Something "healthy" for the tins

Don’t you just love those treats which masquerade as ”healthy” and only the cook knows exactly how much butter and sugar went into them! This muesli slice is one of those treats. When you taste the buttery, sweet goodness, you know that it cant be all that good for you, but then again does the inclusion of nuts, seeds and oats help counteract all that butter and sugar?

This recipe is another that I pulled from Taste magazine some time ago. The slice is actually meant to have melted chocolate on top, but I think that is gilding the lily a little! The slice is made especially sweet and gets its chocolatey look from the inclusion of milo in the mix. For those who don’t know what milo is it is kind of like ovaltine – a sugary chocolate powder usually used with hot water as a drink. Half a cup of honey was the other sweetner, but I substituted that for maple syrup, as I only had manuka honey in the pantry and it seemed too good to use in an everyday slice that I knew my husband would gobble up in a couple of days! I also ran out of coconut, so only put in half a cup, topping it up to a cup with extra rolled oats.

My husband and I both loved this slice. It is so much nicer than bought muesli bars and is more economical too. I think that the bars would keep for quite a while in a sealed container, but ours didn’t get the chance – they were too good and disappeared in a matter of days.

Milo Muesli Slice (adapted from a Nestle recipe in Taste)

1 c coconut
1 c rolled oats
1 c raw peanuts
1 c sunflower seeds
½ c sesame seeds
¼ c pumpkin seeds
¾ c milo
½ c honey or maple syrup
¼ c raw sugar
125 g butter

· Mix all the dry ingredients in a large bowl
· Melt together the honey or maple syrup, sugar and butter, then mix into the dry ingredients
· Press into a lined 23cm square tin and bake at 180c for 20-25 minutes.
Cool in tin and cut into pieces when cold.