Welcome to Kitchen Queries, where the nigella.com team will answer your cooking or food related questions.  We’d love you to submit some of your recipe problems, dilemmas or queries for us to get our teeth into!

Please note, we are only able to answer questions selected for publication and aren't able to enter into personal correspondence.

• Breakfast Bars

  Hi, I've made Nigella's Breakfast Bars twice now, but I leave out the coconut because I don't like it, and they turn out really, really, hard! Is this because I left out the coconut? Could you suggest something I could add to make them more moist? Or should I just bake for less time? Thank you!  

  Hi, I really like the look of the Breakfast Bars featured on the website but I have a nut allergy. I am just wondering if you have any suggestions of what to use instead of peanuts in this recipe?

  Posted by mambach. Answered on 11th Mar 2013 at 12.00

  From the nigella team:

  Nigella's Breakfast Bars (from Nigella Express, p94) should be firm enough to hold together but still have a slight chew. They should not be rock hard. The shredded coconut may add a tiny bit of moisture but omitting it should not affect the recipe that much. It is more likely that they need slightly less baking time in your oven (ovens all vary a little). We would suggest that you check the bars after 50 minites baking time. The bars should still be slightly soft in the centre, though set on top. If they look wet in the centre then let them bake for another 5 minutes and check again. The bars will continue to set as they cool.

  You do not necessarily need to use peanuts in the bars and can use any combination of fruit, nuts and seeds that you like. Substitute the peanuts with an equal weight of mixed seeds of your choice. If you are not allergic to pine nuts then these would also be a nice alternative.

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