These gluten free muesli bars are equal parts chewy and crunchy, and can be flavoured however you like with your choice of mix-ins. They're oat and egg free, with options to also make them nut free, seed free, fruit free, low-FODMAP and vegan, it's the most versatile gluten free muesli bar recipe you'll find!
~200gyour choice of nuts/seeds/dried fruit, (approx. 1 ½ cups combined)
These Are the Mix-Ins I Used:
60gslivered almonds, (½ cup)
75gpumpkin seeds, (½ cup)
85gdried apricots, (½ cup chopped)
Instructions
Heat oven to 160°C (140°-150°C fan-forced).
Prepare an 8" (20cm) square cake pan by lining it with two strips of criss-crossed baking paper. Leave the edges overhanging, this will allow you to lift the bars out easily.
In a large bowl, crush the gluten free Weet-Bix. You can crumble them up with your hands, or crush them with the end of a rolling pin.
Stir in the rice bubbles, desiccated coconut and gluten free flour.
Prepare your chosen mix-ins by chopping them into small pieces. The size is up to you, but keep in mind that the smaller you cut them, the easier the muesli bars will be to cut into pieces. For these bars, I roughly ran the knife through the slivered almonds and pumpkin seeds, and chopped the dried apricots into ½ cm pieces.
Add the mix-ins into the bowl and stir to combine. To avoid clumps of sticky dried fruit, I like to rub the mixture between my (clean!) hands to coat the pieces of fruit with the dry ingredients to stop them from sticking together.
Place the coconut oil, honey, brown sugar, vanilla and salt into a small saucepan and whisk gently over medium heat until melted and dissolved. Keep whisking until the mixture is smooth and well combined, this may take a few minutes.
Bring the mixture to a boil, then pour it into the dry ingredients, and mix to combine. It may take a minute for all of the dry ingredients to be coated with the wet. Make sure you mix it well to avoid dry spots, which will then crumble when the bars are cut.
Tip the mixture into the prepared cake pan and spread evenly. Press the mixture down firmly using the back of a spoon or the bottom of a glass.
Bake for 20-25 minutes or until just lightly browned on top. Keep a close eye on it towards the end of the cooking time, as it can start to burn quickly.As soon as it comes out of the oven, use the back of a spoon or a spatula to gently press the mixture down - this will help compact it and make it less crumbly once cool.
Allow to cool completely in the tin, then use a large sharp knife to cut it into 12 bars. (Cut in half vertically, then cut in half horizontally, and cut each of those halves into three, for 12 even bars). For younger kids' lunchboxes, you can cut them into smaller pieces if you like.
The muesli bars will keep in an airtight container at cool room temperature for at least a week. In summer you may need to pop them into the fridge.If popping into lunchboxes, it's helpful to wrap the bars in baking paper, a beeswax wrap or plastic wrap to avoid them becoming sticky with moisture from other lunchbox items.
Notes
Measurements - Using the weight measurements will always give you more consistent results, however cup measurements also work fine in this recipe so I have included those as well.Coconut oil - can be measured in liquid or solid form. Both weigh the same when measuring by weight, and the difference in cup measurement is negligible.
Dietary swaps
Please see the recipe post for a full list of ingredient substitutions that can be used in this recipe.Nut free - Choose seeds and/or fruit as mix-ins rather than nuts, and check the packaging of all ingredients for nut allergen warnings.Seed free - Choose nuts and/or fruit as mix-ins instead of seeds.Vegan - Use rice syrup instead of honey. Rice syrup is also known as rice malt syrup, however it does not contain barley malt, and is gluten free. Rice syrup makes for a slightly crunchier muesli bar.Low FODMAP - Choose rice syrup instead of honey, and nuts and/or seeds as mix-ins instead of fruit. Some dried fruits can be eaten in specific small amounts on a low FODMAP diet, I recommend downloading the Monash University FODMAP app, as it can tell you possible safe serving sizes for FODMAP-containing foods.
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