Fuss Free Blueberry & Oat Flapjacks

September has landed gang, and with kids and teens (and me!) returning to school and college, and the arrival of Autumn, I’ve been full of recipe inspiration for fuss free recipes for every time of day. I don’t know about you guys, but I definitely have 1-2 snacks pretty much everyday – usually between breakfast and lunch, and between lunch and dinner. One of my favourite recipes I use is my Chickpea Power Bars, but I was feeling something a bit different recently. Flapjacks have a bad reputation for being ‘too sugary and processed’, ‘calorific’, etc when bought in a shop (and there are many brands who make their own flapjacks, and they all vary!). But when made from scratch, you can see how simple and wholesome the ingredients really are – oats, banana, blueberries, for example. Also, you can get really creative with them too, adding in your favourite flavours, nuts and seeds. I’m a BIG cinnamon and ginger lover, so they were clearly going in my recipe! I can’t wait to see what you guys think!

Recipe (Makes 10 Flapjacks)

Ingredients

1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
2 tbsp honey
2 tbsp whole chia seeds
50ml milk of choice
150g oats (I use Flahavan’s Quick-Cook oatlets but use whatever you prefer)
1 big handful of blueberries
3 bananas
50g raw cashews, roughly chopped
Optional Extras: Feel free to add seeds (pumpkin, sunflower), dark chocolate chips (I love doing that!)

Method

Pre-heat the oven to 175C (fan oven), and line a baking dish (square ideally but it’s fine if not!) with grease-proof paper or tinfoil greased with a little olive oil.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the oats, cinnamon, ginger, chia seeds, cashews, plus whatever extras you want – extra seeds, chocolate chips, nuts!
In a smaller bowl, mash the bananas until quite liquid-like in consistency.
Add the mashed bananas to the bowl of dry ingredients, and mix them in until fully combined.
Add the milk and honey, and mix both in.
Finally add the blueberries into the bowl, and fold them in.
When the oven is ready, scoop the mixture into the baking dish, and bake in the oven for 30 minutes. At 30 minutes, check the flapjacks – insert a toothpick or fork into the mix, and if it comes out 99% clean, you’re good! If not, give them another five minutes bake time.
Allow to cool for 15 minutes before slicing up, serving, eating, or freezing a batch for a new week ahead!