A couple of days ago while Simon was sorting out the plumbing following our downstairs bathroom’s cosmetic makeover, I had to get the children out from under his feet. Simon had let the boys ‘help’ him with the painting, but our mutual feeling was that they would definitely be a significant hindrance rather than a help during the plumbing process.
The kids don’t tend to react well when I attempt to take them away from daddy when he is around. I am sure that as I am the permanently at home parent, they see me as the boring parent as most of the disciplining falls to me. After persuasion, everyone agreed (with varying amounts of complaint at the situation) to accompany me and we left the house with tubs.
They were all rather excited about the tubs and I got asked what the tubs were for. As we approached our destination, the boys
guessed our purpose which was blackberrying. Finally they seemed happy! Lots of fun was had by all on the trip. We collected nearly 800g of blackberries. I am sure Ophelia ate quadruple what she collected. She only seemed to find it necessary to store the blackberries which were still red that she had collected in her pot. The rest ended up in her tummy and all over her face and clothes! Maybe next time she will understand the task at hand a bit better! I am now feeling very grateful for the new washing machine that we had to buy last month because the old one finally gave up the ghost – something it had been threatening for around 18 months!
Lots of blackberry recipes immediately came to mind. Initially I intended to 
make a chocolate and blackberry tart, but Simon suggested it was time that I made something slightly healthier for the blog. After a bit of thinking, I decided that some of the blackberries would go nicely in some cereal bars. As a nod to my love of using herbs and spices in my baking I decided to pair them with some fresh mint. The aim was to achieve a hint of mint so that they tasted fresh rather than an overpowering wow that’s a lot of mint flavour! If mint isn’t your cup of tea, by all means, leave it out of the recipe all together.
Ingredients
Makes 12 bars, store in the fridge eat in 2-3 days.
For the cereal bars
- 100g blackberries
- 15 fresh mint leaves
- 200g oats
- 1 egg white
- 4tbsp honey
- 1tbsp melted coconut oil
- 50ml Greek-style natural yoghurt
For the drizzle
- 1/2tbsp Greek-style natural yoghurt
- 3-4tbsp icing sugar
Method
Preheat the oven to 170°c fan and grease and line a 16cm square pan.- Count out the mint leaves and tear or chop into tiny pieces
- Squash the blackberries with a
fork and add the mint and mix around. - Add the rest of the ingredients for the cereal bars into a large bowl and mix thoroughly.
- Add the blackberries and mint to the oat mixture and
fully combine. - Put in the cake pan, spread out so it reaches all the corners. Use the back
of a wooden or metal spoon to flatten the mixture in the tin. - Put in the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes until firm to the touch.
- Leave to cool in the tin for around 15 minutes before turning out and putting on a cooling rack to finish cooling before slicing. If you
have difficulty slicing them, put them in the fridge for 5-10 minutes first. - Once cooled, make the yoghurt drizzle by mixing the Greek-style natural yoghurt with the icing sugar and then drizzle it over the bars. I put a tea towel under the cooling rack while we were drizzling the icing as I didn’t want to have to clear up a sticky mess from the counter. I learn from the doughnut glazing experience that that was best!
These cereal bars had a beautiful purple colour and are sweetened with just honey and the icing sugar for the yoghurt drizzle. They make a perfect snack for little hands and Seb enjoyed them even more as he helped me make them without his brother or sister. Let me know if you have a try as I love to hear and see pictures if you create any of my recipes.
