I just love a recipe that not only tastes great but is good for you too. I knew as soon as I saw these bars on Roxana's blog, A little bit of Everything, I would have to make them as my Friday treat.
These bars are so adaptable - follow the basic recipe and add whatever fruits, nuts, and seeds you prefer. My dried fruit came from a bag of Sunsweet Antioxidant Blend - blueberries, cherries, cranberries, and plums - as well as some raisins that I added to the mix. My other changes were to add some flax seeds and spelt flour to the mix, and I slightly increased the apple sauce to accommodate this. I used 2 whole eggs but you can also use 4 eggs whites instead if you want to lower the cholesterol. Other dried fruits such as apricots, apples, or dates would also make a great addition. After cooling they can be cut into bars, but I decided to cut them into triangles, mainly because I liked the shape. I didn't think of it any further until my husband said that it made sense because they were for a tri group. It turned out to be a great play on the shape of the bars and the sport - each side represented a leg - swim, bike, run.
The bars were super easy to make and everyone in the training group loved them.
Fruit and Seed Tri Bars
Ingredients
- 1½ cups unsweetened applesauce
- 1¼ cup dried fruits, chopped
- ⅓ cup sunflower seeds
- ⅓ cup pumpkin seeds
- 3 tablespoons flax seeds
- 4 tablespoons chia seeds
- 1 cup rolled oats (regular-not quick cooking)
- ⅔ cup unsweetened coconut
- ⅔ cup self-rising flour
- ½ cup spelt flour
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
Preparation
- Preheat oven to 400°F.
- Line a 11x9 inch pan with non-stick foil.
- In a large bowl add apple sauce and dried fruit and mix to combine.
- Add sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, flax seeds, chia seeds, rolled oats, coconut, self-rising and spelt flours, and eggs and stir until well combined.
- Transfer mixture to prepared pan and spread out evenly with a spatula.
- Bake for approximately 30 minutes until golden brown.
- Cool in the pan.
- Remove from pan onto a cutting board and slice into triangles or bars.
- Makes approximately 24.
