Nut and Dried Fruit Bars
Nut and Dried Fruit Bars - Filled with sticky maple-glazed nuts and dried fruits, these bars remind us of the kind you can buy in stores, only better!
Makes 12 Bars
Ingredients
- 1½ tbsp cornflour
- 120ml (4 fl oz) maple syrup
- Scant ¾ tsp salt
- 327g (11.5 oz) unsalted mixed nuts (any combination), very coarsely chopped
- 47g (1.6 oz) dried cranberries
- 3 tbsp dried blueberries
Method
- Line an 8-inch (20 cm) square baking dish with parchment paper, leaving a slight overhang.
- Put the cornflour in a small bowl. Add a few tablespoons of the maple syrup and whisk until smooth, and then gradually whisk in the remaining maple syrup and salt.
- In a medium (10-inch/25 cm) non-stick skillet, stir together the maple mixture and the nuts. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently with a wooden spoon, until the syrup is completely absorbed by the nuts, the nuts are a bit sticky, and the lightcoloured nuts are just starting to turn golden, 7 to 9 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and mix in the dried cranberries and blueberries
- Pour the mixture into the prepared pan; using a spatula, press the sticky mixture firmly into a compact, even layer. If the nuts are too sticky to press with the spatula, place a piece of parchment paper over the nuts and press them flat with your hand (careful — the mixture is hot). Let cool until just set and still slightly warm, about 20 minutes (no longer, as the bars are harder to cut when completely cool).
- Using the parchment overhang, lift the unsliced bars out of the pan and lay them on a cutting board (the parchment will remain under the bars while you slice them). Using a sharp knife, slice into bars (they will be slightly sticky when you cut them — that’s normal). Let the bars cool completely, then store them in a single layer in a covered container lined with parchment at room temperature for up to a week. (If you don’t have a large enough container, layer the bars between parchment.)
Vegan Life tip
Because of the way it’s packaged, parchment paper has a tendency to roll up when you attempt to line a pan with it. It’s pesky but easy to fix. Put a little dot of butter in each corner of the pan. The butter will act as a glue to hold the parchment in place.
Recipe from Once Upon a Chef: Weeknight/Weekend, copyright © 2021 by Jennifer Segal (Published by Clarkson Potter/Publishers, an imprint of Penguin Random House). Photographs copyright © 2021 by Johnny Miller.
