Secret Squirrel Muesli Bars

This recipe, I must admit, was borne out of pure laziness.  Long have we been in love with the idea of packing enough nutrients and energy into a ready to eat format that could serve as in impromptu morning or afternoon tea, without sacrificing the essential ingredient - flavour.  Yes I know, there's a fruitbowl overflowing on the table, smoothies that can be made, or let's face it, a little thing called organisation.  However it's not every day; not even every week that we are organised enough to have planned any meals for the day besides dinner.  

You see so called 'health' bars for sale at the supermarkets, with labels spouting all kind of meaningless or downright dishonest claims.  Claims that can be exposed by even the quickest look at the nutritional information panel on the label.  I make no claim about these bars, other than they taste damn good, and they are great for a quick snack on the run.  I think they're fairly healthy, I think they are full of ingredients that are good for you, I also think they are a great find when you are engaging in a spot of pantry-browsing.  Yes they have a little sugar (no processed sugar however) and a lot of energy, but they are fairly guilt free, and tasty.  Enjoy!

Secret Squirrel Muesli Bars

Wet ingredients

1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup Rice Bran Oil
1/3 cup Almond butter - look for sugarfree versions, or make it yourself (you could    substitute sunflower seed butter)
1 tsp vanilla

Dry Ingredients

1/2 cup Dessicated coconut
1 cup Rolled oats
1/2 cup Puffed rice
2 cups Mixed nuts (I used macadamias, peanuts, cashews and almonds - all unsalted)
1 cup mixed seeds (I used sunflower and pumpkin seeds)

1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt

You can mix and match these and include or exclude whatever you like, just stick to similar quantities.  Other suggestions are dried fruit or chocolate bits.

Method

Preheat the oven to 160 deg Celsius.  Line a 9" x 9" slice tin with baking paper.

In a small saucepan, over low heat, add the wet ingredients listed above, and stir until smooth and liquid.  Add the vanilla and salt, stir, and remove from the heat.  

In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients.  Stir through the mixture from the saucepan.    If it's a little wet and not really clumping together, you could add 1/4 of almond meal, or LSA mix.  

Press firmly into the prepared baking tray, and bake at 160 deg Celsius for 15 minutes.  Check, and bake for another 5 minutes if needed.  They are done once the slice has started to turn golden brown.  Watch carefully, as it can burn quickly.

Allow to cool in the tray, then remove and slice into bars.  They seem to keep better in the fridge.