How to turn store-cupboard staples into brilliant breakfast bars

. They were easily adapted for this column’s purposes, because they can be made with any bits and bobs in the store-cupboard that need using up.

Whatever-you’ve-got breakfast bars

, not least because she called them “the greatest on-the-go breakfast going”, adding that they are “nutrient-dense and easy to change, depending on what nut, seeds and dried berries you have in the cupboard”.

She gave her version an African twist with puffed sorghum, baobab powder and spelt flour, but you can make them with whatever flour you have in the house. There’s also no need to peel the diced squash, root vegetables or apples before roasting them, because the skin adds flavour, texture and nutritional value, including fibre.

Makes

, such as brazils, hazelnuts and/or walnuts, roughly chopped

, such as pitted dates, figs and/or apricots

, such as rolled oats, spelt or rye

– I used buckwheat

1 pinch sea salt

Optional extras

– quinoa, millet or rice crispies

– mulberries, cranberries and/or sultanas

– pumpkin, sunflower, linseed

, to taste

Heat the oven to 200C (180C fan)/390F/gas 6. Cut the squash, root vegetables or apples into 1-2cm cubes and scatter on to a baking tray. Drizzle with the oil, then roast for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, pulse 150g of the nuts to a coarse flour. Add a third of the roast squash/vegetable/apple cubes and all the dried fruit, and blend to a thick paste.

In a bowl, gather the remaining 50g chopped nuts, the flaked grains, flour and salt, then add the remaining roast squash/vegetable/apple cubes.

You now have the core ingredients for your breakfast bars. Raid your cupboards for other optional extras – nut butter, puffed grain or cereal, extra dried fruit, seeds and any other ingredients you have to taste.

Knead everything together in a large bowl until well combined, then press into a lined medium-sized baking tin or tray. Bake in the hot oven for 25-30 minutes, or until the bar mix starts to brown, then remove. Cut into bars while it’s still hot, then leave to cool in the tray overnight. The bars will keep in a sealed container in the fridge for up to a week.