Dried Fruit and Nut Bars

Details

This bar recipe from The Eat-Clean Diet Vegetarian Cookbook is very flexible, as long as you keep the proportions the same. Feel free to make it your own by changing up the dried fruits and nuts to suit your tastes.

Ingredients

• ½ cup / 120 ml whole oat flour
• 2 Tbsp / 30 ml oat bran
• 2 Tbsp / 30 ml Sucanat or other unrefined sugar
• ¼ tsp / 1.25 ml baking soda
• ¼ tsp / 1.25 ml baking powder
• ¼ tsp / 1.25 ml ground cinnamon
• Pinch freshly grated nutmeg
• ¼ tsp / 1.25 ml sea salt
• 2 Tbsp / 30 ml flaxseed
• ¼ cup / 60 ml hulled hemp seeds
• 1½ cups / 360 ml combination almonds, walnuts and pecans, coarsely chopped
• ½ cup / 120 ml dried cranberries
• ½ cup / 120 ml dried blueberries
• ½ cup / 120 ml dried cherries
• ½ cup / 120 ml dried dates or prunes, coarsely chopped
• ½ cup / 120 ml dried apricots, coarsely chopped
• ½ cup / 120 ml dried pears or apples, coarsely chopped
• 1 whole egg + 2 egg whites
• ½ tsp / 2.5 ml vanilla extract

Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 325°F (160°C). Line an 8 x 8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper, allowing a little extra to hang out the two opposite sides.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, oat bran, Sucanat, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Stir in flaxseed, hemp seeds, almonds, walnuts, pecans and dried fruit, and mix well.
3. In a separate bowl, beat whole egg, egg whites and vanilla extract until thick and foamy. Add to fruit and nut mixture and mix thoroughly.
4. Scrape into prepared pan, pressing mixture into edges. Bake on center rack of oven for about 30 minutes. Remove and let cool slightly. Lift bars out of pan by holding onto edges of parchment paper. Let finish cooling on a wire rack. Use a sharp chef’s knife to cut into 16 bars.

Tosca's Tip

These bars will keep at room temperature for one week or individually wrapped in the freezer for up to three months.