4 Ingredient Muesli Bars

Sugar Free, Dairy Free, Grain Free, Nut Free, Egg Free, Paleo, Low Carb, Vegan, full of probiotics + lunch box and school friendly!

4-INGREDIENT_MUESLI_BAR_by_Jordan_Pie_Nutritionist_Photographer-1.jpg

I recently reviewed a variety of supposed ‘healthy’ muesli bars over on my Instagram stories. There were some not so great options, like this Strawberry’s & Cream Muesli Bar from Carman’s.

Whole Grain Oats 54%, Glucose, Chicory Fibre, Yoghurt Compound 6% (Sugar, Vegetable Oil, Yoghurt Powder, Milk Solids, Emulsifier [Sunflower Lecithin], Food Acid [330], Natural Flavour), Puffed Rice, Sunflower Oil, Linseeds, Strawberry Pieces 2% (Strawberry Puree 30%), Golden Syrup, Cream Powder 0.6%, Natural Flavour, Humectant (Glycerin [Plant Derived]).

All the additives are in BOLD

  • NATURAL FLAVOURS can be made of up-to 50 different chemical ingredients + there’s two of them in this bar!

  • It also contains VEGETABLE & SUNFLOWER OILS which are HIGHLY processed and refined, they’re unstable, oxidise easily and contain harmful additives! They’re also derived from genetically modified crops and when they’re repeatedly heated, even more toxic byproducts are created. You can read more on why I never consume vegetable oil HERE and more about sunflower oil HERE - it’s not as healthy as it sounds!

  • FOOD ACID- CITRIC ACID (330) seems to be on just about every label I check. It’s used as a natural preservative in food products as it prevents oxidation from occurring. However, it can be produced from a fungus called “Aspergillus niger” (a disease that causes black mold) and is fed onto a sugar containing medium. After the mold is filtered out of the resulting solution, citric acid is isolated using other chemicals and extracted using sulfuric acid.⁣⁣⁣ It has also been found to exacerbate arthritic symptoms and erode tooth enamel. You can read more about it HERE.

  • GLUCOSE + GOLDEN SYRUP are both forms of highly processed sugars with no nutritional value.

So, can you see why I’m not a huge fan of the Carman’s muesli bars?

However, I also shared some fabulous store bought options, such as; The Daily Bar - they have a range of delicious sounding flavours, all made from organic, real foods! CeresOrganic also had some delicious raw bars made from dates or figs + nuts and a variety of other ingredients like vanilla, cinnamon, orange, peppermint or lemon oil depending on the flavoured bar. Kez’s Kitchen are another great option, they have ‘naked bars’ made from dates, coconut, sunflower and chia seeds.

However, some of those store bought options can be pretty expensive ($3.50 per bar!) and every single option I’ve seen so far contains dates (or dried fruits), which are quite high in natural sugars. If you’re looking to save some $$$ or if you're on a low carb, ketogenic or sugar free diet and don’t want to eat that much (natural) sugar. Well, same! Don’t get me wrong, I love how versatile dates can be, but I don’t love the high amounts of natural sugar, nor does my blood sugar. So my solution is to ferment them! I've been fermenting dates for years now as covering them in coconut kefir and fermenting them for a period of time, creates sugar free, probiotic dates. Plus the health benefits of the dates will also be enhanced because the nutrients and minerals are more bioavailable, they’ll also be easier to digest and be gentler on your gut. You can read more about fermenting fresh, dried or even frozen fruits HERE.

4_INGREDIENT_MUESLI_BARS_by_Jordan_Pie_Nutritionist_Photographer-1.jpg

If you’d like to have a low sugar or sugar free muesli bar, I suggest fermenting the dates (or dried fruit of your choice - sultanas, figs, apricots ect) 1-2 days before you would like to make this recipe - as you’ll need at least 1 day for fermenting the dates and 1/2 a day for dehydrating the dates. I often make up large batches of fermented dried fruits, dehydrate them in the oven until they resemble their original sticky texture, and either freeze them in zip lock bags, or store them in an air tight container in the fridge (which extends the shelf life of them) to use in recipes later on.

Or if you simply couldn’t be bothered, that’s cool too. Just use dried fruit of your choice in this recipe and make sure they’re free of added sugars, vegetable oils and preservatives.

INGREDIENTS

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Add the fermented and dehydrated apricots, pumpkin seeds and shredded coconut into a food processor or thermomix. Blitz to combine. Don’t over blend the mix as you don’t want to puree it, you want some texture.

  2. Add in the honey to taste if you want it a little sweeter. Give it a quick blitz to combine.

  3. If the mixture is too wet, add in a touch more shredded coconut. Or if you need a few more dried apricots, blend them in. You’ll know when you have the perfect consistency when you press some of the mixture in between your two fingers it will stick together nicely.

  4. Press the mixture into a lined slice tray evenly.

  5. Melt 1/2 block of your chosen chocolate in a small saucepan over a low heat. You can add in 1 Tbsp coconut oil to speed up the melting process and stir to combine. Remove from the heat.

  6. Pour the melted chocolate into a zip lock back and seal it up. Cut one of the corners of the bad and drizzle the melted chocolate over the top of the muesli slab

  7. Place them back into the fridge to set.

  8. Slice into bars or squares and store in an air tight container in the fridge, or place into ziplock bags and freeze.



LUNCH BOX TIPS

  • Pop into a small container, or wrap a small piece of baking paper around the bars to act as the ‘packaging’ and pop them into a lunch box with a small ice brick.

  • Or alternatively, freeze it overnight, pop the frozen bar into the lunchbox and it should be defrosted and ready to be eaten by morning tea.

4_INGREDIENT_MUESLI_BARS_PORTRAIT_by_Jordan_Pie_Nutritionist_Photographer-1.jpg

For even more delicious, healthy, low carb, gluten free, grain free and sugar free desserts and sweet snacks, checkout my Just Desserts eBook