Pecan, cherry & honey oat bars

These no-bake bars use less butter and refined sugar than many other oaty treats, thanks to the smart addition of the apple sauce - it both sweetens and binds the mixture together.

Ingreadient

• 85g pecan nuts
• 250g jumbo rolled oats
• 40g slightly salted butter
• 30g set honey
• 285g Bramley apple sauce
• 100g dried cherries
• 40g dark chocolate chips

Step by step

1. Line the base and sides of a 20cm square cake tin with baking parchment. Put a frying pan over a medium-high heat, add the pecans and toast for 4-5 minutes, tossing every so often, until lightly toasted. Tip onto a board to cool, then roughly chop. Add the oats to the pan and toast over a medium-high heat for 6-8 minutes, tossing the pan often, until golden and fragrant. Tip into a bowl and set aside.
2. Put the butter, honey and apple sauce in a medium saucepan set over a low heat. Warm through to melt the butter, then remove from the heat and stir in the toasted oats to coat in the butter mixture. Lastly, fold in the toasted pecans, dried cherries and chocolate chips. Immediately transfer to the tin, before the chocolate chips have time to melt too much and lose their shape.
3. Press down very firmly all over with the back of a spoon, making sure the surface is uniformly flat. Cover and chill for at least 3 hours or overnight, then turn out onto a board and cut into 12 bars. The bars are best eaten within a day or so but can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.