honey
75g golden linseed
75g mixed seeds (eg pumpkin, sunflower, sesame)
100g muesli
100g oats
Method:
In a small pan on low heat, melt the butter and coconut oil together
In a large bowl mash the bananas, and then stir in the melted butter & oil, along with the honey and cinnamon
Chop the dates and apricots finely and add to the bowl
Add all the seeds, muesli and oats, and mix well. You should have a nice sticky mixture.
Line a suitable tin with greaseproof paper (about 30cm x 20cm) and spread the mixture firmly and evenly. Pop into a preheated oven at 180 degrees Celcius for about 30 minutes until golden-brown. It will still be quite soft when you take it out the oven, but but will harden up once cooled.
Whilst the mixture is still warm cut into rectangles with a sharp knife but leave the paper on until they are cool
Enjoy!
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Many thanks
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All photos in this post are my own original
Thank you for the recipe.
You're welcome!
Woww I love what you did here - it just looks amazingly delicious @woman-onthe-wing
I also love to cook for family and friends - would love you to check out my treats @michelnilles and tell me which one you love best - thank you and keep up the amazing work you do.
Thank you @michelnilles! I just had a look at your posts and they all look delicious. I would love to try making some of them like the spinach fritters and savoury muffins... is there any chance you could include the recipes with your photos? Perhaps you don't have time but they look delicious!
Thank you so much @woman-onthe-wing it is awesome to hear that from you with all the delicious treats you made - keep up the great work
Hello @woman-onthe-wing,
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We hope to see you continuing to post some great stuff on Steemit!
Good luck!
~BETTER~
Aw thanks so much! I will do my best to keep providing recipes I hope people will find helpful!
My son is allergic to many foods containing additives from the store. And I am preparing myself to him all the sweets. Your recipes we really really like!
That's a huge compliment, thanks so much! I'm glad you're finding my recipes helpful. I too have a son and it's important to me that he doesn't eat anything with additives. I will continue to post recipes I hope you will like, and if you have any requests please let me know!
Well done @woman-onthe-wing! Your post is part of the Steemitrecipes Daily Picks - Entry 034!
Groovy :-) Thanks very much!
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I resteemed So I can have it for my recipes. Oh thank you for sharing!
Thanks so much! I hope you enjoy them :-)