WW Recipe of the Day: Nigella's Breakfast Bars
I've been meaning to try these breakfast granola bars from Nigella Lawson for weeks.
Sunday was finally the day and all I can say is, "What took me so long?"
They are the yummiest granola bar I've ever tasted, homemade or otherwise.
Nigella's Breakfast Bars
It's a good thing I only made a half batch because they are addictive, just like she said.
Once you taste these you'll never want another store-bought granola bar, that's for sure!
The recipe comes from Nigella Express: 130 Recipes for Good Food, Fast (affiliate link) one of my favorite of her cookbooks. As soon as I saw the picture of these homemade breakfast/granola bars, I had a feeling I would fall in love with them.
They're chock-a-block full of some of my favorite things including, coconut, dried cranberries, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, and peanuts, all held together with sweetened condensed milk.
Does anyone else find the smell of sweetened condensed milk intoxicating?
Sweetened condensed milk
I shared a couple of these delectable oaty, chewy, sweet and crunchy breakfast bars with my Mom, who agreed that they're delicious.
Add a piece of fruit or cup of yogurt for a great quick and easy no-cook breakfast.
To make them Weight Watchers friendly, I substituted non-fat sweetened condensed milk and cut them into 24 bars, instead of the suggested 16.
How Many Calories and WW Points in these Breakfast Bars?
According to my calculations, each bar has 155 calories and:
7 *SmartPoints (Green plan)
7 *SmartPoints (Blue plan)
6 *SmartPoints (Purple plan)
4 *PointsPlus (Old plan)
To see your WW PersonalPoints for this recipe and track it in the WW app or site, Click here!
I divided the recipe in half and baked them in an 8-inch pan but plan on making a full batch next time since they keep well. Try these yummy breakfast bars and see if you don't become addicted too 🙂
Healthy Granola Bar Ingredients
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Nigella's Breakfast Bars Made Weight Watchers Friendly
Ingredients
- 1 can (14 ounces) non-fat sweetened condensed milk
- 2-½ cups old-fashioned rolled oats
- 1 cup shredded coconut
- 1 cup dried cranberries
- 1 cup mixed seeds (pumpkin, sunflower, sesame)
- 1 cup natural unsalted peanuts
Instructions
- Position an oven rack in the center and preheat your oven to 250F degrees.
- Coat a 9×13-inch baking pan with nonstick cooking spray.
- Warm the condensed milk in a pan or the microwave.
- Meanwhile, in a large bowl, mix together the oats, coconut, cranberries, seeds and peanuts.
- Add the warmed sweetened condensed milk and stir until everything is well mixed and coated with the milk.
- Spread the mixture into the prepared baking pan and press down with a spatula or your lightly greased hands, to even out the surface.
- Bake for 1 hour.
- Remove from the oven and cool for 15 minutes.
- Cut into 24 bars and then let cool completely.
- Store in a covered container.
Recipe Notes
If you like this recipe for Nigella's Breakfast Bars, you may also like:
- Healthy Homemade Granola/Energy Bars - soft, chewy and satisfying from Ellie Krieger (*5 WW Freestyle SmartPoints)
- Best Healthy Homemade Maple Granola Recipe - my personal favorite (*5 WW Freestyle SmartPoints)
- Low-Fat Chewy Granola Bars - with pecans, raisins, and chocolate with *7 WW Freestyle SmartPoints value (SkinnyTaste)
- Homemade Cereal Bars with no added sugar and *6 WW Freestyle SmartPoints value (SnackGirl)
Martha is the founder and main content writer for Simple-Nourished-Living.
A longtime lifetime WW at goal, she is committed to balancing her love of food and desire to stay slim while savoring life and helping others do the same.
She is the author of the Smart Start 28-Day Weight Loss Challenge.
A huge fan of the slow cooker and confessed cookbook addict, when she's not experimenting in the kitchen, you're likely to find Martha on her yoga mat.
This post contains affiliate links to products I like. When you buy something through one of my Amazon links or other (affiliate links), I receive a small commission that helps support this site. Thank you for your purchase!
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Olivia
Can you switch out the condensed milk for something healthier or dairy free?
Martha
I don't know Olivia. I've never tried. You might be able to use a combination of coconut milk and brown rice syrup. If you come up with an alternative that works for you, I'd love to hear about it!!
Nicky
Bit late now, but for future people reading. I’ve used Condensed Coconut Milk I got at my local organic shop. Works exactly same as regular condensed milk.
Martha McKinnon
Thanks for letting us know, Nicky. ~Martha
Shalini
Hi..just wondering...if this recipe yields 24 bars at 4 points each, the total recipe points would be 96. A can of condensed milk is around 38/40 points. Add to that, 2.5 cups of oats which is about 60/70. The points total is already over 100 points. Then there is all the other stuff - seeds, coconut etc. that which I haven't even counted. Do you see the points discrepancy? What am I missing?
Martha McKinnon
Hi Shalini,
I use the following to calculate the nutritional estimates that I then run through my WW PointsPlus calculator: http://caloriecount.about.com/cc/recipe_analysis.php. I've run it again and it looks okay to me. I don't think that 2.5 cups of oats has 60/70 points plus. According to my research 2.5 cups of oats has about 775 calories and 20 points plus.
Hope this helps.
Nikki
Yeah rolled oats are 1/4 for 2 pts so IF ANYTHING the points would be 20 for 2.5 cups. On another note, could you freeze these?
Martha McKinnon
Though I haven't tried to freeze them (they never last long enough) I think they would work well.
Claude
Could we use honey instead of condensed milk?
Martha McKinnon
Hi Claude, I haven't tried using honey as a substitute, but think it should work.
Claude
I just tried it replacing the milk with honey and it worked fine The reason I did this is because my daughter is lactose tolerance. The bars are sweeter and probably more weight watcher points. 14 ounces of honey is 75 pts.
Martha McKinnon
Hi Claude, thanks so much for letting me know!
Naz
Hi Claude I have made and love these breakfast bats many times but I was thinking of replacing the condensed milk with natural, unsweetened fruit juice next time! X x
nancy
Why do you have to warm the milk? Can you just dump it in from the can?
Martha McKinnon
You just warm it to make it runnier and easier to pour, spread, work with.
Patricia Penza
These bars are delicious! I made them for a community potluck breakfast and they went fast. I had several requests for the recipe, which I followed exactly; no changes. I make these once a week now so I always have some on hand!
Yvette
I make these! They’re delicious ?
wendy evans
I made these at the weekend - is the 250 oven temp correct as they burnt badly on the outside - please help as they seem delicious
Martha McKinnon
Hi Wendy, the oven temp is for 250F or about 130C. Hope this helps. ~Martha