Nut free, Apricot & Dark Chocolate Muesli Bar

These bars are amazing and taste just like the Cookie Time Bumper Bars from NZ (if you have ever tried them)! Except, they don’t have the added calories. They are made with no oil, no butter, no added sugar and use just the sweetness from the dried apricots & dates. They are simple and quick to make, so kids can help out too…

This recipe is so simple and just taste amazing! You will need the following ingredients:

• Oats – whole oats are best. I like to blend them slightly to break up some parts so that it is not too crunchy.
• Dried Apricots – I like to use organic, Australian dried apricots. They just taste so much better. But use what you have available.
• Dried Medjool dates – with the seed removed – have you ever tried these? OMG they are a game changer. They taste amazing. I use them all the time and they work wonders in this recipe.
• Currants or sultanas – I like to use organic currants. They are delicious. But again, if you don’t have or like them, then just leave them out.
• Desiccated Coconut – you can use shredded if you like some bite to your slice, but I prefer it blended in.
• Chiaseed, Hemp seeds & Flaxmeal – these are not essential but I like to add them for their health benefits. The flaxmeal and chia seed also help to bind the slice together but like I said, if you don’t have them, you can leave it out.
• 70% Dark Chocolate – you can add whatever chocolate you like. Sometimes I add white chocolate too when I want to change it up. Or use a mixture of chocolate. It all works well.

Firstly, remove the seeds from the dates, and then place the dried apricots and dates into boiling water. They will need to soak for about 10min. Make sure you do not throw away the water. This will come in handy at the end.

Pulse all the dry ingredients until it breaks up some of the oats and combines it all together. Then place the dry ingredients into a bowl and blend up the soaking dry fruits with half of the water. (NB. Make sure to keep the other half of the water). This should make a paste. I like to leave some chunks in there for delicious surprises in the slice. This mixture alone is mouth watering. Try not to lick the bowl.

Chop up the chocolate and add it to the dry ingredients along with the currants and blended fruit. Mix it together with a spoon. If the mixture is too dry, add some of the water leftover from soaking the dates and dried apricots until the mixture can easily bind together. Feel free to taste it here, its delicious.

Place the mixture into a tin with baking paper on the bottom and flatten it out firmly until it is even. Then place it in the oven at 180deg for 20min. Check on it at 15min to make sure it is not burning. It should be nice and brown on the edges when it is ready.

Allow to cool in the pan. Once it is cooled, melt the chocolate using a double boiler. Then sprinkle it over the top of the slice to create lines. Or you can just pour it over. Up to you. You can sprinkle some nuts or coconut on the chocolate to make it look fancy… Place into the fridge to harden and then chop it up and dig in!! Its amazing! I make this weekly in my house!

Full recipe coming soon….