Patrícia Trindade: Homemade cereal bars.

Made from a gluten-free cereal, buckwheat, our cereal bar recipe contains no added fat or sugar.

We asked the experts at TO BE. Clínica by Teresa Branco for a recipe for cereal bars that are easy to make at home and lower in calories. The result is this recipe, reinvented by nutrition expert Patrícia Trindade for Prevenir magazine. Each cereal bar in this recipe has just over 170 calories. Give it a try.

Ingredients

How to prepare: step by step

Our homemade cereal bars are very easy to make.

1. Arrange the buckwheat flakes, grated apple, lemon zest and sprinkle with cinnamon to taste in a baking dish. Mix the ingredients together and bake in the oven, preheated to 180º C, for ten minutes.
2. In a mortar and pestle, chop the chestnuts into smaller pieces.
3. Cut the dates into pieces, for example in a food processor.
4. Place the Brazil nuts, hemp seeds, dates and the mixture of buckwheat flakes and apple in a bowl. Mix all the ingredients well. Add the egg and knead.
5. Pour the mixture into a rectangular silicone mold, spread it out and smooth the surface. Bake at 180º C for about 20 minutes.
6. Leave to cool, unmould and cut into six rectangular cereal bars, each measuring around 55g.

Our cereal bars have...

Compared to the cereal bars available in supermarkets, our cereal bars have fewer calories and carbohydrates. They also have a higher protein content, making them more satiating.

- 44.4 kcal
+ 2.4 g protein
+ 5.3 g of fat
- 21.4 g of carbohydrates

Our cereal bars are healthier because...

Patrícia Trindade, from the Prof. Teresa Branco Institute, tells Revista Prevenir about the changes she made to the original recipe to make it healthier.

• "The cereal bars on sale in supermarkets, despite being low in calories, are made up of refined cereal flakes and are high in sugars and poor-quality fats."
• "We used a gluten-free cereal, buckwheat, which is rich in protein and fiber, which leads to a gradual increase in blood sugar levels and therefore greater satiety."
• "We combined two naturally sweet foods, apples and dates, to enrich the recipe without the need to add sugar."
• "As well as being tasty, dates are very nutritious, energetic and rich in fiber. Before buying, check the label and prefer the natural version, without added sugar syrup."
• "No oils or processed fats were used, but only healthy fat sources such as Brazil nuts and hemp seeds."
• "Although they have a very high energy value, Brazil nuts are nutritionally interesting due to their high protein, fiber, vitamin and mineral content."
• "Hemp seeds are a good source of high-quality vegetable protein (containing the nine essential amino acids for the body), have essential fatty acids(omega-3 and 6) in an ideal ratio and fiber."
• "Egg was used instead of sugar syrup, which originally binds the ingredients together."