Over the weekend I was watching The River Cottage with Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall. They made some ‘booster bars’ {aka healthy flapjacks} and I immediately had to make this recipe the moment I saw it. These simple yet super-healthy bars will fill you until lunchtime. There can be as many ingredients as you like, or as little. I cannot stress how much you need to try this recipe.

The bars got me thinking – we’re always so concerned with our outer appearance and spend countless hours prepping, plucking, and plastering our faces. So why not give the ole guts some attention? A little scrub and a high-five while you’re down there. They’ll thank you for it. They put up with a lot of crap, afterall.

Click read more below to check out Hugh’s recipe.

Ingredients

250g butter

250g peanut butter {try to use non-salted}

300g brown sugar {if there’s sugar in your  peanut butter, and if you want to be really good, you can use less brown sugar. I chose to further substitute sugar with a little extra honey, as I thought this was a lot}

Squeeze of honey

Zest from 2 oranges and 2 lemons {I only used one of each, but that’s just me}

300g dried fruits, seeds, nuts – I used poppy seeds, almonds, walnuts, sesame seeds, pine nuts, sunflower seeds, dried cranberries and a bit of dried coconut. 

400g oats

Method

Mix the sticky ingredients together in a pot with brown sugar and zest on a very low heat – all you need is to melt the butter – no simmering or boiling. Turn off heat, add the oats and nuts and stir. Heap into a large baking tin {preferably lined, since it’s tough to get out later}, and bake in the oven at 160°C for 30 minutes.

Once it’s ready, leave to sit for about 20 minutes or so until cool enough to handle, and still soft enough to cut. Cut into bars or squares and leave to cool further and harden. Eat, enjoy, and love your guts. 

Click here for a handy cooking calculator, should you prefer to measure in cups, mls, oz etc.