No-bake chewy nutty bars

(MAKES 16)

Ingredients

150g mixed whole walnuts, hazelnuts and almonds, roughly chopped

200g dark (50%-70%) chocolate, broken into squares

5 tbsp coconut oil

240g pitted Medjool dates 200g ground almonds

2 tsp vanilla extract

½ tsp sea salt

80g roughly chopped pistachios (or pumpkin seeds), for topping

METHOD

1. Start by toasting the whole nuts (not the pistachios) for five minutes in a large frying pan on a medium heat until fragrant and just going golden. Toss them in the pan as they cook and watch them like a hawk after three minutes!

2. Next, set up a bain-marie: place a heatproof bowl on top of a small saucepan of simmering water (making sure the base of the bowl does not touch the water), add the chocolate and two tablespoons of the coconut oil and leave to melt until smooth, stirring from time to time. Once melted, set aside to cool slightly.

3. Add the dates, ground almonds, vanilla, remaining coconut oil and salt to a food processor and pulse until combined and dough-like. Add 50 grams of the toasted nuts (roughly a third, it doesn’t need to be exact) and pulse again briefly until roughly ground but still with some slightly larger bits, and then turn off the machine and stir in the pistachios or pumpkin seeds to make a nice balance of squidgy dough and crunchy nuts and seeds.

4. Line a rectangular tin about 25 x 20cms and four cms deep – and transfer the mixture from the food processor to the tin. Make sure you press down really well with your hands to make a nice and flat, compact layer.

5. To finish, pour the glossy melted chocolate mix on top to create a thick layer, using a spatula to get every last lovely drop out of the bowl.

6. Scatter with the rest of the toasted nuts and the chopped pistachios and pop in the fridge for three hours, until the chocolate layer is nice and hard, which makes it easy to slice and lovely to chew.

7. Bring the tin out of the fridge for around 10 minutes before slicing into 16 squares.

Keep stored in the fridge. These will last for a few weeks in a sealed container.

Feel Good by Melissa Hemsley is published by Ebury Press, priced £22. Photography by Lizzie Mayson. Available

now.