Granola bars

I'm posting this as it was on my instagram feed and a few of you asked for the recipe!

This recipe comes from my friend Alastair, who during the lock down has published a wonderfully entertaining daily newspaper for his friends and family and this recipe was included one day.  Alastair is a very creative and talented theatre director and if you like this recipe, then try his plays over at http://www.originaltheatre.com/ which you will enjoy even more. 

I slightly changed it to not have quite so many nuts (the original recipe called for 400g) and less honey too (originally recipe used 200g) and it still worked really well. The reason for this change was that I didn't have enough honey or nuts so just went with what I had! 

Ingredients:

300g nuts of your choice, chopped but not too small. I used pistachios, almonds, pecans and brazils which is what I had in the cupboard but any nut will work, I'm sure. 

200g oats

100g honey

75g canola oil (but I'm sure you could use butter or coconut oil here too)

125g dried fruit of your choice, chopped.

rind of one orange

Method:

Preheat a fan oven to 140c and line a rectangular baking tray with baking paper. The tin I used was about 23cm long x 18cm wide.

Heat oil, honey and orange rind over low heat.

Once the oil/honey mixture is warmed, combine it with the oats, fruit and nuts. 

Press the mixture into the baking tray and cook for one hour.

When you remove it from the oven, press the mixture down again and then leave it to cool, preferably until the morning and cut it when completely cool.

You can also bake this loosely on a baking sheet if you just want it as granola!

Perfect with a cup of tea for breakfast. Or lunch. Or anytime!  xx