My Indulgent Peanut Butter Bars

I decided to try and come up with a recipe for some sort of flapjack/traybake that would be healthy and satisfying. Of course I used my love of peanut butter to help satisfy this craving. Packed full of oats, flax seeds, dried fruit and nuts, it will provide you with energy to keep you going all day. It's perfect as a pick me up after a good workout, or simply as an alternative to those sugar-filled snacks we all tend to reach for.
It's also gluten free (if you use gluten free oats), vegan and it only contains the sugar from honey and coconut blossom nectar. Really truly quite something scrummy!

This makes about 16 depending on how you cut them.
You will need:
200g/2 cups oats
40g/¼ cup sunflower seeds
30g/¼ cup sesame seeds
42g/¼ cup dried apricots
42g/¼ cup dried cranberries
2 tbsp chia seeds
35g/¼ cup flax seeds
240g/⅔ cup peanut butter
90g/½ cup coconut oil
150g/½ cup runny honey
2 tbsp coconut blossom nectar (use agave syrup or maple syrup if you can't find it)

Preheat the oven to 160C/320F and line a 7 x 11in pan with greaseproof paper.

First combine the oats, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, dried fruit, chia seeds and flax seeds together in a large bowl. Stir with a spoon just to mix it all together. 

In a saucepan add the peanut butter, coconut oil, honey and coconut blossom nectar. On a low heat stir until everything has melted. Pour this mixture onto the oats and stir until just combined. Pour this into your prepared pan and make sure it is pressed in well. 

Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes until just golden brown. It will still be quite soft but do not be tempted to over bake it. The result will be a crumbly flapjack and you want it to be chewy. When it's golden brown remove from the oven and let it cool completely in the tin before you take it out and cut it into bars. They keep really well in an airtight container for 3-5 days.