Why Are My Breakfast Bars 2.0 Chewy?

Our answer

Nigella's Breakfast Bars 2.0 (from SIMPLY NIGELLA) are made from oats, cocoa nibs, dried berries and a mixture of seeds, which are bound together with a date puree before baking. The original Breakfast Bars (from NIGELLA EXPRESS) are made with oats, dried fruits and seeds, but mixed with condensed milk before baking.

The Breakfast Bars 2.0 will, however, always be a softer, slightly chewier version. They are baked for 30 minutes in a 180°C oven whilst the original bars are baked long and slow in a 130°C oven for 1 hour and 15 minutes which dries out the mixture more, giving a crisper bar. But also the type of sugar used in each is different which will give a variation in texture. Dates contain a mixture of glucose and fuctose and these are invert sugars. Invert sugars are hygroscopic which means that they attract moisture and make baked goods moist and chewier. Condensed milk contains regular sugar which attracts less moisture so the bars are crunchier. You could try reducing the oven temperature and baking the new bars for longer, but they will still be slightly softer than the original version.