Today I would like to welcome a new regular contributor to the Childhood 101 team. Kyrstie Barcak’s blog, A Fresh Legacy, includes oodles of fresh, healthy recipes, as well as stories of family life with two small children and their adventures growing their own vegetables and herbs to use in their cooking. Each month Kyrstie will share a tried and tested, family friendly recipe, tips for healthy eating or story from her vegie patch with Chldhood 101 readers, starting this month with a homemade fruit muesli bar that is most definitely on my list of lunchbox friendly recipes to try!
I first made muesli bars a few years ago when I found a recipe for Breakfast Bars by Michelle Cranston in her book, Luscious.
I have adapted the recipe over the years and I routinely change the ingredients based on what I have available in the cupboard and what “Punky” (my 4 years old) has requested, or negotiated. This time I used dried apples as I have recently made an oven-dried batch from late summer produce. Other fruit that works well include: dried apricots, dates, peach, pear and coconut.
These muesli bars are quick and easy to make. Punky loves to drag a kitchen chair to the bench and help me cook. He has recently learned to crack eggs and this is one of his favourite recipes as he gets to practice cracking three of them. These bars are enjoyed in our house as a morning tea or kinder snack for Punky & Cuddles. Mr Fresh also gets one packed in with his work lunch.
Homemade Fruit Muesli Bars Recipe
Makes: Approximately 10 bars (depending on the size they are cut to). Ingredients are all listed as metric measurements.
Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 20 minutes
Equipment required: 3 cm deep Slice Tray – I used a 27cm x 18 cm tray
Ingredients:
- 150 grams butter
- ¼ cup of honey
- 2 cups of quick cook oats
- 3 tablespoons of seeds – I use pumpkin and flax seeds
- 1 cup of dried apples chopped
- ½ cup sultanas
- ¼ cup dried cranberries
- 1 teaspoon of baking powder
- 3 eggs lightly whisked
To make:
- Line slice tray with baking paper.
- Turn the oven on to heat to 160 degrees Celcius.
- Melt the butter and honey over low heat in a pan.
- Add fruit and dry ingredients to a bowl.
- Add the melted butter and honey and then the eggs and stir to combine.
- Pour the combined muesli bar mixture into the slice tray.
- Smooth the top of the mixture and give it a shake backward and forward on the bench to settle it evenly in the pan.
- Bake for 20 minutes until golden on top.
- Remove from the oven and allow the muesli bar to cool completely in the tray.
- When it is cool, gently turn it onto a board.
- Use a sharp knife and cut into the desired length.
Hints and Tips
- Use small fine grade oats or the bars won’t hold together as well
- The depth of the tray you use will affect the cooking time. The deeper the pan the longer the bars will take to cook.
- Ensure that the cooked mixture is completely cool before attempting to remove it from the pan or it will crumble easily
- Use a sharp knife to cut
- I slice into 5 strips and then cut each strip in half
- We avoid using nuts in the recipe as kinder is “nut free” but they are a good addition if this is not a consideration in your home or kinder/school.
- Store for 1 week in an airtight tin or container
What flavour muesli bar is popular at your house?
Kyrstie Barcak is a mum to two boys aged 6 and 3 years. She writes about the fresh produce grown in their family garden and the seasonal menus
that result at A Fresh Legacy-Grow Fresh Cook Fresh. Kyrstie is passionate about cooking fresh meals for her family and friends. She supports local farmers and producers when there is not enough to collect from her garden and likes to make her family’s food from scratch.
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