Feel good apricot granola bars
Oatie squares filled with sticky dried apricots, macadamia nuts and honey. Together with some melty chocolate chips too! These apricot granola bars are packed full of all the good things.
Servings 10 small squares
Ingredients
- ½ cup dried apricots (90 grams)
- 200 mls boiling water (for soaking)
- 2 cups rolled oats gluten free
- ½ cup macadamia nuts halved
- ⅓ cup honey (80 mls)
- ¼ cup unsalted butter (55 grams)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ cup dessicated coconut (20 grams)
- ¼ teaspoon salt (remove if using salted butter)
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ cup mini chocolate chips (45 grams)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180° C (350°F) fan setting.
- Place the whole dried apricots in a heatproof bowl and cover with boiling water. Leave to soak for 5-10 minutes and then drain and set aside.
- In the meantime place the oats and macadamia nuts in a food processor and give them a few pulses to break them apart.
- Spread the mixture out onto a large baking tray or oven dish. Cook in the preheated oven for 10 minutes or until golden and lightly toasted.
- Return to the softened apricots and place them in a small food processor together with your honey. Blend well until smooth and caramel-like.
- Empty the apricot and honey mixture into a large mixing bowl. Add the melted butter, vanilla extract, coconut, salt and cinnamon. Mix until well combined.
- Add in the golden oats and nuts from the oven. Stir everything well for a few minutes until there are no more dry oats remaining.
- Finally add in the mini chocolate chips. If the mixture is warm you may need to let it cool to room temperature before adding in the chocolate chips as otherwise they will melt.
- Line an 8 inch oven dish with parchment paper. You can overlap two lengths of parchment paper one going longways and the other sideways across each other.
- Transfer your mixture to the lined dish. Use a spoon to level it out and then use something hard to press down on it. This will pack it down nice and firmly. It could be an object like the base of a coffee cup covered in parchment paper.
- Cover your dish and refrigerate for 1 hour or overnight.
- When it’s set, take a sharp cutting knife and slice it into bars or squares. For instant snacks, you can wrap individual bars with parchment paper and keep them in the fridge or freezer. That way they’re ready to go when you need them.
Notes
In place of macadamia nuts you can also use cashew nuts, almonds or your favourite nuts or seeds. Sunflower seeds can work well as a nut alternative if you are concerned about nut allergies.