These delicious muesli bars are extremely easy to make and don’t require any cooking. They can also be gluten-free and dairy-free if you use gluten-free oats and dairy-free chocolate. The recipe is versatile, so you can easily incorporate your favourite flavours, such as nuts, chocolate and dried fruit. The recipe is adapted from http://www.cookieandkate.com

Makes about 16 bars.

Ingredients.

1. 1 3/4 cups oats

2. Half a teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)

3. Half a teaspoon fine sea-salt

4. 2 cups mix-ins (eg. chopped nuts, seeds, chocolate drops, shredded coconut or dried fruit)

5. 3 tablespoons peanut butter or almond butter

6. 3 tablespoons runny honey or maple syrup

7. 1 teaspoon vanilla extract.

Method.

1. Line a 20 centimetre square baking tin with baking paper.

2. Place the oats in a large mixing bowl. Add the cinnamon and salt.

3. Add your choice of dry mix-ins.

4. Add the nut butter, honey and vanilla extract. Stir until well blended. This takes some arm muscles!

4. Transfer the mixture to the baking tin. Use your spoon to arrange the mixture fairly evenly in the tin, then use the back of a large clean spoon to pack the mixture down as firmly and evenly as possible. When packing the mixture down, it helps, if visually impaired, to go in a systematic order all over the tin, including the edges.

5. Cover the tin and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or preferably overnight. When you’re ready to slice the bars, lift the bars out of the tin by holding the lining paper then use a sharp knife to slice the bars into four even columns and four even rows, if possible.

8. Bars keep well for several days at room temperature, a couple of weeks in the fridge, or several months in the freezer.