Healthy breakfast bars

You can put pretty much any kind of dried fruit and nuts into these bars and they are perfect if you have to ear breakfast on the go or need a healthy snack. They are also really cheap to make since they involve store cupboard ingredients that keep well. The sesame seeds in particular give a really great flavour. Of course some pumpkin seeds can be used instead of sunflower seeds but I had sunflower seeds. Any kind of sugar can be used but brown sugar gives a nice flavour and soft brown sugar has small particles that melt easier and faster. I recently got some dried pineapple, papaya and mango which I can't wait to combine with dried apricots to make tropical fruit bars.

This made 8 but it depends on how thick and large you make them.

200g oats
100g sunflower seeds
50g sesame seeds
100g butter
100g light muscovado (soft brown sugar)
Handful of mixed dried cranberries, sultanas and blueberries
Handful of dried apricots chopped into pieces
Handful of chopped walnuts
I added 2 tsp of cinnamon and some orange essence to give them a wintery taste but use whatever you feel like.

Melt the butter and sugar together and add any flavourings you may wish to use then simply stir in everything else. You can also add a couple of spoonfuls of honey, golden syrup or maple flavoured golden syrup (regular maple syrup is not viscous enough) if you see the mix as being too dry or to add extra flavour. Then press it all into a tin and bake at 160 for about half an hour. Cut into bars when warm but leave to cool completely before you try to pick them up as until the toffee hardens they will not hold together. Should keep for several days.