Recipes XV: Hazelnut Cranberry Bars

Hazelnut Cranberry Bars

An unexpected treat!

Snack bars are great on the go but what is with those horrendous price tags? I don't get it. There's no gold or diamonds in them, so they should be cheaper. 

So I saw medjool dates at the food store and was really excited. I wanted to create something using them. Hark my unexpected semi nutella result.

1 bag (6oz) chopped hazelnuts

1 bag (12 oz) mini semi sweet chocolate chips 

10 large medjool dates 
1/3 cup of raw honey
1/2 cup steel cut oats

1/2 small bag of craisen/dried cranberries (~ 2 cups)

In a food processor chop the nuts as small as you can, then the chips, then the dates with the seeds removed and the cranberries. Pour in honey and oats. Mix together well all the items in a bowl. In a glass/pyrex 8x10 pan, line with parchment paper and scrape in the ingredients. If you feel inclined, can sprinkle more chopped chips over the top.  Heat oven to 350 degrees. Press the ingredients as hard as you can into the parchment line pan. Make sure its even surfaced and thickness. Then bake 15 mins. The chocolate will melt in between the nuts and fruits. Allow to cool in pan. Then cut into bars. You can get ~5 long bars or 10 4x3 mini bars. They are filling. The nuts hold off the hunger and dates & chocolate satisfy your sweet tooth. I like to wrap them individually in plastic wrap for quick grab and go. They are slightly crumbly, but awfully tasty. 

Oooy, Gooey.