Fruit and nut muesli bars

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These chewy fruit and nut muesli bars are an absolute treat! Dried fruit, nuts and seeds are held together with a mixture of peanut butter and honey, and flavoured with choc-chips to satisfy those of you with a sweet tooth!

Three fruit and nut muesli bars piled on top of each other.

What I love about these fruit and nut bars is how easy the recipe is to customise. As long as you stick to three basic ingredients of oats, peanut butter and honey, you can customise the rest of the ingredients to your heart's content.

And in addition, you don't need to use your oven. Simply boil the honey and peanut butter together until it forms a sticky toffee-like consistency, mix in the rest of the ingredients and spread it into a dish. A quick 10-minute job and you're done!

What you end up with is a deliciously chewy muesli bar that is perfect for a quick snack, a tea-time treat or a breakfast on the go. These fruit and nut bars are also perfect for packing into a lunchbox for a mid-day energy boost.

The granola bars stay soft and chewy, with a delightful crunch from the nuts and seeds, for days in an airtight container in the kitchen. The ingredients are all shelf-stable, so there's no need to keep these fruit and nut bars in the refrigerator.

For this recipe, I've used pumpkin and sunflower seeds, plump raisins, mixed nuts, coconut, sesame seeds and a few chocolate chips thrown in for good measure. However, as long as you stick to around 1.5 cups of mixed fruit, nuts and seeds, you can customise the ingredients to suit yourself.

Overhead close up shot of sliced muesli bars.

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What you will need
Instructions
Tips for perfect results
Variations
Storage
FAQ
Save for later
Related recipes
📋The recipe

Let's get on with the recipe!

What you will need

Equipment

To make the toffee you will need a small saucepan, and for mixing the muesli bars you will need a large mixing bowl. The mixing bowl should be microwave-proof in case you need to soften the mixture while you are forming the bars.

Once everything has been mixed together, you will need a 10" x 7" baking dish or similar. I recommend you line the baking dish with baking parchment to make it easier to get the granola bars out of the dish once they have cooled.

Ingredients

I normally cut these fruit and nut bars into 18 to 20 pieces, but you can cut them to whatever size you prefer.

Honey - this acts as a sweetener and also helps to hold the mixture together.
Peanut butter - I used my favourite brand of smooth peanut butter, but there's no reason you couldn't use crunchy peanut butter instead.
Oats - regular porridge oats that you can find in any supermarket. Along with the honey and peanut butter, these form the basis of the fruit and nut bars.
Chopped nuts - I just bought a packet of mixed nuts and chopped them roughly with a sharp knife. They don't need to be chopped too finely so I wouldn't use a food processor. You can use whatever nuts you prefer, just make sure to use unsalted nuts.
Coconut - this is sweetened desiccated shredded coconut.
Raisins - I used raisins because that was what I had in the kitchen at the time. You can substitute these with sultanas or currants.
Sesame seeds - if you don't like these you can leave them out, or substitute with chia seeds.
Pumpkin seeds - I had a packet of mixed pumpkin and sunflower seeds so I used those.
Cinnamon - this is ground cinnamon and adds a lovely flavour. Leave it out if you prefer, or perhaps substitute it with mixed spice.
Chocolate chips - for added sweetness. If you don't want to add chocolate you could substitute these with extra fruit or nuts.

**You can find the exact quantities of ingredients on the printable recipe card at the end of this post**

Instructions

Peanut butter and honey heated in a saucepan to form a sticky toffee.

Place the honey and the peanut butter into a small saucepan and stir over low heat until the mixture starts to form a toffee-like consistency. You will know it is ready when it starts to pull away from the sides of the pan as you are stirring. Set aside.

Dry ingredients for fruit and nut bars in a white mixing bowl.

Place the remaining ingredients (except the chocolate chips) into a large mixing bowl.

Dry ingredients for fruit and nut bars mixed together in a white mixing bowl.

Stir well to combine.

Penut butter and honey mixed with the dry ingredients in a white mixing bowl.

Spoon in the warm peanut butter and honey mixture and stir until all the ingredients are well-coated. Then stir again to make sure!

Chocolate chips stirred into the mixture.

By this time the mixture will have cooled down enough to add the chocolate chips. Stir them through the mixture.

Fruit and nut muesli mixture pressed into a baking dish lined with baking parchment.

Press the mixture into a baking dish lined with baking parchment. Press down well so that the mixture is firmly packed. Place the dish into the refrigerator to cool and harden.

Fruit and nut muesli bars cut into slices.

Once cooled, remove the fruit and nut mixture from the baking dish and cut into slices.

Tips for perfect results

Here are my top tips to ensure a perfect outcome:

When heating the peanut butter and honey, do this over low heat. Stir continually while the honey heats and the peanut butter melts. Once the honey and peanut butter have combined, continue to stir for a further 2 to 3 minutes until the mixture starts to form a ball of soft toffee and comes away from the sides of the pan. Remove from the heat immediately. Don't overcook or it will become too hard to combine with the other ingredients.
When mixing the toffee mixture with the dry ingredients, make sure to mix thoroughly so that everything is well coated. If the mixture becomes too hard to mix easily, pop the bowl into the microwave and heat for 15 seconds on full power to soften the mixture slightly.
If you are using chocolate chips, do not add them until the mixture has cooled. This will ensure the chocolate does not melt.
I would strongly recommend lining your baking dish with baking parchment to enable you to remove the slab of muesli bars easily.
Once cooled, remove the fruit and nut mixture from the baking tin and use a sharp knife to cut into slices.
Store the fruit and nut bars in a covered container in a cool place in the kitchen.

Variations

You can use a mixture of whatever fruit, nuts and seeds you prefer. Dried cranberries, sultanas, chia seeds, almonds, walnuts, cashews, the list is endless. You are limited only by your imagination.

For this recipe, you will need to use around one and a half cups of mixed fruit, nuts and seeds. This is in addition to the oats.

If you don't want to use chocolate chips, substitute them for a mixture of extra fruit / nuts / seeds. There's also nothing stopping you from drizzling a little melted chocolate over the fruit and nuts bars.

Close up of a side-on view of a fruit and nut muesli bar.

Storage

I haven't tried to freeze these granola bars so I'm afraid I can't tell you whether they freeze well or not.

However, they will keep well for over 2 weeks in a cool place in your kitchen. You can also store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

FAQ

What's the difference between muesli and granola?

They are both very similar.
Muesli is made with a mixture of oats, dried fruit, nuts and seeds. Granola is made with a similar mixture but is sweetened with honey or maple syrup.
Muesli is normally eaten raw whereas granola is usually baked.
Muesli has a softer texture; granola tends to be more crunchy.

Are fruit and nut bars good for you?

These fruit and nut bars can provide a variety of dietary benefits, including an energy boost from the complex carbohydrates. They provide essential vitamins and minerals from nuts, fruit and seeds, and are a good source of fibre which aids in digestion.

Save for later

If you would like to try these muesli bars, why not save the recipe to one of your Pinterest boards so you can find it easily? Just click on the image below.

Alternatively, you can save the recipe by clicking on the floating heart icon on the right-hand side of the screen.

Here are a few similar recipes you may like to try:

You can find these and many more similar recipes on my cake, biscuits and dessert recipes page.

📋The recipe

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