snacks:

nut-free lunchbox friendly muesli bars

Published 23rd August 2018

For quite some time, I have been thinking about changing the way I make my Muesli Bars. I find that the baked ones are sometimes perfect and cut into nice muesli bar shaped pieces and other times they crumble, so I wanted to make a reliable muesli bar, one that cuts perfectly every time, and here we have it!

This muesli bar does not need to be baked, it sets in the fridge and it is also nut free, meaning it is suitable for kids to take to kinder or school, and perfectly safe for those allergic to nuts, which is great. You can, of course, add nuts in in place of some of the seeds if you wish, which I personally think makes them better and also makes a more solid bar when cut.

 
 
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It took me a couple of goes to get these right and there are a few key things to note:

  1. Coconut oil, alone, will not set well enough to hold together, it needs something else, which is why I have used butter and honey.

  2. Honey that has crystallised, needs to be heated and boiled for about 1 minute in order to get the crystals back into solution to help it to hold the mixture together well. One batch I made, the crystallised honey was not heated well enough and this batch crumbled when cut.

  3. The mixture needs to be pushed down very firmly into the pan with the back of a spoon before placing into the fridge to set.

Seeing as these muesli bars aren’t cooked, you can use any dried fruit. I find with the baked muesli bars that sometimes the dried fruit can go a bit too crunchy and almost burn. I have used dried blueberries and cranberries, but dried apricots, sultanas, dates or even apple would work well also. I have included some dark chocolate in these muesli bars, which melts when the hot mixture is added, making them taste a little bit like a chocolate crackle, but this is optional. You could also omit the chocolate in the mix and melt and drizzle it over the finished bar.

My kids love my homemade muesli bars, and the first time I made a refrigerated batch, they had nuts in them and Mark tried them and said “Mum, can I take these to kinder”?, and my response was obviously “No, they have nuts in them”, which is where the motivation for these muesli bars came from.

Give these a go and you’ll probably find you won’t buy muesli bars again.

Enjoy xx

 
 
 
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Ingredients:

  • 2 cups rolled oats, toasted

  • 1 cup puffed brown rice (rice bubbles will work also)

  • 1/3 cup sunflower seeds, toasted

  • 1/3 cup pepitas, toasted

  • 1/4 cup linseed

  • 1/4 cup chia seeds

  • 1/2 cup shredded coconut, toasted

  • 1 tbs sesame seeds

  • 1 cup dried fruit (I used 1/2 blueberries, 1/2 cranberries)

  • 70g dark chocolate, chopped (optional)

  • 85g butter

  • 60g coconut oil

  • 105g honey

 

Method:

  1. Preheat the oven to 200°C and line a slice tray 20cm x 30cm with baking paper.

  2. Place oats, sunflower seeds and pepitas onto the tray and toast in the oven for about 10-15 minutes until just starting to turn golden. Add the coconut for the last 5 minutes, keeping an eye on it. This adds some crunch to these ingredients but can be skipped.

  3. Place toasted oats, seeds and coconut into a large bowl and add the linseed, chia seeds, sesame seeds, puffed rice, dried fruit and chocolate and mix.

  4. Place butter, honey and coconut oil into a small saucepan and heat over medium heat. Once coconut oil and butter are melted, bring to a gentle simmer and allow to simmer for at least 1 minute, ensuring honey has dissolved.

  5. Pour honey mixture into the oat mixture and mix well, ensuring the wet mix coats the dry mix well.

  6. Place into lined tin and press into the tin well with the back of a spoon.

  7. Refrigerate for 2-3 hours or overnight then cut into bars.

  8. Keep in an airtight container in the fridge.