This Fruity Flapjacks recipe is quick and easy to make. It uses just a few ingredients and a little bit of time to create these delicious oaty flapjacks. They’re filled with delicious dried fruit, seeds and nuts to make a great mid-morning snack or a sweet treat for lunch boxes.
Why you want these Fruity Flapjacks
- makes a healthy snack as they’re full of good things; seeds, oats and dried fruits
- toasting the oats and the nuts before using them in the flapjack recipe released a lot more flavour into the finished bars.
- taste good – this is a healthy bar that you are going to want to eat
- better for you than a lot of highly processed snacks and you are in control of what’s in this bar
- chewy, sweet and filled with wholesome ingredients
Ingredients for this Fruity Flapjack Recipe
Seeds and Nuts – Sesame Seeds, sunflower seeds and walnuts all combine to give a lovely crunch and add a few important vitamins, minerals and proteins too.
(See our homemade Granola Recipe and our Peanut Granola Recipe for ideas) on how to include a few more nuts and seeds in your daily diet.)
Fats – This is the glue which holds all these loose ingredients together to make this fruity, nutty seedy flapjack bar. This can be butter, coconut oil, or a margarine that is suitable for baking.
Dried fruit: This recipe uses dried fruit to add a little sweetness and a little texture. I’ve used a mixture of dried cranberries and dates You may substitute your favourite combination of dried fruit if you wish but keep the overall amount the same.
Sugar: Muscovado sugar is present to give sweetness and to add its gorgeous caramel-like flavour.
Golden Syrup, Maple Syrup or Honey – Use whichever one you prefer. These are interchangeable in the recipe. and whichever one you use, they are included to add sweetness and a little flavour. The syrup keeps them just a little soft and chewy.
Cinnamon: Completely optional but a brilliant spice, added for its warming aromatic flavour.
The complete recipe with exact amounts is listed below.
How to make Fruity Flapjacks
These fruit, nut and seed flapjacks are very easy to make. This is a quick walkthrough of what you need to do.
The completely optional first step is to toast the oats, nuts and seeds to release all their wonderful flavours. If you have the time it is definitely worth doing.
Optional: This step is completely optional but worth doing if you have the time. Toast the oats and nuts in the oven for a few minutes, allowing all the flavours to blossom. These are then mixed with the other ingredients.
Start by lining an 18cm by 25cm tin with baking parchment. Allow the baking parchment to overhang the tin a little so that it makes a kind of handle which makes it easy to get the flapjacks out once they have cooked.
Carefully tip the toasted oats and nuts into the saucepan.
Add in the cinnamon and dried fruit and stir until everything is coated with the syrup mixture. Tip this into the prepared tin, pushing the mixture into the corners and smoothing it down gently.
Use a large saucepan (it needs to accommodate the oats and nuts later), and melt the coconut oil or butter (or suitable margarine) over a low heat.
Add in the muscovado sugar and your choice of maple, honey or golden syrup. Stir as you do this and once it has all melted, remove the pan from the heat.
Put this into the oven and bake for approximately 30 minutes. Keep an eye on it, you are looking for a soft golden brown colour.
At the end of the 30 minutes, take the tin out of the oven and leave it to cool before carefully removing it from the tin to cool completely. . Don’t they smell good?
Once cool, slice into twelve generously sized portions or more, smaller ones.
These will keep well in a tin for three or four days but I never find that they last that long once released into the wild.
Make them Different
There are a few things you can do to this recipe to make it different. Here are a few of our favourites.
- Using chocolate chips instead of dried fruit works brilliantly.
- Try adding 100g of chocolate chips along with the dried fruit..
- What about a ginger, orange and chocolate version? To make this, omit the cinnamon and use 1 tsp of ground ginger and the grated zest of an orange. Once the Toasted Oat bars have cooled, melt a 150g bar of your favourite chocolate, spread it on the top and leave to set. Delicious.
Make these gluten-free
Use certified gluten-free oats and these flapjack oat bars will be perfect for you.
Make them Vegan-Friendly
To make these Fruity Flapjacks vegan-friendly use a vegan-friendly margarine that is suitable for use in baking or use coconut oil. I’ve found that the coconut oil makes a delicious oaty flapjack.
Storing these Flapjacks
Once cooled these Fruity Flapjacks will store well in an air-tight container for up to 4 or 5 days. I suspect they won’t last that long once your family finds them.
Please share any thoughts or photos, I’d love to see what you’ve been making.
If you like this recipe… then you might like these
Easy Fruity flapjacks Recipe
Equipment
- 1 saucepan
- 1 spoon or spatula
- 1 baking tin
- 1 baking parchment enough to line the baking tin
Ingredients
- 2 1/4 cups rolled oats
- 1/2 cup coconut oil substitute with butter or a margarine that's suitable for baking if preferred.
- 1/2 cup light muscovado sugar
- 1/3 cup sesame seeds
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
- 3/4 cup sunflower seeds
- 3 tablespoon honey substitue maple syrup or golden syrup
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries
- 1/4 cup dried dates
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon substute all spice or mixed spice if you prefer.
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 320F/160C/140C/gas 3.
- Line a 18cm by 25cm pan.
- Measure out the oats, 2 1/4 cups rolled oats sesame seeds1/3 cup sesame seeds, sunflower seeds3/4 cup sunflower seeds and walnuts 1/2 cup chopped walnuts and lay them out on a baking tray in a single layer if possible.
- Pop the tray into the oven for five minutes. After five minutes, remove from the oven, move the seed mix around and pop it back into the oven to toast for a further five minutes.
- As this is happening, melt the coconut oil 1/2 cup coconut oil or butter in a large saucepan with the golden syrup honey or maple syrup, 3 tablespoon honey, muscovado sugar 1/2 cup light muscovado sugar. Stir until it becomes quite liquid. Do not allow this to boil.
- Once the oat and seed mixture has finished toasting, add it to the saucepan with the ground cinnamon and dried fruit 1/2 cup dried cranberries, 1/4 cup dried dates.
- Mix it together well until all the ingredients are coated with the melted coconut oil, sugar syrup.
- Tip this gently into the prepared baking tin. Push the mixture into the corners and smooth down gently.
- Put the tin into the oven for around 30 minutes. By this time the flapjacks should be nicely golden brown.
- Remove from the oven and leave to cool before taking them out of the pan and cutting into slices.
Notes
Nutrition
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