day eleven: 13. 10 stone (183lbs) – is this on my diet… i don’t think so…
… imagine a taste so wonderfully complex and difficult to get your head around that, one moment you’re not quite sure you like it and the next you’re thinking you’ve never tasted anything so exquisite… welcome to the world of salted caramel… now i know i’m by no means the first person to taste or cook with this glorious elixir of the gods but I am relatively new to actually eating the stuff and up until two weeks ago The Viking was a definite non-eater… he being from the right-wing school of ‘sweet is for pudding, salt is for putting on roast potatoes’… but after our visit to the Oakville Grocery in Sonoma Valley I have made a convert of him… at last…
… the little pot of caramel I bought uses milk from the lovely jersey cows grazing on the fresh green grass of the Petaluma hills and salt hand-skimmed off the Pacific coast… well it does if you believe the prose written on the back of the pot, which I do, whole-heartedly of course… and its virtue is it’s sin…
fleur de sel caramel oat bars with apple butter and dried fruit
I think one calls this a larder cake or store-cupboard surprise as it quite literally has all the healthy stuff I had in my cupboard thrown into it, so I apologise for the ‘cups’ measurements here but it was the easiest way I could keep track of stuff and to be honest this kind of thing doesn’t really need a recipe, it’s all about trial and error… as long as you get the sweet balance right… remember that the dried fruit will add a lot of sweetness which means you don’t have to add any ‘real’ sugar… the apple butter is also sweet, so i’d advise to add all the sweet stuff sparingly…
1 cup of porridge oats
1/2 cup golden rolled oats
1 cup crushed mixed nuts and fruit
1 tablespoon desiccated coconut
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons sesame seeds
2 teaspoons poppy seeds
3 tablespoons apple butter (you could use apple puree and more honey)
2 teaspoons fleur de sel caramel
2 teaspoons golden Lincolnshire honey
place all the dry ingredients into a large bowl and mix well together
place the apple butter, honey and caramel into a pan and gently heat until it bubbles
add the wet to the dry and stir until all the dry is coated then pour into a parchment lined 9cm x 9cm square tin and bake on 120C for 25-30 mins
once out of the oven let it cool entirely before cutting it into bars
warning: tenuous blogger challenge link alert
this months AlphaBakes challenge, hosted so beautifully by Caroline from Caroline Makes and Ros from The More than Occasional Baker and which I didn’t have time to do in December has the letter D as it’s theme… these oatbars are made by me, Dominic and therefore more than qualify for an entry… don’t they… being Dominic’s Oatbars…
eat and of course, enjoy!
Oh my goodness they look good Dom! I do love oaty bars. I am on fast today, so will have to put these wicked bars out of my mind.
They look fantastic Dom. And well done on converting The Viking 🙂
They look really good. I made flapjacks using a tin of caramel the other week and they were lush – not so good for the diet though. I was planning to make some more but I might do these instead – but then that would leave me with most of a tin of caramel in the fridge which I would be unable to resist. Where do you get apple butter from?
They sound gorgeous – I don't think I am going to be able to survive until lunch, you wicked man!
These sound so good! I'd definitely believe the story on the back of the jar too, I have to say I'm a sucker for salted caramel to these are right up my street.
Ha, my boyfriend was exactly the same way about salted caramel until I convinced him just how magical it was! Now we can't get enough of the stuff so this recipe looks like a perfect weekend bake 🙂
I think 'Dom's Oatbars' is a perfectly legitimate entry for Alphabakes. I'm a recent salted caramel convert, too, and these sound like a gorgeous bake to add to my developing repertoire. 🙂 x
No butter – and yet they look and sound really delicious! I think I'm going to have to give them a try… Great photos as always!
These truely look like diet food…..not , but Id eat them in a minute
Of course Dom bars are legit. What looks bizarre thought is that your weight lost doesn't had up in pounds and stones from one week to to next have you been eatin all the bars?
love these bars look amazing!!
man I'm sure most people will have no problems with this sort of diet food:p
always been a fan of sweet-salty. in fact in the camp that firmly believes all thing ssweet NEEDS a pinch of salt and most things salty can do with a pinch of sugar. sounds lovely as always dom 🙂
These are a perfect snack to bring to school. I have tried very hard to keep my snacks tasty yet healthy. I can't wait to give your recipe a try.
Dom, these look healthy & yummy, I'd love a cup of tea too!!!
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J'adore fleur de sel Dominic! Those bars look the business and I imagine that they would be lovely with a cuppa for breakfast or as an afternoon treat! Karen
Oh you are such a cheat Dom – all part of your glorious charm of course. I love a good flapjack and these sound wonderful especially with my all time favourite salted caramel. Congratulations on getting that Viking of yours trained up.