Fruit and nut honey oatie bars

I was leafing through my very old handwritten cookery book the other day (back from before the internet spawned a billion recipe websites and these things were freely available) and I came across this recipe. I remember my mother making these for me and my brother and sister when I was younger. It was one of those "food memory" moments - where you can almost taste the memory. I knew I had to try and recreate it as soon as possible. There is something really comforting about an old time recipe, something that is tried and tested. Something that is shared and the results eaten with friends and family.

It is nominally healthy - it could be referred to as muesli slice - if you ignore the butter, the honey, the peanut butter and the sugar.... Well, it contains oats and weet-bix which are good for you!

But most of all it is really delicious and very easy. It's also nice and filling with a cup of tea for an afternoon snack. And super fast for those of who have little time for actual baking, whether you are a stay at home mum or a hard working career girl: you can whip up a yummy homemade treat in just minutes and be the envy of all your colleagues. Even if they are only 9 months old!

Fruit and nut honey oatie bars

1 cup rolled oats
1 cup rice bubbles
3/4 cup dried apples, diced
3/4 cup dried apricots, diced
4 weet-bix, crushed (I used Georgie's baby weet-bix)
1 cup dessicated coconut
3\4 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1\2 cup crunchy peanut butter
1\2 cup honey
125g butter

Line a 19X29cm lamington pan with baking paper. Combine oats, rice bubbles, Weet-Bix, coconut and fruit in a large bowl. Stir to mix thoroughly.

Combine sugar, honey, butter and peanut butter in a saucepan, stir constantly over medium heat without boiling, or until butter is melted and sugar is dissolved and all the ingredients melted together.

Bring to the boil, reduce heat to low and simmer for five minutes, stirring constantly or until thickens. Be careful not to let it catch on the bottom of the pan.

Stir honey mixture into dry ingredients and press evenly into prepared tin. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours, then slice into bars. Store in the fridge until you are ready to eat them in an airtight container - shelf like is usually a week but I doubt they'll last that long. They don't around here.

For those looking for a nut free option, I would replace the peanut butter with an additional  1/2 cup butter and a pinch of salt instead to replicate the slightly savoury nature of the peanut butter.

Adapted from The Australian Women's Weekly Cakes and Slices cookbook.

Kitty