It’s September, which means back to school – and the returned pressure to try and provide after-school snacks which are both edible, sustaining and relatively healthy.

These muesli bars are extremely easy to make, you can generally just chuck in whatever you have handy, and adapt to your own tastes (or those of your children)

They contain no refined sugar, no dairy, can be gluten-free and can also be a great way to use up apples from the garden.

Ingredients

350g sugar free muesli (I love Rude Health as a muesli brand, and used their Super Fruity version in my bars, but any muesli you enjoy which doesn’t contain added sugar will be fine)

150g mixture of seeds, chopped nuts, and dried fruit. Use whatever you have to hand – or you could chuck in some dessicated coconut or chocolate chips for an extra treat.

1 tsp cinnamon

Pinch of salt

50g Coconut oil

100g maple syrup

225g apple puree (for ease, you can buy big jars of the stuff ready made – I use Biona, just try to get a brand with no added sugar.  Or if you have the time you could make your own by peeling and chopping some apples, stewing down with a few tablespoons of water and then blending to a puree)

1 tbsp vanilla extract

Method

Preheat the oven to 160 and line a roasting tin with baking or greaseproof paper.

Put the muesli, seeds, nuts, dried fruit, cinnamon and salt into a large bowl and stir well.

Put the coconut oil, maple syrup, apple puree and vanilla extract into a small saucepan and gently heat, stirring together until melted.

Pour the liquid over the muesli mix and stir well, then transfer to the pan, smoothing over with the back of a wooden spoon.

Bake in the oven for 30 minutes until golden brown on top. Remove from the oven, and slice into bars while still warm, but then leave in the tin to cool completely.

Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week or individually wrap and freeze for lunchboxes