I used to love those trays of flapjacks they sell in supermarkets, back when I was young and apparently rather naive. You see I always used to think that the tray of flapjacks was the healthier option, because in my head it was just oats and oats are good for you. So it was ok to eat the whole tray, right? Wrong. My world turned upside down when I once looked at the ingredients list – sugar, golden syrup, palm oil, other nasties – not good for you in the slightest.

The good news however is that you can have delicious flapjacks and still be healthy. This in turn leads to the even better news that you can totally justify having these for breakfast (and we do).

They are pretty inexpensive to make, and you just need eight ingredients to whip up a batch. They’re such a good energy booster (so great for tea time too) as the bananas and oats give you lots of lovely slow release energy, and the chia seeds and almond butter are excellent sources of protein. Plus, cinnamon is proven to stave off hunger cravings, so they’re pretty much the perfect snack!

Ingredients

• 3 ripe bananas
• 9 tbsp maple syrup
• 3 1/2 cups oats
• 4 tbsp coconut oil
• 1 tbsp cinnamon
• 4 tbsp almond butter
• 2 tbsp chia seeds
• 1/4 cup chopped dates (or raisins)

For the chocolate drizzle (optional)

• 1/2 cup cacao butter
• 3 tbsp cacao powder
• 3 tbsp maple syrup
• Mixed seeds

First mash the bananas in a bowl, then stir in the maple strup, chia seeds, almond butter and cinnamon. Melt the coconut oil in a saucepan and stir this in too.

Then, pour in the oats and the chopped dates and give it another big stir so that everything is mixed evenly.

Spoon the mixture into a lined baking tray and press down firmly. Then place the tray in the oven and bake at 180 degrees for around half an hour, until they are golden brown.

If you want to add the chocolate drizzle on top, once the flapjacks have cooled (this will feel painfully slow I’m warning you) melt the cacao butter in a pan on a low heat, then add then cacao powder and maple syrup and stir until you have a lovely melted chocolate mixture. Drizzle over the flapjacks and decorate with seeds on top.

Love, Mrs H xx