Healthy Cranberry & Orange Oat Bars

I love Christmas. I love the decorations, I love the atmosphere, I love spending time with my favourite people and most importantly I love the food. Just say the word cinnamon and mixed spice to me and i’m all ears (and mouth).

These cranberry and orange oat bars are probably one of the best creations I’ve made to date. I admit – I didn’t expect much from these but the flavour is amazing. It’s packed with the essential Christmas flavours whilst having a nice texture. They’re not too sweet – in fact, they’re just right and can be a perfect breakfast or snack option as well. I was also impressed with the ingredients too. I tried to make them as healthy as possible so I’m happy to say they’re free from refined sugar, dairy and are vegan friendly.

The best thing? My colleagues loved them. So much so that I was asked for the recipe! Now if that doesn’t tempt you I don’t know what will…

Ingredients

400g oats
200ml water
4 tbsp chia seeds with 12 tbsp water
20 dates
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (or coconut oil)
100g dried cranberries
100g raisins
2 tbsp cinnamon
Sprinkle of nutmeg
100g pumpkin seeds
100g nuts (optional)
1 tbsp Sweet Freedom fruit syrup

Method

Begin by pre-heating your oven to gas mark 6.

In a small bowl mix the chia seeds and 12 tbsp water and leave to set for 10/15 minutes until a gel forms. In a pan heat the dates and olive oil for 10 minutes until soft. Once this is done add the pan contents to a food processor and blend whilst slowly adding the 200ml water – if a paste forms before all the water has been added then leave the rest.

In a bowl mix together the oats, fruits, cinnamon and seeds. Add the paste and fruit syrup and mix all the contents together. Once the chia seeds have set you can finally add this to the bowl.

In a lined pan (I used 8×8) add the mixture and even the layer out. Place in the middle of the oven and bake for 35 minutes or until the top is golden brown. Once done, remove the pan and leave to cool.

Cut, serve and EAT. Enjoy and let me know if you try them! Like I said, my colleague’s went bonkers for them. Nomnomnomnom.

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