Surely today there are few people who sometimes do not like to treat themselves to a bar of chocolate, ice cream, cake, a slice of cake and other sweets. This is especially true for children. After all, despite the harmfulness of the ingredients presented, they are still asking for a tasty treat.
Muesli bars are a good alternative to modern confectionery. In addition, such a sweetness does not have to be purchased in a store. Knowing many different recipes, the presented delicacy can be very easily and quickly prepared at home, thereby pleasing all family members.
So, let’s take a look together how exactly such tasty and healthy products are made.
Muesli Bars: A Step-by-Step Recipe
To create such a dessert, you need to purchase the following components:
- oat flakes - 2 faceted glasses;
- green apple, with sourness - 1 pc.;
- soft sweet pear - 1 pc.;
- ripe big banana - 1 pc.;
- roasted almonds (you can also take peanuts or walnuts) - 3 large spoons;
- prunes and seedless raisins, dried apricots - add at will and taste.
Processing major components
Muesli bars can be made using different ingredients. In this recipe, we decided to use only fresh and ripe fruits, oatmeal and other additional ingredients. Before forming a dessert from them, each purchased product must be carefully processed. To do this, wash the pear, apple and banana, and then wipe them dry and thinly peel the peel, if necessary. Next, the first two ingredients should be grated. As for the banana, it is advisable to put it in a deep bowl and knead in a smoothie without lumps using a fork or pusher.
It should also be noted that a homemade muesli bar will turn out to be more satisfying and tasty if you add ingredients such as dried fruits and nuts to it. To do this, wash the raisins, dried apricots and prunes well, and then pour boiling water over them and leave them aside for a short time (for 3-6 minutes). This procedure will completely deprive products of dirt and dust. It should be noted that it is not worthwhile to keep the ingredients in boiling water for too long, as they will become soft and absorb too much water, which will complicate the process of dessert formation. After the dried fruits are processed, they must be finely chopped with a knife. You also need to separately wash the nuts, dry them in a pan or in the microwave, and then crush them into large crumbs.
Formation Process and Heat Treatment
Before placing the muesli bars in the oven, they must be correctly formed. To do this, in one dish you need to combine the following products: oatmeal, grated apple and pear, banana pulp, chopped dried fruits and nuts. These ingredients must be thoroughly mixed to obtain a dense uniform mass, which will very much resemble the texture of a thick dough.
After the actions taken, the base must be evenly laid out on a baking sheet, which must be pre-lined with parchment paper. Next, the edges of the mass should be leveled with a spoon and immediately placed in the oven. Muesli bars should be baked at a temperature of 185 degrees for 16-22 minutes or until fully cooked.
How to serve cereal dessert to the table?
After the oat-fruit mass hardens slightly, it should be cut into hot slices in a hot form, slightly cooled and served with tea or milk.
How to quickly make a dessert with honey?
Muesli bars at home can be made not only with fresh fruits, but also with linden or any other honey. For this we need:
- oat flakes - 250 g;
- dried fruits (you can take the finished mixture) - 200 g;
- any nuts roasted or raw - 100 g;
- odorless vegetable oil - 30-50 ml;
- linden honey or any other - 90 ml.
Ingredient preparation
Presented muesli bars at home are made in much the same way as in the previous recipe. However, there is still a difference between them. Thus, it is necessary to take a mixture of dried fruits, wash them thoroughly, dry them, and then cut them into small pieces. It is also required to sort the nuts, rinse them in warm water, lightly fry them in a pan (you can use them in the microwave) and crush them into large chips using a rolling pin or a blender with nozzles with knives.
To make the muesli bar (the caloric content of this product will be presented below) turned out to be more beautiful and uniform, it is recommended to grind the acquired oat flakes. To do this, it is best to use a coffee grinder. But if there was no such device in your house, then that's okay. After all, this dessert will still turn out to be tasty and sweet.
Shaping and baking products
After preparing the main components, you can safely proceed to the direct preparation of dessert. To do this, in one bowl, you need to combine oatmeal, nuts and dried fruits. Next, all the ingredients should be flavored with slightly heated honey (with the addition of vegetable oil) and mix thoroughly. Then you need to cover a small baking dish with parchment paper, evenly spread the prepared mixture into it and carefully tamp. Filled dishes must be placed in a preheated oven (up to 165 degrees) and baked for half an hour until a golden color is obtained.
The finished product should be completely cooled, cut into small bars and presented to the table. Enjoy your meal!
The easiest dessert recipe
How to make a muesli bar quickly and without baking in the oven? The given recipe will answer the asked question. To prepare such a dessert, you must purchase:
- a mixture of oatmeal, dried fruits and nuts (can be done independently, but can be purchased ready-made) - 200 g;
- honey of any grade - ¼ cup;
- granulated sugar - 2 large spoons;
- creamy fresh butter - 70 g.
Cooking process
Homemade or purchased muesli mixture must not be finely chopped in a coffee grinder and set aside. Next up is cooking syrup. To do this, put in a metal bowl any kind of honey, granulated sugar and butter. Having mixed all the ingredients, they should be put on a very low heat and, stirring constantly, cook until a homogeneous caramel is obtained.
After both parts of the future bars are ready, they need to be combined in one bowl and laid out on an even layer of parchment paper. There is no need to bake such a product in the oven. After all, after a short exposure to calm air, the caramel will harden, and the dessert will take a stable form. Next, the sweet layer needs to be cut into small pieces and presented to the table with low-fat milk or hot tea.
Muesli bars: good or bad?
Today, there is quite a bit of controversy over whether such sweet products are useful or not. This concern is partly due to the fact that the presented bars are often included in the diet of children and are perceived by adults as healthy snacks. But how are things really?
As you know, the sense of benefit from such products is due to the fact that they include the so-called muesli. But if you really want to get maximum vitamins and fiber, then it is better to use this product in its pure form, with the addition of milk. After all, it is not known which cereals contain purchased cereal bars. “We are losing weight in a week!” - This is a short but impressive saying found on many labels of this dessert. Then why do not nutritionists recommend using the product presented to their customers? The fact is that the use of such bars for a figure and a gastrointestinal tract is just a myth. After all, the calorie content of this product is 400 energy units (and even more!) Per 100 grams. Moreover, cereal bars (their benefit or harm, we understand the article) should be taken exclusively as a sweet. And this is due to the fact that in some products the amount of sugar exceeds more than 60% with the existing norm of 15%. Such sweet foods can cause tooth decay, as well as diabetes or obesity. By the way, some manufacturers of such bars instead of granulated sugar add the so-called maltitol syrup to the dessert, which is much more caloric and harmful.
When purchasing granola in supermarkets, one should not forget that very often they contain various flavors, saturated fats, preservatives, chemically processed fruits and other substances that negatively affect not only the figure of a person, but also the normal functioning of his gastrointestinal tract.
In connection with all of the above, it should be noted that when buying granola cereal bars, you may run into intestinal upset and other problems. If you purchase these products in order to lose weight, then do not forget that the inclusion of a large amount of sugar and saturated fat makes this product no less nutritious than classic chocolate.
But what to do if you want to lose a couple of extra pounds, and to refuse such a treat is beyond your strength? In such cases, nutritionists recommend consuming only home-made home-made bars. Indeed, during the creation of such a delicacy, you can control the calorie content of the product by adding not sugar, but honey, not fried nuts, but fresh ones, etc. With regard to purchased products, it is better not to use them or purchase them extremely rarely.