A tasty and nutritious mid morning snack which well and truly satisfies the mid morning craving for something filling and a little bit sweet. These muesli bars are very high in fibre and healthy fats (Nuts are high in Omega-3 fats). Much like eating a handful of nuts and fruit – only crunchy, and soooo much more delicious! In comparison to shop bought muesli bars, these are low in sugar, and much more protein dense because of the high nut content. After cooking, leave them to set till they crunch up a little, and then wrap individually and freeze for lunches, or wrap in individual paper/ foil wraps and store in an airtight tin in a cool place for up to a week.
Ingredients
- 2 cups rolled oats
- 1/4 cup wheat germ
- 1/4 cup ground linseed
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 2 cups stoneground flour
- 1/2 cup sultanas
- 200g frozen cherries, chopped
- 2 cups mixed chopped nuts (such as pecans, pistaccio, almond, hazelnut, sunflower seeds, pepitas – pumpkin seeds, or whatever you like best)
- pinch salt – about 1/8 teaspoon
- 1/3 cup maple syrup or 1/4 cup hermesetas/ other sweetener of your choice
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, or seeds of one vanilla bean
- 2 eggs
Method:
- Mix all together
- Press into a greased tray
- Bake at 180 degrees for 20 minutes
- Cool for ten minutes then cut into squares
- For a slightly sweeter variety, melt 100g 70-80% cocoa chocolate and drizzle over
- Allow to cool for a further 20-30 minutes before wrapping for storage (see above)
These look and sound wonderful but what in the world are sultanas?
Here in Australia we call raisins made with seedless white grapes “sultanas”. They are small raisins, but not as small as currants which are different again. Raisins of any sort would be fine, but better to choose ones which have no added vegetable oil or sugar (check the back of the packet). I hope you enjoy this recipe – it tastes and smells as good as it looks and sounds!!
Here in Canada the basic raisin is a dried purple seedless grape and sultanas are the dried white ones. In the States the basic raisin is also the dried purple grape – these are dark brown when dried and delicious. A bit more of the antioxidants and such than the sultana.
That is interesting – we don't get many raisins here, and sultanas are everywhere. People tend to use raisins only at christmas time, but I'll have to see if I can try some. Interesting that they have more antioxidants!
I think they may be called raisins in the US. They're dried white sultana grapes, seedless; the kind that come in tiny packets for little children's snacks. The recipe does sound delicious. can't wait to try it.
Thanks Ngaire – hope you enjoy it! Let me know how you go.. one thing I forgot to mention in the post – you can omit the cherries and replace with the same amount of any sort of fresh berries, or also apples or pears. If you leave the fruit out they are crunchier, but also less sweet…
Hi, please let me know what I can use as a substitute for stoneground flour. I am not able to find it where I am. Thanks. I love your site.
Hi Maria, so sorry about the delayed response – I just realised I hadn't answered your query. You can use ordinary white flour if you can't find stoneground. It is more finely milled, so not as dry as stoneground flour. In my recipes, because I use stoneground, the wet ingredients are usually a little adjusted. To adjust for this, I'd use 3/4 a cup of ordinary flour and 1/4 cup of some added fibre – you could add some almond meal, or some wheat or oat flakes, or bran: whatever you have at hand. If you have none of these in the cupboard but still want to make the recipe, just use plain flour
Hope that helps!! Good luck with the cooking!!
Libby Do I use 3/4 c of ordinary flour w/ 1/4 of wheat for the total amt of stoneground flour? Did u use the fruit in it?
momgunnoe@hotmail.com
Yes, and yes! I used frozen cherries. Let me know how it goes
Sorry Libby, I didn't know I reported thumbs down I will let u know how it came out w/ the different flour
Well I used brown rice stoneground flour- they did not get crunchie do you have any suggestions? I might try regular wheat flour.
Hmm…yes, wheat flour is drier and rice flour can lead to things being a bit crumbly or moist…are u gluten intolerant? You've inspired me to cook them again to help u! Its a cold rainy saturday here, so perfect for baking. Will do so today then post some more suggestions
I cooked these again today, and it reminded me what they were like last time as well. I've come up with a few ideas to help make them crunchier.
Mine were crunchy, but not as crunchy as granola/ muesli bars from the store. They were crunchy on the outside, but a little more cakey/ chewy in the centre. This is because I've dramatically lowered the sugar content, and the sugar and fat combination cooked at high temperature is what really crunches it up…
1. My oven is fan forced – I cooked it for 20 minutes on 180 degrees – if your oven is not fan forced you could try cooking at 190. Every oven is different – the other option would be to try leaving them in for an extra five minutes (but watch the edges to make sure they don't burn).
2. Try using less fruit, and instead of honey or maple syrup use plain sugar or a sweetener like splenda. (1/4 cup of sugar per slice is not very much per serving at all).
3. Hold off putting them into your storage tin until completely cold (if they cool down at room temperature this gives them time to crunch up a bit)
I hope all that helps, and you are able to bake something you enjoy! Cheers, Libby
Hi Libby, I've made these twice now and my 18 month old and 2 1/2 year old absolutely devour them! I love the versatility with this recipe: I add coconut, dark chocolate chips and any dried fruit and nuts I have lying around and most of all I love the fact that when my family eats them I know they are absolutely jampacked with nutrients! Thanks for a fabulous blog, Jodi.
Hi Jodi, thanks so much for the feedback!! I taste tested these on my nieces who are 5 and 7, and I knew they were ok when they demolished them. Kids are such good taste testers, because they are very honest, and just wont eat it if they don't like it.