The perfect snack to have in the fridge. These bars are sweet and nutty and don't require any baking. I can't resist topping them with a drizzle of melted dark chocolate for a bit of indulgence. Then sprinkling on some dried flower petals to make them look as good as they taste! Store them in an airtight container, they will last up to a week.
Apricot & Cinnamon Oat Bars
Makes 12-16 squares
Ingredients
200g dried apricots
100g coconut oil, melted
60ml maple syrup
200g oats
1 tsp cinnamon
120g nuts, I use a mix of almonds, pistachios & hazelnuts
60g seeds, I use pumpkin seeds
100g dark chocolate
1 tbsp dried flower petals (optional)
Method
Put the apricots in a bowl and cover with boiling water. Leave for 5 minutes to soften before draining. Put the apricots into a food processor along with the coconut oil and maple syrup and blitz until combined. The apricots should be well chopped.
Add the oats and cinnamon to the processor and blitz again for a few seconds until mixed in. Pour the mixture into a large bowl.
Put the nuts into the processor and blitz until roughly chopped. Pour onto the oat mixture along with the seeds and mix well. Line a 7 inch square tin with greaseproof paper and tip the mixture in. Press down well until even. Chill in the fridge for a couple of hours.
Break the chocolate into a glass bowl and place over a saucepan with water in (make sure the water doesn’t touch the bottom of the bowl. Bring to the boil to melt the chocolate.
Remove the bars from the fridge and use a spoon to drizzle over the chocolate. Sprinkle the flowers on if using. Return to the fridge until the chocolate is set and then cut up the bars into 12 or 16 pieces. Store the bars in an airtight container in the fridge up to a week.