Tag: Almonds

Apricot & Almond Snack Attacks

These are little powerhouses of energy, easy to make and keep for ages in the freezer.  I made some of these recently for a post run snack and they filled the gap perfectly.

I have tried very hard over the years to like fresh apricots – and they have to be pretty perfect for me to be tempted.  Dried, however, I could eat all day and they blend up really well for energy balls and flapjacks.  They also pair well with most nuts – but especially with almonds in my opinion.

I added in some matcha powder for the extra feel good factor – but you could add in the same amount of cocoa powder for a choc version, or just leave out the powder bit.

Apricot & Almond Snack Attacks

  • 200g dried apricots
  • 100g desiccated coconut
  • 200g almonds
  • 3 tablespoons chia seeds
  • Some water to mix
  • 1-2 teaspoons of matcha powder or other powder of choice (maca, cocoa, cacao)

 

  • Put everything into a food processor and mix until it holds together – add enough water to ensure it sticks together, but not too much that it looks too wet.  The chia seeds help to bind the mixture as it settles.
  • Press the mixture into a square dish (a baking tray is good) – around 8x8inch and lined with greaseproof paper.  You want the mixture to be about an inch high for a chunky sized square.
  • Put in the fridge for around 4 hours to harden up.  Then take out and cut into squares.  Makes around 10 squares, depends how big or small you like them!
  • Store for a few days in the fridge or freeze them – they don’t take long to defrost and I have been know to eat them straight from the freezer.
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Sticky Prune Bites

I found a tin of prunes in the back of the cupboard that were almost out of date, I have no idea why I bought them, but I hate wasting things so spent a large part of this morning trying to figure out what to do with them.  I tried making some granola but instead my ‘granola’ came out quite sticky and actually rather lovely, keeping the moistness of the prunes.

The result of my experiment are some rather lovely moist snacky bites – definitely somewhere between chunky granola and sticky flapjacks. Delicious on their own with a cup of coffee. It’s a good way to incorporate some prunes into your diet – I’ve never been a big fan, but keeping the moisture and adding some lovely zesty oats works for me.

Sticky Prune Bites

Makes enough bites for around 3 snacky breakfasts – if you can resist the urge to snack on them during the rest of the day.

Sticky prune bites

  • 100g oats
  • 1 tin of pitted prunes in juice (290g)
  • 50g whole almonds
  • Juice and Zest of one orange
  • 1 tablespoon of honey
  • 2 tablespoons of the prune juice
  • 1 tablespoon of brown sugar

Drain the prunes – and keep the juice. Put the oats in a bowl and chop in the prunes – I used scissors to chop them into chunks. Add the almonds and orange zest and mix well to ensure all the prune chunks are well covered in oats.

Mix the honey, orange juice, prune juice and sugar together in a small pan and heat gently for a couple of minutes until the honey and sugar is dissolved.  Let it cool for a couple of minutes and then add to the oat mix.  Mix it well – it will be wet and sticky.

Rub some butter on the bottom of a baking sheet to stop it sticking and then spread the oat mixture over the sheet.

Put it in the oven (200c/400f/Gas 6) – for 5 minutes.  Take it out and give it a shake and another mix up to break it up into pieces. It will still be quite sticky.

Cook for a further 5 minutes.  Take it out, shake it up again and leave to cool.

The final mix is still quite sticky but really lovely and moist and easily breaks into bite sized bits with lovely chunks of prune.

Store in an airtight jar in the fridge