Easy Muesli Bars

With school having been back a week already (crazy how fast time goes), I thought I would share another muesli bar recipe.  These Easy Muesli Bars make a great addition to any lunchbox and the recipe makes quite a few, so hopefully you’ll have some for a few days at least!
You can throw whatever nuts and seeds you like into this recipe.  I lazily scooped pre-mixed nuts and seeds out of the bulk bin at the supermarket to use, but you could buy individual quantities of just your favourites.  I added in dried cranberries, but again, you could swap these for your fave dried fruit; apricots, banana chip pieces, sultanas…

2 ½ cups rolled oats
½ cup shredded coconut
2 cups mixed nuts, chopped
1 cup mixed seeds
¼ cup chia seeds
¼ cup chocolate chips, optional
1cup dried cranberries
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla
½ cup honey
½ cup peanut butter
½ brown sugar*

Preheat the oven to 180°C.  Grease and line a 22 x 22 cm tin with baking paper.
In a large bowl, mix together the oats, coconut, nuts, seeds, chocolate chips and cranberries.
In a medium sized saucepan over a low heat, mix together the salt, cinnamon, vanilla, honey, peanut butter and sugar until smooth.
Pour the syrup mixture into the dry mixture and mix through until all the dry mixture has been coated by the syrup.
Press the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for approximately 30 minutes, until the top is golden.  Allow the muesli slab to cool in the tin before cutting into bars.  Store in an airtight container.

*I used Billington’s Light Muscovado Unrefinded Cane Sugar.  You can use normal brown sugar if you wish.