Today’s recipe is based on the pumpkin, mulberry and spelt breakfast bars in my book Eating for Pleasure, People & Planet. They were easily adapted for this column’s purposes, because they can be made with any bits and bobs in the store-cupboard that need using up.
Whatever-you’ve-got breakfast bars
These are a nutritious and very tasty grab-and-go breakfast, so it was very welcome to see Emma Bread, an artisan sourdough baker from Cape Town in South Africa, recreating them on Instagram, not least because she called them “the greatest on-the-go breakfast going”, adding that they are “nutrient-dense and easy to change, depending on what nut, seeds and dried berries you have in the cupboard”.
She gave her version an African twist with puffed sorghum, baobab powder and spelt flour, but you can make them with whatever flour you have in the house. There’s also no need to peel the diced squash, root vegetables or apples before roasting them, because the skin adds flavour, texture and nutritional value, including fibre.
Makes 12 bars
250-300g squash, or sweet root vegetables (parsnip, sweet potato, carrot or beetroot, say) or apples
1 tbsp virgin or light olive oil
200g mixed nuts, such as brazils, hazelnuts and/or walnuts, roughly chopped
200g mixed dried fruit, such as pitted dates, figs and/or apricots
65g grain flakes, such as rolled oats, spelt or rye
2 tbsp flour – I used buckwheat
1 pinch sea salt
Optional extras
50g nut butter
20g puffed grain or cereal – quinoa, millet or rice crispies
50g mixed dried fruit – mulberries, cranberries and/or sultanas
100g mixed seeds – pumpkin, sunflower, linseed
Cacao nibs, chocolate chips and/or baobab powder, to taste
Heat the oven to 200C (180C fan)/390F/gas 6. Cut the squash, root vegetables or apples into 1-2cm cubes and scatter on to a baking tray. Drizzle with the oil, then roast for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, pulse 150g of the nuts to a coarse flour. Add a third of the roast squash/vegetable/apple cubes and all the dried fruit, and blend to a thick paste.
In a bowl, gather the remaining 50g chopped nuts, the flaked grains, flour and salt, then add the remaining roast squash/vegetable/apple cubes.
You now have the core ingredients for your breakfast bars. Raid your cupboards for other optional extras – nut butter, puffed grain or cereal, extra dried fruit, seeds and any other ingredients you have to taste.
Knead everything together in a large bowl until well combined, then press into a lined medium-sized baking tin or tray. Bake in the hot oven for 25-30 minutes, or until the bar mix starts to brown, then remove. Cut into bars while it’s still hot, then leave to cool in the tray overnight. The bars will keep in a sealed container in the fridge for up to a week.
