Crispy Apricot And Chocolate Muesli Bars

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Crispy Apricot and Chocolate Muesli Bars - Chelsea Winters: Homemade happiness

Ingredients:
2 cups rolled oats
2 cups desiccated coconut
1 cup very finely chopped nuts of your choice
1 cup dried sunflower seeds
2 cups dried apricots
2 cups chopped pitted dates
1 cup extra virgin coconut oil
½ cup firm honey
½ cup water or orange juice
2 tsp vanilla essence or paste
2 cups rice bubbles
200g dark chocolate finely chopped

Preheat oven to 180 degrees fan-bake. Line the base of one large or 2 smaller baking trays with baking paper - Let the baking paper stick up over the edges so you can use it to pull out the slice later.

Add the oats, coconut, nuts and seeds to the prepared tray, and bake in the oven for about 10 minutes, mixing them up halfway through, until they start to turn golden. Remove and cool slightly.

Add the chopped apricots, dates, coconut oil, honey, orange juice or water and vanilla to a saucepan over a medium heat. Simmer gently over a medium-low heat for about 10 minutes, stirring, until the fruit is very mushy. Cool down to warm.

To your largest mixing bowl, add the toasted oat mixture, the rice bubbles and the apricot mixture, and stir together with a wooden spoon or combine with clean hands.

Scatter chopped chocolate evenly over the base of your tray/s. Add the slice mixture and press down evenly with as much pressure as you can - really get it packed down as firmly as possible so it doesn't fall apart later.

Refrigerate for at least an hour, or until firm enough to slice. Remove the slice from the tray and slice into squares or bars. Store in an airtight container or ziplock bag in the fridge to keep them from going too soft.

Keeps for weeks in the fridge. You can also freeze these bars in a ziplock back for up to a month.