Fruit, seed, and nut bars
3
Points®
Total time: 40 min • Prep: 5 min • Cook: 20 min • Serves: 24 • Difficulty: Easy
While energy bars are all the rage, they are also very costly. This recipe has all the flavors of the store-bought variety for a fraction of the price! Ready in only 40 minutes, these bars have fruit, seeds, nuts, oats and maple syrup for a sweet and filling combination. Even better, the recipe yields 32 bars which make for an arsenal of home snacks or a wonderful tray of tasty party bites. If you like a particular dried fruit flavor, you can use just that one for the whole batch or concentrate different fruits in different parts of the pan for a variety. Compact, portable and very satisfying, these bars are a wonderful addition to school lunches and make great snacks to keep on hand, in a purse or at the office for rushes of hunger before mealtime.
Ingredients
Cooking spray
4 spray(s)
Dried mixed fruit
1½ cup(s), such as apricots, cranberries, and raisins
Quick cooking rolled oats
1 cup(s), or old-fashioned (rolled) oats
Sunflower seeds (unsalted, dry roasted or raw, no oil or sugar added)
½ cup(s), unsalted variety
Toasted wheat germ
½ cup(s)
Chopped pecans (unsalted, raw or dry roasted, no sugar added)
½ cup(s), or walnuts
Dry nonfat milk powder (Vitamin A and D fortified)
½ cup(s)
White whole wheat flour
¼ cup(s)
Ground cinnamon
1 tsp
Table salt
½ tsp
Banana
1 medium, ripe, cut into chunks
Egg
2 large egg(s)
Maple syrup
⅓ cup(s)
Vanilla extract
1 tsp
Instructions
1
Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray 9 x 13-inch baking pan with nonstick spray.
2
Combine dried fruit, oats, sunflower seeds, wheat germ, pecans, dry milk, flour, cinnamon, and salt in food processor; pulse until dried fruit is finely chopped but not pureed. Add banana, eggs, maple syrup, and vanilla; pulse just until combined.
3
Transfer fruit mixture to prepared pan. With wet fingertips, press down to form even layer. Bake until bars are golden and firm to touch, about 20 minutes. Let cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cut into 24 bars.
4
Serving size: 1 bar
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