Healthy Chocolate Caramel Muesli Bar
Thanks to Georgia Harding from Well Nourished for this delicious muesli bar recipe. Georgia has an abundance of tasty recipes so be sure to check out her website, Well Nourished.
PREP 15 MINUTES
COOK 20 MINUTES
TOTAL 35 MINUTES
SERVES: 18 SLICES
A sweet, sticky muesli bar that freezes really well for a quick, easy to pack lunchbox snack.
Ingredients
Base / crumble
125 g butter -cubed
170 g rice malt syrup, honey or maple syrup (½ cup)
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
120 g mixed seeds (1 cup approx.) I used sunflower seeds and pepitas
120 g wholemeal spelt flour (1 cup)
200 g rolled oats (2 cups) or quinoa flakes (or a mixture)
30 g cacao (4 tbs approx.) unsweetened Dutch process or raw
Caramel
115 g rice malt syrup, honey or maple syrup (⅓ cup)
120 ml coconut milk (½ cup) preferably full-fat, I use Ayam brand
Pinch sea salt
Method
Pre-heat the oven to 180℃ / 350℉.
Begin with the caramel.
In a small pot mix the sweetener, coconut milk and sea salt and bring to a bubbling simmer. Simmer rapidly (it looks a bit foamy on top) for about 10 + minutes or until the caramel starts to thicken. Remove from the heat and allow to cool (it will further thicken as it cools).
Whilst the caramel cooks/cools, make the slice.
In a small pot melt the butter and sweetener, mixing to combine. Add the bicarb and stir well.
Place the seeds in a food processor and grind into a meal. Add the flour, oats (or quinoa flakes) and cacao and mix until well combined.
Add the butter/ sweetener mix and process to combine. The mixture should come together into a coarse dough.
Line a small tin (27cm x 18cm) with baking paper. Press ⅔ of the mixture into the base of the tin and press very down firmly with wet hands. I like to make sure the outer edges sit a little higher than the middle so I get an even coverage without the caramel making its way down the sides.
Top with the caramel. It is not a thick layer as a traditional slice would be, rather a randomly gooey, thin layer. More caramel means a lot of sugar which is why I've kept it minimal.
Crumble the remaining dough over the caramel pressing lightly.
Bake for approximately 20 minutes or until just golden brown.
Allow to cool in the pan, refrigerate until firm and then cut into slices (chilling it allows for it to be sliced without crumbling).
Thermomix Method
Caramel
Heat the sweetener, coconut milk and sea salt, 10-15 minutes, temp varoma, speed 3 (cap ajar or off so the steam can escape) or until it thickens (this can vary a bit). You can set this aside to cool and use the bowls without washing it.
Base
Grind your seeds and set aside. No need to rinse the bowl.
Melt the butter and sweetener 1 minute, temp 90, speed 3 or until melted and combined. Add the bicarb and mix 5 seconds speed 3.
Add the rest of the base ingredients and the butter/sweetener and mix 15 seconds, speed 4. You may need to scrape the sides a few times to fully combine.
Assemble as above.
Store
Airtight in the fridge or freezer. You can pack in school lunch boxes from frozen.
Variations
Gluten-free
Substitute the spelt for gluten-free flour and the oats with quinoa flakes (rolled quinoa).
Dairy-free
Substitute the butter with coconut oil.
Vegan
Chose rice malt or maple syrup as your sweetener. Substitute the butter with coconut oil.
Nutty
The seeds can be substituted with any nuts. I love this with chopped hazelnuts or pecans or walnuts.
Coconut-free
Replace the coconut milk in the caramel with regular cream.
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