Cranberry, cashew and chocolate muesli bars are a delicious, crunchy bar that keep well and are easy to make. Breastfeeding is hungry work and I like to have a few options for on the go snacks. Often I’ll have fruit, nuts, yoghurt or bliss balls but I wanted to give something new a go so I flicked through my recipe books for some inspiration and came up with these. I based the recipe on Chelsea Winter’s recipe from Homemade Happiness (which is a great book by the way -you can buy it here). I used cranberries, pumpkin seeds, and cashew nuts to give them a festive look and used dark chocolate to coat the base because lets face it, things are even better when they have chocolate!!
These keep pretty well and you can double the recipe to make two trays if you want to keep a good supply up. I like to store them in the freezer as they are nice and crispy that way.
Here’s how to make them:
Cranberry, Cashew and Chocolate Muesli Bars
1 cup of rolled oats
1 cup of desiccated coconut
1/2 cup cashew nuts, chopped finely
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
1/4 cup pumpkin seeds
1 cup dates
1 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup coconut oil
1/4 cup brown sugar (or you can use honey or even leave out all together)
1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon water
2 teaspoons vanilla essence
1 cup rice bubbles or puffed quinoa
100g dark chocolate, finely chopped
Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celcius on fan bake. Line a large oven tray with baking paper and add the oats, nuts and seeds. Toast in the oven for 5 minutes, then mix then up, and add coconut for final five minutes. Remove and leave to cool slightly.
Chop up the dates very finely, as well as the cranberries. If you have a food processor, use this to chop them finely.
Add the dates, cranberries, coconut oil, sugar, water and vanilla essence to a pot over a medium heat. Simmer gently for about ten minutes stirring regularly until the fruit is really mushy. Leave to cool until it’s warm.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the oat/nut mixture, the rice bubbles and the dried fruit mixture using a wooden spoon.
In a lined slice dish, sprinkle over the finely chopped chocolate. Add the slice mixture and press down really firmly with either a spoon or clean fingers. Press it down as hard as you can so it stays together.
Place in the fridge for at least one hour. Remove and slice into bars. Store the Cranberry, Cashew and Chocolate Muesli Bars an airtight container in the fridge or freezer.
These look and sound amazing! Totally need to make something like this asap!
Thanks Amanda. They are yummy to have on hand 🙂
I made these the other day and my oh my they are sooooo good! I’ve been telling myself it’s a ‘healthy’ snack.. but how healthy are they really? I guess it’s all relative right and way better than a chocolate or muesli bar! 🙂
Glad you’re enjoying them! They are a bit of a treat, but one that contains nutrient rich ingredients 🙂
The kids and I made these last night for school lunches they are delicious and hold together. Thanks for another healthier bar. (I left the brown sugar out and still quite sweet)
Glad you guys enjoyed them! And nice they hold together well without the sugar. I’ll have to skip it next time too.
I have made these and really like them, I just wanted to check what to do with the water that’s listed in the ingredients as it doesn’t mention water in the instructions. I added it to the coconut oil etc. in the pot, not sure if that’s right.
Hi, yes that is correct 🙂 Sorry I have missed it out – I’ll add it in. Glad you enjoyed them.
What is the best substitute for coconut oil as I don’t usually have that in the pantry
Hey Jo, butter would work. Thanks
Just making this for the second time ! It’s so good any idea how I’d make it nut free ?
You could just use extra seeds and it will be fine!