Savory vegan muesli bars

Ingredients for 2 servings:

• 100 g sunflower seeds
• 50 g rye flour (spelt or wheat also works)
• 50 g oat flakes, wholegrain
• 30 g wheat bran
• 4 tsp flaxseed
• 100 ml water, if necessary a little more or less
• 3 tsp sauce powder (soy bolognese powder), alternatively tomato paste works too
• e.g. salt and pepper
• Paprika powder
• Garlic granules
• Yeast flakes
• n. B. dried herbs, e.g. basil, oregano and/or chives
• n. B. fried onions, fried smoked tofu

Instructions

Working time approx. 10 minutes; Rest time approx. 10 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 50 minutes; Total time approx. 1 hour 10 minutes

no egg, no curd

In my search for savory muesli bars that are easy to take with you on trekking tours, I unfortunately only found recipes for bars containing egg or quark, which therefore don’t keep well outside of the refrigerator. So I came up with this recipe. It’s vegan, but can be modified by adding cheese or bacon (note that the shelf life will likely be reduced if you add cheese!). First, preheat the oven to 200°C (convection oven) and line a loaf pan with baking paper. Then mix the “glue” that holds the muesli bars together: Put the flaxseeds, water, and soy bolognese powder (if you want to use soy, otherwise use tomato paste—if you don’t like tomatoes, you can simply leave it out…) in a container, stir briefly, and let the seeds swell for 10 minutes. Combine all the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Instead of sunflower seeds, you can of course use a seed mix, pumpkin seeds (perhaps chop them roughly), or whatever you like. Add the flour, the oats (if you don’t like your bars too chewy, you can also use fine oats), the bran, spices to taste (it’s better to add more seasoning than too much salt!), herbs to taste (I used 1 tablespoon each of basil, oregano, and chives, but again, use what you like!), and any additional ingredients you like (in my case, 1.5 tablespoons of fried onions). Stir everything briefly and then add the soaked flaxseeds and water. The granola bar dough should hold together nicely and firmly, similar to cookie dough. If necessary, simply add a little more water or flour until you’re satisfied with the consistency. Adjust seasoning if you need more salt or pepper. Pour the muesli bar dough into the prepared baking pan and press down firmly or smooth it out. If you like, you can add a few seeds to the dough as decoration. At this point, the dough can be easily divided into bars; this amount will yield about 5-6 bars. Now place it in the oven for 30 minutes at 200°C. Now comes the highlight: After half an hour, remove the baking pan from the oven, reduce the temperature to 140°C, remove the bars (careful, they’re hot!) and arrange them upside down (decoration facing down) on a baking sheet. Place them back in the oven for another 20 minutes to dry. Then wedge a wooden spoon handle into the oven door and let the bars cool with the door slightly open. They will keep unrefrigerated for a good week if kept dry (usually longer), making them ideal as a hearty energy boost on trekking and hiking tours. Other additional ingredients to vary the taste: dried tomatoes, feta cheese or olives… the only limits are your imagination.