Nut Free Granola Bars

Delicious chewy granola bars made with oats, rice krispies and seeds. Completely nut free and perfect to add to lunch boxes or as an afternoon snack

This year I am working as an ambassador for FareShare, a UK charity fighting hunger and food waste by redistributing surplus food from the food industry to local charities and communities projects.

FareShare supports over 10,000 frontline charities and community groups including homeless shelters, children’s breakfast clubs, lunch clubs for older people and domestic violence refuges.

At this time of year they also support holiday hunger clubs through their #ActivateAte campaign, supplying food to over 400 holiday projects, providing nutritious meals and snacks to 50,000 children.

As part of my work with FareShare I’ve been creating using some of their most commonly redistributed food items. Today’s recipe is perfect for back-to-school; it’s a delicious and filling granola bar made from oats, rice krispies, dried fruit and seeds. But it’s completely nut free so great for lunch boxes as well as an after school snack.

The chocolate chips are optional so feel free to leave those out if you like.

STEP 1

Add the butter and honey to a microwave bowl and heat gently in the microwave until the ingredients have melted together. You can also do this in a saucepan on the hob.

STEP 2

Add the dry ingredients to a large bowl, pour in the melted butter and honey and mix well.

STEP 3

Add the chocolate chips, mix again and then add the mixture to a large baking dish. You will need to press down very firmly on the mixture to make it as compact as possible.

The mixture is then baked in the oven for 20 minutes.

STEP 4

The next step is super important. Leave the cooked mixture to cool in the dish and then transfer to the fridge (or freezer) to cool completely. We need the mixture to be cold before cutting into bars to stop it from falling apart.

Once cut, the bars will keep in the fridge for up to 5 days or in the freezer for 1 month. Serve them as delicious and filling snack after school or pop them into lunch boxes too. You could even serve them for breakfast!

Nut Free Granola Bar in a lunch box with fruit and vegetables

If you’d like to learn more about FareShare, their work tackling hunger and food waste and also details on how you can get involved with fundraising and volunteering, head on over to their website now.

Description

Delicious chewy granola bars made with oats, rice krispies and seeds. Completely nut free and perfect to add to lunch boxes or as an afternoon snack

Ingredients

100g honey (or other liquid sweetener)
100g butter
25g brown sugar
50ml water
150g porridge oats
30g Rice Krispies
30g wholemeal flour
25g dried fruit (optional)
25g mixed seeds (optional)
10g desiccated coconut (optional)
75g chocolate chips (optional)

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 180c and line a dish with parchment paper. I used an 8×8 inch dish.
Add the honey and butter to a jug and microwave gently until the ingredients have melted. You can also do this in a pan on the hob. Add the sugar and water and mix until all dissolved.
Add the oats, rice krispies, flour, dried fruit, seeds and coconut to a large bowl and mix. Pour in the the melted butter mixture and mix. Finally stir in the chocolate chips.
Transfer this mixture into the prepared dish. Take another piece of parchment paper and use that to push down firmly on the mixture. You need to make it as compact as possible in the dish.
Bake in the oven for 20 minutes, leave to cool and then put it in the fridge or freezer for 1 hour. These steps are essential to stop the bars from falling apart.
Remove from the fridge and lift the parchment paper out of the dish and cut into small bars.
Keep in the fridge or freezer.

Notes

It is essential to follow the steps as to cooling and refrigerating the bars to stop them from crumbling and falling apart.
The bars can be stored in the fridge in a container for up to 5 days. They can also be frozen for up to 1 month.