Honestly Healthy Flapjacks

A perfect guilt-free snack for revision during exam time, or for any lunch box - whether it is for kids at school or to enjoy with a cup of tea at work.

They have a satisfying texture and a natural sweet taste, with oats and seeds that will give you more energy for longer, providing you with good, honestly healthy nutrients.

With finals approaching, I find myself constantly reaching for the chocolate. Food that makes you feel good for a bit, but doesn't really provide any long-lasting energy or nutrients. I flicked through my new 'Honestly Healthy' cookbook to find something I could make that was actually good brain-food, and that also tastes really delicious and satisfying. I came across some 'Granola Bars'. As always, I played around with the recipe a bit, and have created something with easy-to-get-your-hands-on ingredients.

I wouldn't describe mine as granola bars since they are not crunchy, but are soft and gooey, more like flapjacks. If you use jumbo oats then perhaps they would turn out more crunchy, but I used porridge oats. Don't go on a crazy shopping spree to hunt down every specific ingredient - play around with fruit, seeds and nuts that you already have at the back of the cupboard.

They are easy to make one evening to set you up with snacks for the week - and you know exactly what is in them, unlike all the cereal bars out there claiming to be healthy or low fat, when they are packed full of extra sugar and additives. 

These flapjacks are gluten-free, rich in vitamins, high in fibre, and bursting with energy.

Go on, take a bite...

Makes 9

- 200g oats

- 250g dried prunes, chopped

- water

- 75g dried cranberries

- 2 tbsp milled linseed mix with gojiberries, sunflower & pumpkin seeds (you can find in Aldi)

- 2 heaped tbsp pumpkin seeds

- pinch of cinnamon

- 3 tbsp agave nectar (or honey)

1. Preheat the oven to 160 degrees. Spread the oats on grease proof paper on a large baking tray and bake for about 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tray.

2. Place the chopped prunes in a saucepan and pour in water to double the depth. Bring to the boil and reduce for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally (and adding more water if necessary), until a sticky syrup is left with chunks of prunes.

3. Add the cranberries, linseed mix, pumpkin seeds, cinnamon, and agave nectar and stir until well combined. Then mix in the toasted oats.

4. Spread this oaty mixture into a baking tin (on grease proof paper) and bake for 15-20 minutes.

5. Remove from the oven and cut into squares. Leave to cool completely.

Enjoy :)

Fruity flapjacks

I have never made flapjacks before today, in fact, I was never really that keen on them before either, but these have completely blown me away! I looked up a few different recipes and decided on the ingredients that I thought would work best (and with what I had in the house!) These are prune flapjacks, but the prunes can easily be swapped for apricots, dates, cranberries etc. They are incredibly moist, yet still crispy and crunchy when you get an edge piece. I used mainly margarine so I was shocked that they tasted so satisfyingly bad for you and buttery - obviously they're still not particularly 'healthy' but the marg does help a bit... I nearly always say this about the recipes I post, but these really were so easy to make as well! A brilliant treat to make if you're having friends or family over, everyone's bound to love them. I would probably modify the recipe if I was making chocolate flapjacks because the textures would be different, but you could always try just swapping the dried fruit for chocolate chips although I don't know if the texture would be as perfect! I will definitely stick to this recipe in the future and make these again and again - hope you like them as much as me.

Makes about 9 flapjacks

- 125g margarine, plus extra for greasing

- 50g butter

- 75g soft, brown sugar

- 55g runny honey

- 100g dried prunes (pitted), chopped

- 40g mixed dried fruit (raisins, saltanas etc.)

- 1 tsp sesame seeds

- 1 tsp golden linseeds (flax)

- 225g oats

1. Pre-heat the oven to gas mark 4 / 180 degrees and grease a square or rectangular tin (e.g. 10.5 x 6.5 inches)

2. Over a low heat, melt the margarine, butter, sugar (leaving a little bit left) and honey in a pan, stirring until fully melted and the sugar dissolved.

3. Stir in the prunes, dried fruit, seeds and oats until fully mixed and coated.

4. Spoon the mixture into the tin, flattening with the back of a wooden spoon. Sprinkle over the remaining sugar and bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown.

5. Remove from the oven and cut into squares/rectangles, and leave to cool in the tin.

Enjoy :)