Oat bars

Oat bars: essential kayaker fodder

All ingredients organic of course:

• 3 cups rolled oats
• 3 cups coconut juice, from a green coconut (or tinned, or water)
• Dash of cider vinegar

Soak for about a day then rinse (not too much - leave some starch in) and drain

Melt in a pan:

• 150g butter
• 1 dessert spoon honey or maple syrup

Add:

• 1 cup chopped nuts (I use denatured almonds - or you could soak them the day before too)
• 8 or so fresh dates chopped
• the drained oats
• sprinkle of salt
• 1/4 cup coconut flour
• 1 cup coconut flakes
• 1 cup cocoa nibs (add last when coolest, and don't stir too much)

Squidge the mixture into your buttered special oat-bar sized cake tin, tamped down with your custom-built oat bar tamper or, maybe, flatten them into a shallow tray and score the joins in (Ross's trick)

• Bake at 138°C for around an hour until browned.
• Leave in oven to firm as they cool. Yum!

Oat bars: the old recipe, pre-enlightenment

• 14oz (4 cups) oats, half rolled, half wholegrain
• 1 cup wholemeal flour
• 2/3 cup demerara sugar
• 1/3 tsp salt
• 6oz butter (170g)
• cup of pecans or almonds
• 4 dsp golden syrup

• Melt the squiggy stuff, add to the dry stuff
• If too dry add a little water
• If too damp and sticky add a few more oats
• Mix until it binds and doesn't crack when squidged
• Squidge them into your special oat-bar sized cake tin, buttered
• Or, better, flatten them into a shallow tray and score the joins in (Ross's trick)
• Bake at 180°C for around 30 minutes until browned (top level in my oven)
• They come out soft but harden as they cool