Ok so a little bit of poetic licence here, but there is no processed sugar in these granola bars, and they taste amazing. They are very sweet because of the maple syrup and malt extract. I am a massive fan of maple syrup, and if you haven’t tried malt extract before then give it a try, you might struggle to get it from the supermarket but most health food shops stock it.
This recipe came about from a challenge I set one of my clients that loves to bake, I set her a challenge to find a sweet recipe that didn’t use sugar. I’m not a great baker, so this was my version of a no added sugar ‘sweet’ treat. She made a fruit loaf with syrup and extract which was delicious
The bars are great for breakfast, and also as a snack. I cut it up and wrap and freeze, then take out portions as I want them. They defrost pretty quickly so they are handy to grab if you are caught short.
Ingredients makes approx 12 bars
- 200g Jumbo Oat
- 200g Rolled Oats
- 100g milled flaxseed
- 50g pumpkin seeds
- 4 tblsp maple syrup
- 4 tblsp malt extract
- 100g mixed dried fruit chopped
- 6 tblsp coconut oil
- 50g chia seeds
Instructions
- Mix it all together really well, it takes a little while and is quite heavy going but you need to ensure that everything is coated so that it forms a bar.
- Press down really firmly into a lined tin (it’s really important to line your tin). Mine is 175mm x 315mm x 20mm. Bake in a 180 oven for 30 – 40 mins, the edges should be just slightly browned.
- Leave in the tray to fully cool, this will help keep the mixture together. Cut into bars once fully cooled
A couple of things to note:
Make sure you mix really well and firm down really well or it simply won’t form bars and will be more like granola cereal (which isn’t a bad thing and when I made the mistake I just served it on yoghurt for breakfast)
Make sure you line your tray, this is quite a sticky mixture and you will regret it if you don’t!
Please feel free to swap up ingredients, some sesame seeds would be quite nice instead of the chia seeds, and any kind of mixed fruit works well, I’ve made them with simple sultanas and they are great, and I’ve also made them with goji berries.
Finally, a note about the oats, I make mine with a mixture of jumbo and finer rolled oats. The jumbo oats give it some texture, and the finer rolled oats help bind. I wouldn’t make it with just one type, but if you don’t have 200g of each, 400g combined (say 100g and 300g) would be absolutely fine.
