REAL honey nut bars

It amazes me how many 'HONEY' nut bars sold at the supermarket and health food stores contain sugar.  Flip over the wrapper and you'll most likely find processed sugar as one of the top ingredients listed.  Don't get me wrong.... I LOVE getting my hit of sugar too (macaroons, creme bulee, chocolate.... yum).  But when I'm specifically in a health kick mood and want a quick snack with natural basic ingredients I struggle finding something authentic! 

So here's my sweet, chewy recipe for my own version of REAL honey and nut bars.  Can get your fingers a little sticky because of the generous amounts of honey in it, but that's part of the fun of knowing you're enjoying something REAL, NATURAL and SIMPLY good for your body.  Finger lickin good!

Saya's REAL honey nut bars

Ingredients:

1/2 cup honey

1 cup granulated dry roasted peanuts*

1 1/2 cups granulated dry roasted almonds*

1 handful of dry roasted almond chunks (I just made rustic chunks by putting them in a ziplock bag and hitting them for half a minute with a wooden spoon - great chef skills)

1 heaped tablespoon of cinnamon

pinch of salt

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

* I used a food processor for the granulated nuts.  I just processed them enough so they still had a bit of bite.  Like the size of small beads(see pics below).  It's fine too if there is a little bit of a powdery consistency mixed in with the granulated nuts.

Instructions:

Roughly tuck in baking paper into a square shallow dish leaving a generous amount of baking paper spilling over the side.  When I say generous, I mean long enough so the baking paper spills over the sides of the dish to double it's measurements.

In a saucepan over a low to medium heat, melt the honey, salt, vanilla extract and cinnamon together.  Once it comes to a simmer, stir for a minute and make sure everything is dissolved together making a dark brown sauce.  Add all the granulated nuts (almonds and peanuts) and the almond chunks and stir in.  Then immediately remove from the heat and pour mixture into a shallow square dish lined with baking paper.  Using a wooden spoon spread mixture around base of the dish as pictured below.

Then fold over the long part of the baking paper to cover the nut base and press down firmly using your hands (make sure the mixture isn't too hot).

Now leave it to rest (I like stacking books on top to keep it firm as it sets to room temperature). 

Then once cooled refrigerate for a few hours.  Then you're ready to slice and chew and enjoy xo

NOTE: I LOVE generous amounts of cinnamon but if this is too strong for you just add a teaspoon instead.  Or you could always omit the cinnamon and add 1/4 cup of desiccated coconut for a creamier taste xo