Happy New Year to you all! How is everyone doing? Full of the joys? Whilst I’m missing the slow pace of the festive period, in particular afternoon nap time, I’m also really excited about many plans for 2015. So to keep me going through these grey rainy days, I’ve baked a batch of energy bars filled with nuts, seeds and fruits. Plus I got to put a lovely Christmas present from my cousin Harri into use – a beautiful new storage tin! Here it is…

So pretty!

Having baked Christmas cakes, mince pies, stollen, biscotti and more for my family over Christmas, I had a glut of leftover dried fruits and nuts, all little bits in packets taking up valuable kitchen cupboard space. This recipe makes use of all these bits and can be varied to your heart’s content. Just keep the combined weight of the various fruits/nuts/seeds the same and put in whatever you fancy.

I love making these bars, originally inspired by this recipe from Rose Prince. This time around I used up dried apricots, cranberries, flaked almonds, pumpkin, poppy and sesame seeds, linseeds and sultanas. The bars are sweetened with light muscovado sugar (I use Billingtons for a great taste) and a dash of maple syrup. You could however cut down the sugar a little if you wish and just use the natural sweetness of dried fruits.

Keeping it simple for January, there are just three basic steps. Weigh out the dried goods and sugar into a bowl. Then weigh out the butter, honey and maple syrup directly into a pan (saves on washing up!). Once melted into a syrup, pour over the dried goods and stir together before baking into bars. Then enjoy!

Ingredients

150g porridge oats

70g rye flour

20g linseeds

25g dried cranberries

45g pumpkin seeds

15g poppy seeds

70g flaked almonds

100g dried apricots, chopped

150g sultanas

1tsp bicarbonate soda

150g light muscovado sugar

100g runny honey

1tbsp maple syrup

100g butter

Method

1. Grease and line an 8” by 8” square tin. Preheat the oven to 160C.

2. Weigh out all the dried ingredients (up to and including the sugar in the list above) into a large bowl and mix together.

3. Weigh out the butter (diced), runny honey and maple syrup into a pan. Set over a gentle heat and stir continuously until all the butter is melted.

4. Pour the butter mixture over the dried ingredients, mixing well. Spread the mixture in the tin and smooth down.

5. Bake for 25 minutes, until the bars are golden and bubbling. Leave to cool a little in the tin before cutting into bars or squares as you wish.

If you’ve enjoyed this recipe, do let me know in the comments! Or why not try another – plenty of breadmaking recipes, hints and tips on my blog.

You can also join my supportive community of home bread bakers over on Facebook. From sharing great bakes and recipes to asking and answering key breadmaking questions, there’s plenty to learn and join in with.