Fruity Muesli Bars        
24/05/2018 | Tamara Brown

A simple bar that's tasty, filling and perfect for school lunch boxes.

INGREDIENTS

• 3 cups rolled oats
• 1/3 cup pepitas
• 1/3 cup sunflower seeds
• 1/3 cup pitted dates
• 1/3 cup sultanas
• 1/3 cup goji berries
• 2 Tbsp chia seeds
• 4 Tbsp raw honey OR maple syrup
• 2 Tbsp water
• 1/2 Tbsp coconut oil
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
  

DIRECTIONS

1. Place half the oats into a food processor and blitz to a fine powder.
2. Add the honey, coconut oil, water, vanilla and dates and process until well combined and sticky looking.
3. Add the rest of the oats, chia seeds, sunflower seeds, pepitas, dried fruit and cacao nibs (if you are using them) and mix through on low speed. You don't want to chop up these ingredients too much - the fruit should still be chunky and the rest of the oats remain intact.
4. Spoon the mixture into a cake tin lined with baking paper and press firmly until the mixture is flat and even. It should be about 1 1/2 - 2cm thick.
5. Freeze for at least 10 minutes before cutting into long, rectangular shapes.
   

RAW TIP:

To change the colour, add 1 tsp beetroot powder for pink or 1/2 cup baby spinach for green. You can't taste it!

This recipe is featured in The Raw Food Girl's Sweets & Treats eBook, along with 50 others nutritiously raw snacks.

A word from The Raw Food Girl

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When I'm feeling generous enough to pop a treat in my kids lunch boxes, this is usually it. It's a good source of carbohydrates and omegas, and contains some actual nutrition.
When I was at school, everyone took an Uncle Toby's muesli bar to munch on at recess time. And I mean everyone. I think all the mums of that decade must have received a universal memo that told them these bars were legit. Super healthy and all that.
Us kids certainly didn't mind - we licked our empty packets clean. Especially when it was a Yoghurt Topp day...
Let's have a closer look at the ingredients list of an Uncle Toby's Strawberry Yoghurt Topp Bar:
"Wholegrain cereals (47%) [Uncle Tobys Rolled Oats (35%), whole grain wheat (12%)], glucose (wheat), yoghurt compound [sugar, vegetable fat, skim yoghurt powder (1.4%), whey powder, emulsifiers (soy lecithin, 492), food acid (citric)], wheat puffs (wholemeal wheat flour (5%), wheat starch, sugar, antioxidant [307b]), strawberry fruit pieces [strawberry puree (1%)] (wheat), dietary fibre (inulin), sunflower oil (soy), sugar, humectant (glycerine), modified wheat starch (1412), coconut (sulphites), berry juice concentrate (strawberry (0.6%), invert sugar, honey, skim milk powder, flavour, emulsifier (soy lecithin), preservative (223) (sulphites)"

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Pretty lengthy right? More than a few random numbers hidden in their too.
I stumbled upon the reviews for Strawberry Yoghurt Topp bars when I was checking out the nutritional label, and was very interested to discover that every single rating was marked at 1: Terrible. EVERY. SINGLE. ONE.
Skimming briefly through them, it appears that Uncle Toby's have recently changed the recipe for these bars, most likely to earn themselves a 4 star health rating for it. Unfortunately for them, it seems that their trusty loyal customers think the healthy new ones taste like rubbish. Ouch.
If pre-packaged muesli bars really are your thing, then indulge just once in a while. But please do try to keep the ingredients list to ones you understand. And preferably can pronounce. By making them yourself you control exactly what goes into it, and assures you that you are in fact eating 'real food' - which is what true health is all about.