Banana Flapjack

Yet again I have over ripe bananas left in the fruit bowl. Thought I'd google a recipe for banana flapjacks, then at least they can be used in packed lunch treat this week. I found a lovely recipe using peanut butter and apple too, but alas, the kids go to nut free school, so that was a no go (I do have a jar of FreeNut Butter from Eskal, but I can't guarantee I didn't contaminate it with peanut or almond nut butter when I was finishing the dregs of some jars for cookies a few weeks ago!). Pinched this from Nigella though.

The problem I have making flapjacks is that the mix always looks too wet, so I add extra oats and then it's more like granola when it comes out of the oven. I tried really hard not to this time, I did add an extra 20g, but it was still much wetter than I would normally do. I even got round to weighing out the 'cups' as I was doing it!

First go came out quite porridgy, put it back in the oven a couple of times to dry out, boys kept testing them, suddenly not much left…

Second go, reduced the sugar, increased the oats, cooked for longer, et voila, banana flapjack fingers ready for packed lunch:

100g Dairy and Soya Free Spread (works with 80g)

20g Soft Brown Sugar (or any other kind - or don't bother with it, I've stopped adding it)

100g Golden Syrup (works with 80g)

240g Rolled Oats 

1 Large (or 2 small) Mashed Ripe Banana (we quite like 1 banana and a grated apple)

Melt sugar, syrup and spread in a pan or microwave.

Add oats and banana and mix well.

Pour into a tin.

Smooth out with the back of a spoon.

Bake at 180ºC for 20 minutes.

Use a sharp knife to cut into 12 fingers or 18 squares.

Put back in oven at 160ºC for 15 minutes.

Leave to cool in tin. If you prefer them crispier, put them on a cooling rack and leave in the oven to dry out a bit longer.