I have felt totally exhausted and under the weather this week……. I have no idea why, but I suspect it may be a hint of hay fever which has hit with the warmer Spring weather and the vast fields of yellow rape seed which are in full flower all over the place right now. It gets me every year!
Consequently, I have been neglecting all things ‘blog’ and have been crashing into bed by 9 in the evening in order to get enough energy to be awake for work the next day. I’ve finally succumbed to a pack of anti-histamine tablets in the hope that it may help to sort out my fuzzy, tired head.
When you feel that whammed, a good breakfast becomes even more important to help survive the hours ahead. A few weeks back, I posted my Instant Fruit & Nut Porridge Pots which are great to take into work for a filling, energy-full, sustaining breakfast. But with the warmer weather, porridge feels a bit heavy and I need an equally nutritious, easy to transport alternative.
There are quite a few gluten free energy and breakfast bars available in the shops these days, which is great to see…… Many of them have a base of dates, nuts or seeds. Some of them are delicious (I am particularly impressed by the Nakd Bars which are very natural), but nothing beats home-made slices of goodness, put together with all our favourite ingredients.
They are so easy to make too….. mix all the ingredients together, squish into a tin, bake and cut.
Apart from a handful of dark chocolate chips (I just can’t resist I am afraid……. but you can use carob chips instead or leave out altogether), these Oatie Choc-Nut Breakfast Bars are full of great stuff….. oats, nuts, seeds, vanilla bean, cocoa…… all sweetened with natural honey and maple syrup. You can adjust the honey and maple syrup to taste, but the quantities here are not over-sweet and I think, are well balanced alongside the rest of the ingredients, for a fuel-filled grab and go breakfast. The dense texture, creamy with oats and a good crunchy bite feels substantial and satisfying. Stuffed with peanut butter, peanut flour, hazelnuts, almonds and flax, they have a wonderfully nutty taste and aroma……
Mine never make it as far as the office……..
I am sharing my breakfast bars with :
Free From Fridays with Emma at the Free From Farmhouse.
Oatie Choc-Nut Breakfast Bars
Ingredients
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
Method
- Base-line an 8 inch/23 cm square baking tin with baking paper.
- Pre-heat the oven to 170 C/325 F/Gas 3.
- In a large bowl, mix together the oats, flours, flax seed, cocoa, nuts and chocolate chips.
- Add the honey, maple syrup, vanilla and peanut butter and thoroughly combine. You may find it easier mixing with your hands.
- Tip the mix into the baking tin and spread evenly.
- Use the base of a glass or a small rolling pin to compress the mixture in the tin and smooth the surface.
- Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until the edges are just beginning to darken.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly before carefully removing from the tin to a chopping board.
- When completely cool, place in the fridge to chill on the board for about 45 minutes before carefully cutting into slices with a very sharp knife.
- Store in an airtight container.
I made these for my son – he liked them. I didn’t have peanut flour, so somewhat randomly subbed 7g ground linseed and 8g buckwheat! They produced quite a hard bar. I couldn’t get the top flat like your picture, even pushing down with another small roasting tin, so they look rather rustic!
Hi Yvette
I’m glad your son liked them. I love that you made some subs!
Re dryness… I suspect that taking out the peanut flour would have had an impact on the moisture levels. Peanut flour has a natural oil level that would support texture, whereas linseed and buckwheat will absorb the moisture, leaving the bake dryer harder (like you found).
You could try grinding some peanuts at home, or maybe substituting with a little almond flour?
I hope that helps xx
And hope you are feeling better now. I have a friend who suffers badly from hay fever – she swears by homoeopathy.
Thanks Choclette….. yeah…… how did you miss this post?
I found the peanut flour in Tesco of all places! As for chocolate? Rest assured there are no aspertions cast! There have been a few occasions when readers have indicated they are dairy free or vegan and so I do my best where chocolate can be substituted to let them know that! But life without chocolate in my house? Hell no!
As for the hay fever….. Seems to be easing off now. Turns out I also had a nasty bout of infected sinuses which may have been triggered by the hay fever….. Much better for a few days off work and a week of (sshhh) antibiotics!
How did I miss this post? Your bars sound so delicious with all that peanut butter and hazelnuts, although I am slightly affronted about the aspirations cast on the chocolate 😉 I didn't know you could get peanut flour, so that's interesting. Your photos are brilliant as ever. Thanks for joining in with #WeShouldCocoa.
These look absolutely gorgeous – caught them in a tweet by AMummyToo. Pinned for later – as we're not GF I'd have to explore where to get the ingredients from. (Would it be bad to just make with ordinary oats? Or would it all go horribly wrong?)
Thank you Jax. Glad you like the look of them. Ordinary oats are fine. The only difference with GF ones are that they have been grown and processed well away from the risk of any cross contamination with glutenous grains….
It's really easy to make your own oat flour providing you have a food processor and easy to grind your own hazelnuts if you need to as well. All the other ingredients are generally available in larger supermarkets. Not sure where you live, but I get my peanut flour and flax seed from Tesco!
Let me know how you get on if you try them x
Hope you are feeling better by now – Hayfever is horrid isn't it? Mine is only just starting and I'm miserable already. Your bars look so tasty – You definitely have a knack of making GF food look so appealing. Thanks for joining in with #Bakeoftheweek New roundup now open x
Thanks Helen.
Hope you don't suffer too much!!!
These look amazing, I make various healthy bars for my 5 year old, must blog about them some time! Boo to the hayfever, am suffering too!
Thank you! My daughter loves these bars (which is a bonus (and I think a compliment) as she can be pretty fussy)….. It's great when you can find something healthy that they really enjoy!
Sorry to hear you are suffering from the dreaded HF too! Hopefully it will calm down soon x
Aghhhhh!!! These look flippin lovely…as always! Sorry to hear you are suffering. That is rubbish 🙁
Aghhhhh!!! These look flippin lovely…as always! Sorry to hear you are suffering. That is rubbish 🙁
Thanks Vicki…… Hopefully will feel better soon!!!
Aww hope you feel better and that hay fever season goes away STAT. I'm assuming it's a seasonal thing? These bars look delicious! Thanks for sharing 🙂
#recipeoftheweek
.:Marta:.
Thank you Marta. Always good to share! Thanks for popping over!
Yes…. hay fever is seasonal thing…… Hopefully it will be under control soon x
I really love the look of these bars. Your gluten free food looks always so delicious. A proof that gluten free can be just as good. I think tiredness comes with the spring too. We all feel more tired at this time of year. I find that a sugar and yeast free diet makes me feel better at times.
Have a good week! x
Thank you Alida! Hopefully there will be lots of summer warmth soon to liven things up!
Yum! These bars look like they have so much texture! They sound delish!
Thanks Alexa. Popped over to your blog….. Those vegan cheese cakes sound divine!
These look absolutely lovely!
Thank you so much!
They looks so scrummy and great that they are gluten free too. Popping over from Recipe of the week
Thank you so much for popping over and for your kind comments!
I can't resist choc chips either – these look lovely – just the sort of snack I know I should be eating – and I love the phone and car keys in the photo because that is the sort of snack I often want to grab as I run out the door too
Thanks Johanna. Chocolate chips seem to sneak their way into too many things that I make…. But I can still feel virtuous on this recipe with all the other good things in there!
I was really pleased with the photo…. I rarely get time to sit down and eat breakfast, so it seemed apt to include the phone and keys!