These grab-and-go granola bars are surprisingly simple to whip up

Flapjacks and granola bars are portable and perfect to snack on when the afternoon slump hits, but many don’t realise just how simple they are to make at home. The best thing about them is how quick they are to whip together, and moreover, you know exactly what is going into them. Shop-bought granola bars are a quick grab-and-go snack, but while assumed healthy, most are packed with sugar, additives and artificial flavourings.

I am a picker, I nibble throughout the day, and tend to eat smaller meals as a result. The snacks I graze on are nearly always the good stuff, and nearly always homemade. I love getting a bit of meal prep done at the weekend for the week ahead, and there is a sense of satisfaction knowing that there are bits and pieces to snack on when I need a quick fix.

These granola bars are filling, delicious and full of gorgeous flavours. I love eating them in the morning for breakfast, either crumbled on top of yoghurt or porridge, or mid-morning or afternoon with a cup of tea. Pack the bars with your thermos of hot tea or coffee for a hike, or put them in your lunchbox for work – they are a good all-rounder.

These bars are filling and hearty and will keep in a sealed container for up to a week

While simple to put together, like most sweet recipes, they contain sugar. However, healthy to me means balanced, and they do contain some lovely ingredients; honey, oats, flaked almonds and dried apricots, with orange juice and zest to really inject a little sunshine. I have also used almond butter here, as an alternative to peanut butter. I love it as it amps up the almond flavour, but you can use any nut butter in its place.

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The butter, brown sugar, honey, orange juice and almond butter are warmed together to make a delicious pool of sweet and salty toffee-like liquid, before being mixed in a large bowl with the remaining ingredients. The oaty mix is pressed into a lined tin and baked; it’s as easy as that. The bars take half an hour to cook, and once cooled, they can be cut into little squares, or rectangular bars.

These bars are filling and hearty and will keep in a sealed container for up to a week. I like to switch up the fruit and nuts depending on what I have in the cupboard, you can use any nuts or dried fruit in place of the ones given here, just use the same quantities.

Recipe: Apricot, orange and almond granola bars