I’ve been snacking a lot since the quarantine/isolation period began and the amount of biscuits I can make my way through is genuinely incredible. I was thinking about some healthier snacks to make – and unfortunately crisps are not the answer – and after a chat with a friend, granola bars were the answer!

I made these Peanut Butter Granola Bars as a way to clear out some things in the store cupboard, using up those half-opened bags of dried fruit and the 1kg bag of oats that I bought to make overnight oats for school breakfasts before that idea went awry! If you’re not a fan of peanut butter, or don’t have any, you can use any other nut butter! And likewise if you don’t have cacao nibs or desiccated coconut, then you can leave these out! If you’re not a fan of dried fruit, then you can leave them out entirely, increase the quantity of oats and you have flapjack oat bars!

I am hoping that a lot of you will have at least some of these ingredients in the cupboard to make these! If you don’t have maple syrup, you can replace it with some golden syrup or just increase the amount of honey – these are very flexible!

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85g peanut butter

100g maple syrup

60g runny honey

2 tbsp soft light brown sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

255g rolled oats

75g dried cranberries

50g dried mixed fruit (e.g. raisins, sultanas)

30g desiccated coconut

20g cacao nibs

50g 70% dark chocolate, chopped finely

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Preheat the oven to 180˚C. Line a 9 x 12 inch baking tin with a sheet of baking parchment.

In a large saucepan, melt together the peanut butter, maple syrup, honey, sugar and cinnamon over a medium heat, stirring until everything is evenly combined, making sure that the mixture doesn’t burn or come to the boil. Set aside to cool.

Once the wet ingredients have cooled down, add in all of the dry ingredients and stir until everything is evenly coated. Some of the chocolate might melt with the residual heat of the pan or mixture but this is okay.

When the mixture is well mixed, pour the mixture into the lined baking tray and use the back of a spoon or a spatula to level out the mixture in the tin, making sure it goes right to the edges of the tin.

Bake the granola bars for around 25 minutes or until the surface of the granola bars has turned golden brown and toasted. Leave the bars to cool to room temperature in the tray before removing the granolas bars onto a chopping board and slicing up into 18 bars.

The granola bars will keep for about a week in an airtight container.

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