Energy bar – oats, nuts, chia, fruit

I’ve tried making a variety of energy bars and find this combination to be one of the best; tasty, moist, healthy and doesn’t fall apart in your rucksack. The honey, nut butter and oats are the mainstay, but the almonds, cranberries, pumpkin and sunflower seeds could easily be substituted for other types of nuts, dried fruit and seeds. The dates are useful to help to bind the ingredients together. The chia seeds provide the omega-3 and protein, and the cacao nibs provide a chocolate flavour, as does the dark chocolate drizzle!

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup honey
• 1/3 cup peanut butter/ any nut butter
• 60g dates (soaked overnight)
• 1 tbsp chia seeds
• I handful almonds or other nuts
• 1 handful cacao nibs
• I handful cranberries
• 1 handful pumpkin seeds
• 1 handful sunflower seeds
• 1.5 cup oats
• dark chocolate for drizzling

Instructions:

1. Heat the honey and nut butter in a saucepan until melted and mix together
2. Blend the soaked dates in a food processor, until they form a rough paste
3. Add the other ingredients and blend until you get a coarse mixture (except dark chocolate)
4. Add the honey/ nut butter mixture to a bowl with the blended oats/nuts/seeds/fruit and mix thoroughly
5. Spread the mixture evenly into a shallow baking tray and place in freezer for 20mins
6. Take out and chop into bars
7. Drizzle with melted dark chocolate