Breakfast Bites

Tuesday 14 January 2014

Cleaning out my kitchen cupboards this weekend I came across leftover ingredients from my marathon Christmas baking sessions. There were a few grams of this (nuts), and a few grams of that (dried fruit), as well as a myriad of other goodies.
Not being one for waste, I had a think about what I could bake to use them up without having to buy too many more ingredients with which to do so. I remembered a recipe that I have not made for a while which would be perfect - Nigella Lawson's Breakfast Bars. These are just like the cereal bars that you can buy, but so much more tasty and filling since they are packed full of oats, seeds, nuts and fruit. 
They are bound together with condensed milk, which negates some of their healthiness, I suppose, but, you could use the light version as I have done in the past. It tastes the same but has less fat.
These little bars are perfect for breakfast with a cup of tea, or as a mid-morning snack, or if you are in a hurry, a bowl of cereal and milk in a portable form.
What I like about this recipe is that it is so adaptable. The bars are delicious if you follow the recipe as given, but you can add whatever you like, or what you have to hand, keeping the condensed milk and oats quantities the same. 

Breakfast Bars
(from Nigella Express by Nigella Lawson)

1 x 397g can condensed milk
250g rolled oats (not instant)
75g shredded coconut
100g dried cranberries
125g mixed seeds (pumpkin, sunflower, sesame)
125g unsalted peanuts

1. Preheat the oven to 130 degrees C / gas mark 1/2, and grease and line a 23 x 33 x 4 cm baking tin.
2. Warm the condensed milk in a pan in order to loosen it slightly. This makes it easier to combine with the other ingredients.
3. Mix the remaining ingredients in a large bowl and add the warmed condensed milk. Mix together  thoroughly with a wooden spoon.
4. Spread the mixture into the tin and press down to even the surface with a metal spoon.
5. Bake for 1 hour and remove from the oven. After about 15 minutes cut into four across and four down, while still in the tin, to make 16 bars. 
6. Remove from the tin and allow to cool completely.
 
NB. I replaced the coconut and peanuts with leftover chopped nuts and pecans, and added some dried cherries to the cranberries which not only added to the colour, but also a welcome sweet and sour note.
 

No comments:

Post a Comment