French glacé cherry energy bars with white chocolate drizzle

These healthy snacks are perfect for a mid-morning snack or in a lunch box

These healthy snacks are perfect for a mid-morning snack or in a lunch box. Store them in a sealed container to keep fresh for over a week.

Ingredients (makes 24 bars):

100g rolled oats 50g pecan nuts, roughly chopped 50g pistachios, roughly chopped 75g desiccated coconut 50g pumpkin seeds 30 French glacé cherries, quartered 140ml honey 75g salted butter 160g dark brown sugar 1 tbsp vanilla extract 75g puffed rice cereal A pinch of salt

100g white chocolate, chopped

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 180c. Line a 30cm x 20cm baking tin with non-stick parchment paper and set aside. Arrange the oats, pecan nuts, pistachios, and pumpkin seeds on a baking tray and bake for 8 minutes. Remove from the tray and pour into a large bowl with the coconut, puffed rice and French glacé cherries.

2. In a medium saucepan, combine the brown sugar, honey, butter and a pinch of salt. Let simmer until the sugar is dissolved and is caramel like, for about 5 minutes. Add the vanilla extract. Pour over the cereal-nuts mixture and stir well.

Press the mixture into the lined tin. Place another sheet of parchment over the mixture and place something heavy like a book over the top and let sit for an hour.

3. Melt the chocolate in a glass bowl suspended over a saucepan of boiling water. Keep stirring until melted. Alternatively, you can melt in the microwave, stirring every 30 seconds. Slice into 12 bars and drizzle each one with the chocolate.

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