You know when you have an idea of something in your head and try as you might you never quite realise that image? That is me and muesli bars. I have been hankering at making my own muesli bars for the boys to take to school for years. YEARS. And then, in one simple moment, there it is. And I kick Uncle Toby’s arse to the curb.
Breakfast Bars
- 1x395g can condensed milk
- 250g rolled oats
- 75g shredded coconut
- 100g dried cranberries*
- 125g mixed seeds (pumpkin, sunflower, sesame)
- 125g natural unsalted peanuts**
- Preheat the oven to 130C and oil a 23x33x4cm baking tray
- Warm the condensed milk
- Mix together all the other ingredients then mix in the warmed condensed milk with a spatula
- Spread the mixture into the tin and press down with the spatula or better, your hands (wear disposable gloves as the mixture is very sticky)
- Bake for one hour then remove from the oven and let cool for about 15 minutes
- Cut into four across and four down to make 16 chunky bars
- Let cool completely.
Apparently they get better with age. They are so so good. Chewy, not too sweet and packed with nutritious ingredients. And with infinite variations – change the dried fruits, add some cinnamon, (imagine dried apple w/ cinnamon), throw in some choc chips for a treat every now and then, remember then peanuts – fantastic.
* It’s difficult to get anything except those hideous fake-sweetened cranberries here, so I used what I had, which was dried apricots.
** I completely didn’t even see this ingredient when I started and as a result left it out completely.