I was searching for a tasty granola seed bar recipe that wasn't too sweet, and I found a pretty decent one on the New York Times cooking website. I adapted it to have more dried fruit (I used cranberries but you could use any dried fruit you like), less chocolate and more sunflower seeds. It's nice to sometimes substitute some of the sunflower seeds for pumpkin seeds or linseed. I also added some ground cardamom seeds, which gives a really nice extra spice dimension. These bars are full of energy and have a decent amount of protein in them due to the high seed content.

Dark Chocolate and Seed Bars Recipe

Makes 24 bars

Ingredients

  • 150 g unsalted butter
  • 250 g porridge oats
  • 250 g sunflower seeds, chopped
  • ½ tsp ground cinnamon
  • ½ tsp sea salt
  • 6 cardamom pods
  • 80 g honey
  • 2 tbsp brown sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 50 g dark chocolate, chopped
  • 120 g dried cranberries, chopped

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 150 C. Line a 9 x 13 inch (or thereabouts) baking tray with greaseproof paper. Remove the little seeds from within the cardamom pods and grind to a powder using either a pestle and mortar or spice grinder.

  2. Melt the butter over a medium heat in a wide saucepan. Add the oats and sunflower seeds. Stir over a medium heat until the grains are lightly toasted, taking care not to let them burn. Stir until they are beginning to smell toasty and have slightly darkened. Remove from the heat and transfer to a bowl. Add the cinnamon, salt and ground cardamom seeds. Wipe the pan clean.

  3. Combine the honey, vanilla and brown sugar in the pan in which you toasted the oats. Bring to a boil over a medium heat, then pour over the oat mixture. Allow to cool for five minutes, then stir in the chocolate pieces.

  4. Scrape into the pan and spread evenly. Place in the oven for 20 minutes. Do not allow to brown or the bars will become hard instead of chewy. Remove from the heat and allow to cool. Cut into bars – you should have enough to do 20 or 24. Store in an airtight container.