Oh wow, we said bye to the summer already few days back, welcome autumn, also a favourite season of mine I have to admit so it is time for some nice comforting yet, healthy snacks that keep us full for longer and give us some really good nutrition and not soo many calories.
I know that healthier flapjacks may sound a little unreal to you- what is a healthier flapjack, is there such a thing? Well, yes they do normally contain tonnes of butter, loads of sugar, ingredients that aren’t the best for you. These flapjacks are’t anything like that, they are packed with goodness, ideal energy boosters especially for kids who always walk out of school really hungry, us coming out of the gym feeling like we could eat a horse right there and then.
My daughter came back from school yesterday and she said she really fancied one of my healthier flapjack. She did not want to get one from school as they are way beyond her sweet taste threshold (good girl!) I was impressed and super proud, not because she’s asked for my version of flapjack but because she had the willpower to say no to a flapjack because she knows it is not the best for her. She is 11 year old and she’s going through a growing spurt at the moment (another one 😊💪🏼) and constantly asking for food as soon as she gets home – all you hear it’s ‘Oh, I need to eat something or I’ll die from starvation’. Yes, right! Ha ha.
She’s a very active smart cookie my young lady and also with her new school, new rules, all new teachers, new people and no one she knows around, all in all a whole new setting I’m pretty sure she is burning a heck more calories only through her nervousness. I know her -she’s just like her mother -although I have passed that stage -(nothing and no-one stresses me any longer, ya, right) but everything has to be perfect or nearly perfect, to flow nicely, trouble free, try and make no mistakes etc., so for maintaining all this many calories get exhausted very very fast, right? Well, that’s why and what mummys are there for, to supply and to comply with all their kids demands and wishes, errr, ok, almost all 🤪.
In any case, yesterday she fancied a flapjack and I know in the weekend she was already planning to bake a lemon and poppy seeds cake which I’m also looking forward to. The girls are set to hit the kitchen together and guaranteed, nice things will emerge, stay tuned!
Coming back to the healthier aspect of this flapjack recipe, it really contains some really nice organic ingredients, it contains no refined sugars, in fact no sugar at all, that has been completely replaced by organic honey that I have from my dear dad, honey that has been produced around large forest and beautiful flower fields. This flapjacks contain organic dry pomegranate seeds, turmeric, apples, all good stuff. You actually do not feel the need to have any other flapjacks ever again, these are soo satisfying and not overly sweet like the ones in the supermarkets. I do find some offensively sweet, well yes, because they contain sugar and syrup, totally not necessary, not for my taste buds anyways and it appears that my daughter has inherited that too 😊
What are these pomegranate seeds….
Well, I have stumbled across them some time ago in my on line grocery store where I buy all my beautiful and, as some of my friends would say- weird ingredients, ha ha, well, this is one of those ‘weird’ ones 🙄 – they might think so but…. the benefits from some of these weird ingredients are simply remarkable.
Myself and my daughter are the only weirdos in the household stuffing their face with those seeds and I need to top up the cupboard on those every now and again. Dry organic pomegranate seeds don’t come cheap but boy, they are worth every penny. Apparently they fight cancer and bacterial infections (good!! – you never know) they help with lowering blood pressure, enhance memory (has gone almost totally unnoticed this benefit on my part😅), they are also really good for improving heart health over all and presumedly they reduce the joint pain and arthritis.
You see, I did tell you they are superfood so search well to finding them. But of course if you do not find them separately dried and so on, just make sure you never take them out or throw them away when eating or juicing the actual pomegranate fruit.
Healthier flapjacks with honey and dry Pomegranate seeds
Ingredients
- 220 g jumbo rolled oats organic
- 170 g rye flakes organic
- 180 g honey *
- 100 g apple finely chopped
- 50 g desiccated coconut
- 45 g dry cranberries chopped
- 50 g pecan or walnuts toasted and chopped
- 70 g coconut oil plus extra to grease the oven dish
- 40 g sunflower seeds
- 100 g pomegranate seeds
- 1/2 tsp sea salt flakes
- 1 tsp turmeric optional
Instructions
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Preheat the oven at 180C/fan or 200C/350F/Gas mark 4.
