Muesli bars ....

I have three boys, they eat a lot! I try and make most of there snack food from scratch. Apart from the fact that its often cheaper, I love knowing what goes in to what they are eating and also having the choice of substituting ingredients for healthier ones.
the last couple of years I've been trying to perfect the perfect muesli bar. I have tried (no word of a lie) at least 20 different recipe's! I really wanted the bars not to be full of empty carbs and sugar, but I also needed the boys to like them and most importantly eat them! Anyhow i am happy to say that i think i have finally nailed it yeah!! I have a muesli bar that is filling, nutritious, semi healthy and appealing to the chillins! Since I've done all the testing, made all the mistakes and I've been asked for the recipe by a load of  peeps. I'm sharing the love. The beauty of this recipe is as long as you keep the base quantities the same, you can pretty much chop and change it to your hearts content....... Hope you like xxx

Muesli bars

Base:
2 cups of rolled oats ( I use wholegrain,  they are low GI so keep you fuller for longer)
2 cups of ricies ( can substitute for any random cereal you might have lying round)
1 cup of shredded coconut
1 cup of mixed seeds ( I usually use small seeds like chia, flax seed, millet, sesame seeds)
!/2 cup of dried fruit (optional, i don't usually put it in, not great for kids and mine don't like it)
1/2 cup of nuts (optional, I like sliced almonds or chopped peanuts)

Put all of the above in a BIG bowl, mix.

Toffee (glue that holds them together):
125 grams of butter
1/4 of a cup of raw sugar
1/3 of a cup of honey
1/3 of a cup of nut butter ( I alternate between almond and peanut)

Put all of the above into a pot and stir over a low heat until the sugar has dissolved, once dissolved simmer on low for 5 mins until toffee has thickened, make sure you stir every so often to prevent catching,

Tip the toffee into the dry ingredients and stir quickly,. transfer in to a prepared slice tin, and press down firmly. I like to use a tin and roll the tin over the bars. It packs it down nicely and prevents the mixture sticking all over your hands!!
You can now leave it like this and pop it in to the fridge to set, all you can sprinkle some choc chips over the top yum! Takes a couple of hours to set, once set chop into bars, makes about 30. I keep ours in a container in the fridge.