National Vegetarian Week Recipe: Berry Burst Breakfast Bars

I see it is National Vegetarian Week 2012. I also see the society has released some nice recipes. Trouble is, most of them are choc full of the usual wheat and dairy, which you know I don’t like to encourage you to eat!

I did notice this nice breakfast bar recipe though so here it is for you, complete with my notes to help you make it healthier, as always! You can see the original recipe post here.

Berry Burst Breakfast Bars

A tasty solution for those who are always on the move

• Serves 4 (8 small bars)

• Preparation time 5 minutes

• Cooking time 30 minutes (plus 30 minutes cooling time)

• Can be vegan*

Ingredients

50g butter (or vegan margarine*) Ed’s note: use Pure spread, no hydrogenates or trans fats.

3 tbsp sunflower seeds, roughly chopped

3 tbsp pumpkin seeds, roughly chopped

3 tbsp sesame seeds, roughly chopped

1 ripe banana, mashed

100g rolled or jumbo oats

50g ground flaxseed

50g dried goji berries or cranberries

3 tbsp golden syrup Ed’s note: agave syrup, which has a lower GL score is much better, or even raw honey is better than this processed rubbish!

Method

1. Preheat your oven to 200C.
2. Melt the butter (or margarine*) in a small pan, then add the remaining ingredients. Mix well. 
3. Pack into a small, foil lined loaf tin (approx. 18cm x 10cm) and bake for 25-30 minutes, until crispy on top. Leave to cool for at least ten minutes before removing from the tin. Then wait a further 20 minutes before cutting into eight small bars. Ed’s note: avoid cooking on foil – all that aluminium! – use baking paper or a well-oiled tin instead.

© The Vegetarian Society 2012

Hope you enjoy those and have a nice veggie week. One way to join in would be to make sure you have two vegetarian days this week with no meat or fish. Doing this automatically increases your intake of vegetables so is a good rule for life.