Fruit and Nut Energy Bars Recipe

I found a very easy recipe for energy bars in a magazine, so I decided to try and make it for the kids.

I made several tweaks to the recipe, since I couldn't find certain ingredients at the grocery store, such as shelled sunflower seeds.

Funny story - I ended up buying pumpkin seeds instead.  It wasn't until after I had mixed all of the ingredients together did I realize I bought UNSHELLED pumpkin seeds!  I had to dig through the mixture to pull out all of the unshelled pumpkin seeds.

So I ended up completely omitting any kind of seeds.

The bars still turned out fine.

For some reason, my kids don't like freeze-dried fruit, so they picked it off, but these bars make for a tasty, healthy snack!

Fruit and Nut Energy Bars

Ingredients:

• 1 cup walnuts
• 1/4 c shredded coconut
• 1 c old-fashioned oats
• 1/4 t salt
• 3 c pitted prunes
• 1/3 c freeze-dried mangoes

Directions: 

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
• On a rimmed baking sheet, spread walnuts in an even layer and bake for 5 minutes.
• Add coconut to the baking sheet in an even layer, and bake for 3 minutes.  Let cool.
• In a food processor, combine the oats and salt until finely ground.  Transfer to a small bowl.
• Add prunes to food processor and process until smooth.
• Add oats and walnuts, and pulse about 15 times. 
• Pour mixture into parchment-lined 8x8 pan.  Press evenly.  
• Top with freeze-dried mangoes.  Press lightly to adhere.
• Refrigerate at least 20 minutes before cutting into bars.  

You can find the original recipe here from Real Simple.