muesli Bars

Gluten free- dairy free- low sugar- egg free- contains nuts
     I have a few standard snacks that I tend to have in the pantry or freezer all the time. They are great for grabbing for school lunch boxes or a quick afternoon tea at home.  These include Fruit Slice, Carrot Cake Muffins, Coconut Cupcakes, Brownies or Banana Cake, and these Muesli Bars. I experimented with a couple of different muesli bar recipes and came up with this combination of ingredients that I'm really happy with.
      If you like a crunchy bar, bake these for a little longer till they're very golden brown. If you like them more chewy, only let them bake till they're slightly coloured. This makes a really big batch, but they keep for weeks in an airtight container, so it's worth making the big batch so it lasts longer.
       These have Rice Malt Syrup, which is available in my local supermarket health food isle. It gives food a slightly sticky and chewy consistency which works nicely in a muesli bar.   You can use Golden Syrup if you can't find Rice Malt Syrup.

Ingredients

• 3 cups gluten free rolled oats (or regular oats if you can tolerate gluten)

• 2 cups almond meal(or any other finely ground nut if you prefer)

• 2 cups gluten-free 'rice puff' cereal (or rice bubbles if you're not gluten-free)  [NOTE:  you can leave this out and add an extra cup each of almond meal and oats]

• 1/2 cup seeds (pepitas, sunflower seeds or linseeds)

• 1  1/2 cups sultanas or currants or gogi berries (or a mix)

• 1/2 cup (180 grams) honey

• 1/2 cup (180 grams) rice malt syrup

• 1 cup coconut oil

Variation:  Update Nov 2013:  I've discovered banana flour works really well for these too.  Eliminate the rice puff cereal and replace with one extra cup of oats and 1 cup of banana flour.  Read all about the wonderful benefits of banana flour in this post.

Method

• Preheat oven to 160 degrees Celsius.

• Line two large baking trays or slice tins with baking paper. I use two 24 x 35cm pans with shallow edges. If yours are a little smaller, the bars will be thicker (which will still be great) but you may need a slightly longer cooking time).

• Measure all dry ingredients into a large bowl and mix well with a spoon.

• Measure the honey and rice malt syrup into a saucepan (I put the saucepan on my scales and pour the honey and syrup straight into the saucepan rather than dirtying more measuring cups).

• Place over low heat on stove and heat still smooth and you can stir it without resistance. Stir in the oil.
• Take off the heat and pour into the dry ingredients. Mix well.

• Tip mixture onto the baking trays, trying to get an equal amount on each tray. Spread out flat with a spatula.
•  Bake for 20 mins, then check to make sure they aren't getting too brown. Cook for further 5 minute intervals, checking each time till they are at your desired amount of 'brown-ness'!  I prefer mine a little chewy, so not too brown and usually 20 mins is enough. 

• Cool completely and cut into desired size rectangles. Store in an airtight container.