RECIPES - Healthy Oat Bars perfect for hiking or after school snacking

There is a lovely quiet road from our house to the sea and along the coast, with views of the Dundalk bay and the Cooley hills in the distance. My husband is more of a mountain guy, I’m a sea lover, so this gets us both.

With a pocket full of paper wrapped oat bars (two for me) and fingerless gloves saved from the 80s together with my rusty rose beanie from H & M that I love (I bought one for my sister and it looked so good on, I had to go back and get one for me, so now we match - if we’re in the same country at the same time, that is) I’m listening to a podcast on women in business, as I am one.

Ocassionally I meet a dog walker to exchange pleasantries about how mild it is, and continue our brisk march in opposite directions. Today I’m going to wobble on the pebbly beach too, to find a spot to graze on these healthy oat bars and replenish my mind for Getting On With Things when I get back.

Every now and again, a damp November walk does enough to the soul to allow me to achieve more in half an hour afterwards, than motionless and hunched in three hours. t’s a constructive way to work.

These bars are crumbly and chewy, the children aren’t sure they like them, so I added a drizzle of chocolate to the ones for them (and for my husband), and licked spoonfuls of melted chocolate from the saucepan afterwards, resulting in brown smears up my cheeks. There is something about melted chocolate that I can’t put my finger on, it is unbelievably better than it’s solid predecessor. Perhaps that is why fondue is such a treat?

Hope you try these, and fill a Tupperware for a walk outside, even on a damp day they will cheer your spirits.

HEALTHY OAT BARS RECIPE

1 apple, finely diced

75g almond butter

75g maple syrup

75g honey

250g rolled oats

125g raw almonds, chopped (or flaked almonds)

50g pumpkin seeds

1tsp vanilla paste

Cook the apple in a saucepan with the butter until is softens. Add the almond butter, syrup and honey. Heat until the almond butter dissolves. Add the vanilla paste

Mix together the dry ingredients. Stir in the melted mixture until well combined.

Press down into a square tin or a loaf tin lined with baking parchment (I used two loaf tins).

Bake in an oven preheated to 180 degrees for 20 minutes.

Cool in the tin. Turn onto a chopping board and slice.

If you like, melt some dark chocolate and drizzle over with a spoon.