Healthy Easter Flapjacks

Healthy Easter Flapjacks

Here’s a delicious recipe to get you in the mood for Easter! It’s also a healthier sweeter treat so you don’t always have to have pure chocolate when you have a sugar craving.

Oats are fantastic for heart health as the fibre helps to lower LDL cholesterol. This fibre is great for digestive health and cancer prevention too. The larger oats are the best source and you can use a gluten-free option if necessary (oats are technically gluten-free but as cross-contamination from a gluten grain is often possible, buying gluten-free provides peace of mind for those that need it.)

For those of you that don’t know what a flapjack is (and we don’t mean American pancakes), it’s a very British baked item! It’s a little like a granola bar but with a softer texture. These are usually made with oats and typically with tons of butter and golden syrup.

Here, we have replaced the butter with some Earth Balance vegan “buttery” spread and coconut oil (we have used both so that we have the buttery flavour, but also included the more healthy coconut oil.)

We also added in some finely chopped pecans, Linwoods seed mix and hemp seeds too, all of which add protein, fibre and good fats as well as providing a more sustained burst of energy vs. carbs alone. Instead of golden syrup, we have used some maple syrup and a mashed ripe banana which works brilliantly.

You can make these as a plain sheet, or as in a mini muffin pan. We’ve topped ours with chocolate and decorated them with Mini Eggs for a fun Easter treat but this is totally optional!

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup Earth Balance organic Vegan Margarine 

1/4 cup Extra Virgin coconut oil

1 cup maple syrup

1 pinch salt

1 large very ripe banana, mashed

2 1/2 cups gluten-free oats 

1 cup Linwoods sunflower, pumpkin, flax, sesame and goji berry ground seed mix (Miles)*

1/2 cup hemp seeds*

1/2 cup pecans, finely chopped or whizzed in the food processor*

1-2  large bars of dark chocolate (e.g. Lindt 70%) for the optional topping

1 bag Mini Eggs (optional)

* you could use any combination of nuts/seeds here - the trick is to go for a combination as that bumps up the available protein. 

METHOD:

Preheat the oven to 350F. Oil a square (for deep flapjacks) a rectangular pan (for shallow flapjacks) or a mini muffin pan (for flapjack bites) with coconut oil.

Melt the Earth Balance, coconut oil, maple syrup and salt in a large pan over a very low heat.

When melted, stir in the mashed banana and turn off the heat.

Stir in the oats and your choice of seed/nut mixes. Make sure everything is evenly coated.

Press into your pan and bake for 20-25 mins, until the sides have gone darker and a little crunchy and the top is more golden. If you make the mini-version, bake for 10-15mins instead.

Cool completely. 

Break up the chocolate and melt in the microwave in a glass or ceramic bowl for twenty-second bursts until melted. Pour the melted chocolate over the flapjacks, decorate with Mini Eggs (optional)  and set in the fridge. For the sheets, cut with a very sharp knife when set. 

This is a Nutrifit approved recipe by our in house Nutritionist, Catherine Burns (BA Hons, Dip ION, mBNTA). For more information on nutrition services such as nutritional consultations with Catherine or our Nutrifit Program please visit our wellness website: Waterfront Wellness.