The Best Chocolate Chip Breakfast Bar Recipe

My breakfast bars are just the thing to stop craving sweets and chocolate. Okay they do contain chocolate but really not very much; just enough to do the trick. Great for kids lunch boxes since you can cut them even smaller in order to make 36 mini bites. These are also far nicer and cheaper than shop bought bars too since you know what's gone into them and they don't contain nasty sounding ingredients such as emulsifier (eeeeek)!

Low in salt compared to shop bought and packed full of good things; oats, almonds, walnuts and pine nuts and dates and can be made in next to no time. That said you do have to chill them in the fridge for about 4 hours which is a bit of a nuisance; but it has to be done in order for them to set.

The recipe can be adapted to suit you. Just as long as you use the same amount (100g) of nuts they can be whatever nuts take your fancy!
Same goes with the dates, if you don't like them just replace them with raisins, chopped goji berries or I dunno, apricots!

Yield: 18Author: Jan Bennett

Oaty Nutty Fruity Chocolate Chip Breakfast Bars

Great for kids lunch boxes since you can cut them even smaller in order to make 36 mini bites.

ingredients:

230g rolled oats

50g chopped almonds

30 chopped walnut pieces

20g pine nuts

100g dates - chopped

100ml runny honey

60g unsalted butter

50g soft dark brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon salt

90g milk chocolate chips - divided into 70g and 20g

instructions

Line bottom and sides of a 8-inch square pan with grease-proof paper smeared with a little butter.

Get a large frying pan and toast the oats, almonds and walnuts - keep stirring all the while so they don't burn.  Keep stirring over a medium high heat until they start to toast and take on a bit of colour.  Once they are done tip them into a large mixing bowl.

In a medium sized saucepan add the butter, honey, brown sugar, vanilla extract and the salt.  Stir to mix and cook to melt over medium heat until the sugar has dissolved.

Now pour the butter mixture into the bowl with toasted oats and nuts and mix well.  Let it cool for a few minutes then add the dates along with 70g of the chocolate chips.

Stir to mix; the chocolate chips will melt a bit but they will help to hold the bars together.

Transfer the mixture into your lined pan then use the back of a large spoon to press the mixture into the pan. You need to press quite hard so that the bars will stay together once cooled and cut.

Scatter the remaining 20g of chocolate chips over pressed mixture and use the back of a spoon to gently press them into the top.

Cover and pop into the fridge for at least 4 hours or overnight and then lift the set mixture from the pan and peel off the grease-proof paper.  Cut into either 9 squares then cut each square into 2 making 18 snack sized bars.

Once made they will keep stored in a cool place and in an airtight container for 5 days.

Created using The Recipes Generator

If you like the look of these you might want to check out my Chewy Chocolate Chip Granola Bars.