Friday 29 July 2011

Hemp seed breakfast bars

I recently visited Hemp in Avalon, a shop in Glastonbury specialising in hemp products. They had some hemp seed chocolates and savoury treats on the counter for taste testing.
I've consumed hemp oil before, but never the seed so I tried some of the chocolates with curiosity. I have admit, they were some of the nicest chocolates I've ever tasted! The hemp seeds gave them a lovely texture and added a deep earthy flavour to the raw cocoa.
So I bought two 500g bags of seeds to experiment with in the kitchen and took an info sheet all about the nutritional benefits of hemp.


So here's my first creation using hemp seeds - breakfast bars. I've recently been stuck in a rut of toast and Marmite for breakfast as my daughter loves 'Ma-mite' (as she calls it!) and I really don't think it's the healthiest choice to have day in, day out. Therefore, I decided to make these bars as a healthier, filling and easy breakfast alternative.

They came out lovely and golden, moist and tasty. Not too sweet, but the honey and fruit provides just enough sugar to satisfy a sweet tooth like me :)



Here's the recipe:

10oz apple sauce (I made this myself by simmering some chopped up apple in a little water and a pinch of cinnamon until soft)
2oz dried apricots
2oz prunes
4oz raisins
2oz sunflower seeds
1oz sesame seeds
1oz hemp seeds
3oz rolled oats
3oz self raising flour
2oz desiccated coconut
1 dessert spoon honey
2 eggs

Pre-heat the oven at 200c

Mix all together in a bowl and place in an 8in lined and greased square tin and bake for 25 mins.

So simple!