Healthy Fruit and Nuts Energy Oat Bars

Welcome to the first post of my new blog series “Food for Runners”: this week it’s all about these Healthy Fruit and Nuts Energy Oat Bars !

There is a marathoner in the house…and thankfully, it’s not me! In the excitement that followed our first Half Marathon in September, my fiancé decided to take the challenge up a notch and sign up for a full – 26 miles – marathon! Before he could realise what he was getting himself into, application was submitted to the Rome Marathon and flights booked for March 2012!

Now, marathon training is some serious business and running is only a part of it; nutrition is also very important to be in optimal form for the race.

We already follow a Mediterranean style diet of simple and fresh ingredients, which I believe to be balanced and healthy. Our household is 99% vegetarian, so I am very careful about eating a variety of foods to obtain all essential nutrients, without missing out on proteins!

In preparation to the 42k run, I want to cook nutrient meals that will give Sandy all the energy that he needs to complete his training schedule. So I have decided to take on a challenge, albeit a cooking one, and try a different Runner’s World recipe every week for the next 10 weeks!

Ingredients

• 100g almonds
• 100g cashew nuts
• 100g walnuts
• 50g pumpkin seeds
• 50g sunflower seeds
• 200g rolled oats
• 200g dried figs
• 100g dried cranberries
• 175g unsalted butter
• 4 tbs honey
• 125g light brown sugar

Note: You can use any nut, seed or dried fruit you prefer, as long as you follow these proportions and prepare the right amount of butter, honey, and sugar to glue the mix together.

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 180°C.

Tip the nuts, seeds and oats on to a baking tray and toast in the oven for 15-20 minutes. Leave to cool. Pulse in a food processor and mix in the roughly chopped fruit.

Melt the butter, honey and sugar in a saucepan over a medium heat. Pour over the fruit and nut mixture, and stir.

Line a baking tin with baking parchment. Spoon the mixture into the tin and push it down with the back of the spoon. The fruit and nut mixture has to fill the tin completely, otherwise it will spread and lose its shape.

Bake for 15-20 minutes. Cool before cutting into bars.

Wrap the bars in brown baking parchment and tie with twine for a rustic packaging idea.

See the original recipe here.