Almond Chia Breakfast Slice

Gluten free - grain free - dairy free- refined sugar free - egg free - vegetarian
    In my continuing quest to help inspire you all to make interesting, healthy, filling, ' Friendly' breakfasts,  I suddenly had the inspiration to convert a cookie recipe that I make regularly make something more breakfast-like.  The original recipe had egg in it and I decided I wanted to try and make it egg-free for those with egg allergies.  Replacing the egg with Chia worked really well. 
    Of course, this doesn't have to be eaten for breakfast.  It's pretty sweet (although only sweetened with honey) and these make a great lunch box snack too.  When eating for breakfast, I cut the slice into 12 pieces, but if using for a snack, I'd make it into 24.  It's really filling!  I have it pictured above with some Chocolate Avocado Mousse. 
    For something more indulgent you could replace the dried fruit with 100g of dark chocolate (says the chocoholic!!)

Serves 12 for breakfast, or 24 as a snack.
Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons Chia seeds plus 6 tablespoons water
• 4 cups almond meal
• 1 tablespoon coconut flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 cup desiccated coconut (organic/preservative free)
• 1 1/2 cups dried fruit of choice.  I use organic sultanas and apricots (chopped).  You could use chopped dates, currants, cranberries, gogi berries - anything really!
• 1 cup (300g /10.5oz) honey (or less if you prefer)
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Method

• Preheat oven to 150 degrees Celsius /300F. 

• In a medium bowl, mix the Chia seeds and water together and leave to soak for 15 minutes
• In a large bowl, place the almond meal, then sift in the coconut flour, baking soda and cinnamon.  Add the desiccated coconut and dried fruit. Stir until evenly mixed.
• Once the chia seeds have soaked, stir, and add the honey and vanilla.  Stir or whisk until evenly mixed.
• Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until completely incorporated.
• Grease a 30cm x 22cm (12 x 9 inches) baking dish with coconut oil (or butter if tolerated).  Your dish could be a little smaller than this, but not larger.   Press the mixture firmly and evenly into the dish and smooth out the top with a spatula or fork. 
• Bake in preheated oven for about 20 minutes, until nicely golden on top.
• Leave to rest out of the oven for 15 minutes before slicing and serving (it needs time to firm-up). 
• If you don't wish to serve it warm, leave it to cool to room temperature before removing from dish and storing in an airtight container in the pantry.

For more breakfast ideas, scroll my recipes here.
For more snack ideas, scroll through my recipes here.