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Place all the dry/solid ingredients (jumbo rolled oats, rye flakes, desiccated coconut, dry cranberries, toasted nuts, coconut oil (if solid), sunflower seeds salt and turmeric powder if you chose to add it) in a food processor . Give it a few pulses until well mixed.
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Add the honey, the coconut oil (if liquid) and pulse a few more times until it has reached the desired texture/grain size.* I personally like the grains to be slightly bigger for extra chewiness.
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Lightly grease an approximately 27x27cm (11x11”) * oven proof dish and spoon in the flapjack mixture. With the back of a strong spoon, press and flatten the mixture uniformly. Use something more squarish like a knife for the corners to press the mixture down nicely.
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At his point you may also want to score it into 16, 20 or 25 squares or rectangles, however big or whatever shape you may like your flapjacks to be/look like.
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Place in the oven and bake for approximately 15-17 min until golden brown. Edges will get browner quick so lower temperature if this happens too quick - the whole idea is to dry this slightly not to brown it. When ready, take out of the oven and allow to cool completely before serving.
Recipe Notes
* There are plenty of variations you could play with when it comes to flapjacks, you can use syrup and sugar, raisins, lemon or orange rind (or both), you can use muesli instead of oats, dry cherries or even glace cherries ( if you like them -I personally don’t but I know a lot of people do), instead of cranberries, and then go nuts or coconuts with loads of chopped walnuts, almonds, macadamia, cashew, hazelnuts or any seeds even ground flaxseed which has to be one of my favourite. There is no right nor wrong when it comes to flapjacks, agree? It really depends on individual taste and what is your sweet tooth threshold. Simply throw in all the flapjack related ingredients you love mix and match those exactly as you wish. Other bits that you could add can also be sultanas and chocolate drops or chips (mmm yumm).
* Careful when mixing/pulsing the ingredients so that they do not lose the texture.
* When it comes to honey, of course it is your call depending on how sweet you would like your flapjacks to be. I have mentioned the quantity in grams, remember, honey weights a lot more than water as it is a lot denser so I would say 180g honey would be approximately 125ml or 4 fl oz or 6 oz.
* My oven dish was exactly 27x27 cm and the bars came out to be around 1cm thick which is about the right thickness so that they do not crumble and fall apart.
* The pomegranate seeds, if you find them too hard, give them a good blend priorly to almost powder them as they can be a little tricky and hard for teeth.
* They are even better the next day and thereafter for as long as a couple of weeks if kept in an air tight container in the fridge. Beautiful, enjoy! Mine do last for few days and they make a beautiful after school or during work snack.
In the US, flapjacks is another word for pancakes! These look like granola bars to me. Sound delicious and I learned something new!
Hi Amanda, lol – it is a little different – here we call those cereal/granola bars flapjacks but also cereal bars – it is funny how names differ in different corners of the world – I actually did not realise pancakes are flapjacks in the US, I have learned something new too 😉 Thanks lovely!xox
So many great flavors going on in these yummy snacks! We call them granola bars in the US! They are my kids’ favorite snack! I love the addition of the rye flakes and the pomegranate seeds.
Thanks my lovely Beth, those are soo good, chewy and healthy, you should defo try those – my kids were not in-love with them to start with because you know…. the sugar levels were not as high as those you can buy on the market but now… they crave those and find the others way too sweet.
What a delicious and healthy snack! I think my daughter will love this as an afternoon snack-can’t wait to try them out!
Thank you soo much Nikole, I do hope you will enjoy them as much as we do 😉
How yummy is this! I love the oats in it! It sounds like your daughter has a good head on her shoulders! These sound amazing.
Thanks Julie, I know, I am so glad she really has a good head on her shoulders – it really makes me super happy and feel like I have not wasted all these years lol
This organic flapjacks is a great for kids and elders alike as it has honey and pomegranate seeds which is relatively low carbs and a healthier alternative to regular ones.
Thank you Geetha, it is indeed – my kids love it and are kind of … addicted to those – I am glad since they are so much healthier than the market ones 😉 hope you will make it and greatly enjoy it too.