I think most of you would agree that having healthy, homemade snacks on hand to satisfy your cravings saves you from reaching for those empty calorie, quick-pick options? These Seed & Nut Bars are a great option to bake over the weekend and have stored in the fridge for an afternoon pick-me-up or post-workout snack. You can also cut in to appropriate lunch box size bars for the kids.
The combination of nuts and seeds in these Seed & Nut Bars packs a whammy when it comes to nutrition and the use of honey satisfies the sweet cravings without the need for processed sugars. Win-Win in the snack department.
Handy lunch box sized seed & nut bars
Nuts and seeds provide a great dietary source of protein, are rich in vitamins, like E and the B’s, and minerals such as magnesium, zinc, iron, calcium, copper, selenium, phosphorus and potassium. They are also low in saturated fat. All these factors should contribute to making you feel satisfied for longer, knowing you’re fueling your body after the initial pleasure wears off your taste buds (although that lasts a while too 😉 ).
In case I needed to make this recipe more appealing for you, it’s really simple to make. Melt the nut butters and honey, chop the nuts and dates and mix everything together. Bake in the oven and then store in the fridge. The whole process, from switching on the oven to scoffing your snack, takes less than an hour.
Now, this recipe does call for roasted nuts rather than raw nuts. The flavour comes through much nicer when the nuts are lightly toasted. You can easily do this at home by placing a single layer on a baking tray and roasting for around 10 minutes in a moderate oven. If you don’t have the time, look for unsalted roasted nuts in your grocery store.
I should also mention that one of these photos above shows aluminium foil in the base of my slice pan.. I ran out of baking paper so had to make-do. So I can safely say you can use either, but the foil will stick a little and require you to peel it off.
I hope you enjoy these Seed & Nut Bars! Let me know how you go in the comments 🙂
Seed & Nut Bars
Prep: 10 minutes Cook: 30 minutes
Ingredients
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup natural crunchy peanut butter
1/4 cup tahini
1/2 cup sesame seeds
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
1/4 cup dessicated coconut
1/2 cup dry roasted cashews
1/2 cup dry roasted almonds
5 medjool dates
Method
Pre-heat oven to 180C and line a 20cm x 20cm square baking pan with baking paper
Place the honey, tahini and peanut butter in a mixing bowl and microwave for 30 seconds. Stir to incorporate. Microwave for a further 30 seconds and stir again. Continue until the only lumps are the bits of peanuts from the crunchy peanut butter
Chop the cashews roughly and slice the almonds in to slivers
Mix the nuts, seeds, coconut and dates in to the honey mixture
Scoop the mixture in to your prepared pan and push down with the back of a fork until compressed in to the pan well.
Bake for 25-30 minutes until golden brown all over.
Allow to cool before slicing 5 times horizontally and 2 times vertically. This should result in 18 bars. Store in the fridge in an airtight container.
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