Elevate your Plate

Backstory:

After deciding that I’m on a bit of a health drive, I wanted a snack with no added sugar and could be filling. After watching my flatmate make oat bars for years and speak highly of them, I decided it was finally time for me to start the trend. One afternoon experimenting in the kitchen led me to produce my own recipe. And it’s not one to be missed, after 2 days we’d already ran out of them and there was a petition for me to make more, so they got a good home reception!

Recipe: 40 mins to make:

Ingredients:

• 1 Apple-core removed then grated
• 1/3 cup dried blueberries
• 2 cups of porridge oats
• 1/2 cup of desiccated coconut
• 1/2 cup of shelled pistachio’s- crushed
• 3 Tbsp almond butter
• Squeeze of maple syrup

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180°c fan or 200°c non fan assisted and line 1 baking tray with parchment paper
2. Add all ingredients in a mixing bowl and combine with a spoon
3. Spoon the mix into a baking tray and flatten till even, then place in the oven
4. Bake for 20 mins
5. During baking melt 1 bar of milk chocolate in the microwave in pulses of 15s until melted
6. After 20 mins remove the tray out of oven and portion the slab into squares or bars
7. Let them cool and top with milk chocolate and desiccated coconut

Tips and Tricks:

• Use a pastry brush to spread the melted chocolate over the bars
• Top the bars with sea salt to bring out the flavour in the chocolate
• Put them in the fridge for 1hr after decorating to allow the topping to set and achieve a better bite.

Recommendation and rating:

Crisp, crumbly and coated in chocolate. What’s not to like! I know what you’re thinking, it doesn’t immediately scream healthy, but there’s no added sugar and you don’t have to add too much chocolate to make an impact! The chocolate is definitely justified as the flavour is heavily influenced by it, and of course the maple provides some relief. The bars are very addictive and I didn’t feel as guilty going back for more! The recipe is quick, and easy and requires limited equipment. However in hindsight, I would have added more dried fruit and also more maple syrup or another substitute to help with the binding of the bars! A brilliant recipe but its not revolutionary and I find myself looking for more of a challenge in the kitchen, and so for that reason I give it 4 stars!