Food

Try out Chef Voula Halliday's citrus and protein filled energy bars. They are sure to brighten up your morning with a burst of citrus.

Ingredients

2 cups large flake oats
1 lemon, large
1 orange, large
5 dried dates, coarsely chopped
1 cup almond or sunflower butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup sunflower seeds, raw, unsalted
1/4 cup pumpkin seeds, raw, unsalted
1/4 cup ground flax seeds
1/2 cup dried cranberries, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup dried blueberries, cherries or apricots, coarsely chopped

Preparation

Spread oats out on a baking sheet. Bake in preheated oven, stirring once, for 15 to 20 minutes, or just until the oats are lightly toasted and fragrant. Place toasted oats in a large bowl and set aside to cool.

Finely grate the zest of orange and lemon and set aside.

Squeeze juice from orange. You will need about ½ cup (125 mL) of juice. Pour the citrus juice into the bowl of a food processor and add the chopped dates, almond butter, vanilla and salt. Pulse ingredients until it is a smooth thick paste. Add the date mixture to the bowl with the oats and then stir in the sunflower, pumpkin and flax seeds, and the chopped dried fruit. Mix until well combined. Press mixture into an 8 x 8 inch (20 x 20 cm) pan. Cover and refrigerated for 2 hours or overnight.

Cut into 16 bars. Store in a container in the fridge or individually wrap bars in waxed paper and store in a container in the freezer. You can thaw bars in fridge overnight.