Marvellous Muesli Bars

Packed full of goodness, this is a recipe from one of our friends Sally. Perfect for a weekend treat and a great example of how healthy eating doesn't always involve compromise - your family will also love these.

This recipe has been published in LEON's second cookbook with the following foreword: “Sally is Leon regular who sent us this recipe when we mentioned that we were writing a second cookbook. They are really, really good” 

Pictured here are the bars as they appear on p182 of LEON'S cookbook number two, which you can buy here. Thank you to both Sally and LEON for letting us use this recipe 

Ingredients
270g chopped dried fruit; apricots, figs, dates, pears etc
120g seeds and/or nuts; chopped cashews, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds etc
80ml fruit juice, such as apple or grape
2 level tbsp honey
60g wholemeal flour
120g rolled oats
1 tsp cinnamon

How to make:  
- Put the dried fruit and nuts (if using) into a magimix and blitz until well chopped. 
- In a large bowl mix together the fruit, (nuts) and seeds. Warm the juice and honey together in a pan large enough to eventually contain all the ingredients, until the honey is dissolved.
- Mix in the flour and oats to the liquid, and then stir in the fruit and nuts.
- Smooth the thick mixture into an oven pan that will allow it to be about an inch deep. If the pan is not non-stick it would be wise to line it with baking parchment.
- Cook in the oven at 190/c for 20 minutes or more, if you would like your bars to be more crunchy.
- Allow the bars to cool before cutting into rectangular bars, which can then be stored in an airtight container for some time.

TIP: Try adding a handful of fresh ginger and some cinnamon

We've worked out that these are approximately 138 calories per bar, based on 100g dried apricots, 150g dried Medjool dates, 50g cashew nuts, 25g pumpkin seeds, 25g sunflower seeds, 25g hazlenuts, 80ml Copella Apple juice, 2 tbsp runny honey, 120g rolled oats,1tsp ground cinammon, using myfitnesspal.com