Nut Free Muesli Bars
These nut free muesli bars are a great option for school lunches, especially if your kids’ school is nut free like mine.
The best part is, these nut free muesli bars require no baking, and take just 10 minutes to make. I’ve even been known to be drizzling chocolate over the top as I hurriedly make lunches in the morning.
An added bonus to this recipe is that it is also fructose free, as it only uses rice malt syrup to sweeten.
I made my own sunflower seed butter for this recipe. If don’t want to make it yourself, then you should be able to buy it from the health food section of a supermarket, or health food shops.
I found sunflower seed butter surprisingly easy to make, and it certainly worked out cheaper!
Options:
If you don’t need to worry about nut restrictions, you can replace the sunflower seed butter with any other nut or seed butters. The muesli bars may end up sweeter though, because sunflower seed butter can be quite bitter.
You can swap other syrups for rice malt syrup. This recipe will only work with syrups of thicker consistency, like golden or possibly date syrup. I don’t think maple syrup would be thick enough.
Gluten free: To ensure this recipe is gluten free, make sure you use certified gluten free oats.
To Make:
The first step to make these nut free muesli bars is to melt the sunflower seed butter and rice malt syrup together until combined. Then add the vanilla.
Simply add the melted seed butter mixture to the dry ingredients and mix with a spoon all of the dry ingredients are coated.
Press the mixture into a lined baking dish, and refrigerate until firm.
Drizzle with dark chocolate.
To Make Sunflower Seed Butter:
To make sunflower seed butter, roast at least 2 cups of sunflower seeds in the oven at 180 degrees C for 10 minutes until lightly browned, stirring the seeds halfway.
Place hot seeds in a food processor and process for 3 – 5 minutes until smooth, scraping down the sides occasionally.
You can add a small amount of dry sweetener if the seed butter is too bitter. I usually add 2 teaspoons of coconut sugar.
If you’re looking for other ideas for nut free school lunches, try my nut free banana muffins.
Nut Free Muesli Bars
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup Sunflower Seed Butter
- 1/3 cup Rice Malt Syrup
- 1 tspn Vanilla Extract
- 1 cup Rolled Oats
- 1 cup Rice Puffs
- 1/2 cup Pumpkin Seeds (pepitas)
- 50 g Dark chocolate optional
Instructions
- Line a small rectangular baking dish with baking paper.
- Place oats, rice puffs and pumpkin seeds in a medium sized bowl. Set aside.
- Place sunflower seed butter and rice malt syrup in a small saucepan over low heat. Stir until melted and combined. Add Vanilla Extract and stir through.
- Pour sunflower seed butter mix over dry ingredients. Stir with a wooden spoon until all dry ingredients are coated.
- Pour mix into baking dish. Press into dish with the back of the wooden spoon until flat on top.
- Refrigerate to harden for 3 – 4 hours, or overnight.
- Melt the dark chocolate in a heat proof bowl in the microwave. Cook for 30 second bursts, stirring between each. Drizzle melted chocolate over the top of the muesli bars.
- Cut into 10 rectangles to serve.
| Nutrient | Per Serve | Per 100g |
|---|---|---|
| Energy | 564kJ (135cal) | 1731kJ (414cal) |
| Protein | 3.81g | 11.68g |
| Carbohydrates | 16.83g | 51.67g |
| Fat | 5.56g | 17.08g |
| Iron | 1.43mg | 4.38mg |
| Zinc | 1.08mg | 3.3mg |
| Calcium | 20.64mg | 63.33mg |
| Fibre | 1.56g | 4.79g |
