Homemade Fruit Cereal Bars: Simple Recipe for Chewy Fruit Bars

I created this fruit cereal bar recipe to keep mornings simpler when time is tight.

Last week Roo started secondary school, which means the school run now begins an hour earlier than before. Anticipating busier, cooler mornings, I wanted an easy, portable breakfast option that could be grabbed on the way out or eaten on the train.

So far we’ve managed clever shortcuts: batter for waffles made the night before, a quick run while the waffle maker heats up, and then waffles cooked while lunches are assembled. It’s working for now, but my early-term energy always fades and those cold dark mornings will make leaving bed harder.

That’s where these fruit cereal bars come in. They’re designed to offer the key elements of breakfast in a compact form—good fats, fibre and carbohydrate—so a child can eat one on the move or save it for break time.

Why these ingredients work

The recipe combines a high-fibre gluten-free cereal (Nature’s Path Mesa Sunrise) with dried fruit, coconut oil, molasses and seeds. Dates and prunes add natural sweetness and fibre—useful in a gluten-free diet—and bring antioxidants and nutrients such as vitamin K, vitamin B6, vitamin C, magnesium and boron. Boron supports bone strength and can help when vitamin D intake is low.

I use blackstrap molasses for extra flavour and to help bind the mixture: it also contributes small amounts of iron, calcium, magnesium and vitamin B6 compared with refined sugar. I’ve kept added sugar low overall, though the bars naturally contain fruit sugars, so they’re best enjoyed in moderation.

Nature’s Path Mesa Sunrise provides a textured, fibre-rich cereal base. The flakes are made from corn, flaxseeds, buckwheat, quinoa and amaranth, and are free from rice—helpful if you’re trying to limit rice in a gluten-free diet.

Look out for the new packet design!

About Nature’s Path

Nature’s Path produce organic, mostly gluten-free and vegan cereals made using ancient grains and sustainable methods. Their products avoid synthetic pesticides, chemical fertilisers, artificial additives and genetically modified ingredients.

Here’s the recipe for fruit cereal bars using Nature’s Path Mesa Sunrise.

Fruit Cereal Bars — A Healthy Cereal Bar Recipe

With a gluten-free cereal base, dates and prunes for sweetness and seeds for added nutrition, these fruit cereal bars make a simple grab-and-go breakfast.

Ingredients (makes 8)

50 g stoned, dried dates
50 g stoned, dried prunes
30 g water
50 g virgin coconut oil
20 g molasses
1 tsp ground cinnamon
100 g Nature’s Path Mesa Sunrise cereal
15 g pumpkin seeds
15 g sunflower seeds

Instructions

Place the dates and prunes in a small food processor and pulse until a smooth, thick paste forms. Add the water and blend until the paste is smoother.
Add the coconut oil and molasses to the fruit paste and pulse until combined.
Add the cinnamon, Mesa Sunrise cereal, pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds. Pulse briefly so some cereal flakes are crushed small while others remain larger for texture.
Line a 20 cm x 10 cm dish with baking paper and tip the mixture into the dish. Spread it evenly and press down firmly with clean fingers.
Bake in a preheated oven at 180°C (160°C fan) / Gas Mark 4 for 15 minutes.
Allow to cool completely before cutting into slices. Store the bars in an airtight container.

Nutrition (approx. per bar)

If you can’t find Mesa Sunrise, you can use another high-fibre, gluten-free flake cereal, or adapt the seeds and dried fruit to taste. If you prefer other dried fruits to prunes or dates, swap them in—just remember the fibre and binding qualities may vary slightly.

If you’d like to buy the Mesa Sunrise you’ll find it in many supermarkets; the RRP is around £2.99 and I often buy it in Tesco.

If you enjoy this recipe, here are other Nature’s Path creations I’ve made: Chocco Coconut Crunch Bars, Mincemeat Granola Slice, Gluten Free Tiffin and Maple Pecan Cookies.

This post was created in collaboration with Nature’s Path.