Pressed fruit and nut bar

This delicious, no cook, pressed fruit and nut bar contains a nutritious selection of ingredients including dates, seeds, oats, nuts, and dark chocolate. It is high in protein and fibre and does not contain added sugar. It would be delicious served with a glass of chilled OatDrink as a mid-morning snack and, perfect for taking along on a cold winter walk.[1]

Ingredients

Makes 20 small pieces

Dry mixture

150g of pumpkin seeds

100g desiccated coconut

20g rolled oats

20g chia seeds

Wet mixture

150g plump, soft dates, stoned

30g of cocoa powder

1 tsp of vanilla extract

3 tbsp coconut oil, melted (either for a few seconds in a microwave or in a small saucepan)

3 tbsp (50g) almond butter

50g dark chocolate (60-70% cocoa), chopped into small chips.

Method

You will need a small cake tin measuring approximately 20cm x 20cm x 5cm and some baking paper

Place the pumpkin seeds, desiccated coconut and rolled oats in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until the ingredients are roughly chopped. Empty the ingredients into a large bowl and add the chia seeds and mix well.

Now put the dates, cocoa powder, vanilla extract, melted coconut oil, and almond butter into the bowl of the food processor and process until the mixture is smooth.

Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture in the large bowl and mix well with your hands. Really scrunch the mixture well to ensure all the ingredients are mixed thoroughly.

Add the chopped dark chocolate chips to the mixture making sure the pieces are distributed throughout the mixture.

Line the base of the cake tin with baking paper. Place the fruit and nut mixture into the base of cake tin and press down firmly. If you do not have enough mixture to fill the whole of the cake tin don’t worry just fill it as far as best as you can. You are aiming to create a slab of pressed fruit and nuts measuring approximately 20cm x 20cm x 4cm.

Placed the cake tin containing the pressed fruit and nuts into the fridge and leave to cool for about an hour until the stiff to touch. Take the slab of pressed fruit and nuts out of the fridge and place on a clean chopping board. Cut the slab into 20 small pieces. Store in airtight container in the fridge

This recipe can be vegan if vegan dark chocolate is used.