Fruit Flapjacks are sticky, chewy, sweet, and bursting with fruity goodness. With added seeds for extra texture and nutrition, these fruity bars are the perfect, easy to make, sweet treat.
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I absolutely love flapjacks. My Bakewell Flapjacks, apple flapjacks and Jam Flapjacks are probably some of my favourite things to bake, and we don’t have them anywhere near often enough.
As much as I love chocolate, and of course, I’ll never say no to a chocolatey flapjack, I think I actually prefer them fruity.
Plenty of golden syrup gives my fruity flatbacks a fantastic chewy texture and sweet flavour, and the added fruit is just extra yummy.
The best news is that once you’ve got a basic flapjack recipe that you love and works well, you can add pretty much anything.
This Fruit flapjack recipe is great because you can amend it to add your favourite fruit and seeds, or even nuts, going your own way to create a fabulous flapjack bar that you love!
What’s the Difference Between a Flapjack and a Granola Bar?
Well. Not much, really. Bit of syrup and a different texture.
What is a Granola Bar?
Granola bars are typically thought of as cereal bars.
They have less syrup and usually less sugar and are baked until they are crunchy.
Fruity granola bars are a little healthier than my flapjacks.
But the main difference is that granola bars are hard, and flapjacks are chewy.
Could Fruit Flapjacks be Breakfast Bars?
Oatmeal bars are great for breakfast because they have lots of slow-release energy that fills you up and keeps you going all morning.
Oat bars with fruit are even better and tastier.
Call these fruity flapjacks fruit and oat cereal bars are you are good to go! They could absolutely be eaten for breakfast.
But they do have much more sugar than I’d generally recommend for breakfast.
You might want to reduce the sugar and syrup if you want to eat them for breakfast regularly.
The butter will still hold the oats together, but the texture will be crunchier, more like a classic granola bar.
If you want the odd fruity breakfast bar treat, these would be great as they are.
They also make a good lunch box treat or energy-boosting afternoon snack.
What Fruit Can You Put in Flapjacks?
In my recipe for flapjacks with fruit, I’ve used dried apricots and raisins, as well as mixed seeds.
But you can use whatever you’ve got in. Sultanas are a great swap for raisins (because they are the same?!)
Glacé cherries would be good too. Mixed fruit, dried peel.
Really any fruit that you’ve got or like, could work, I think.
Raisins and chopped dried apricots work really well. The texture is amazing, and they taste great.
If you choose different fruit, just make sure anything bigger than a raisin is chopped to a raisin-type size.
Can You Use Frozen Fruit to Make Fruit Flapjacks?
Yes, you can use frozen fruit in flapjacks. Frozen berries would be great in fruity flapjacks.
Personally, I’d probably go for raspberries (I might sneak some white chocolate chips in, too!) or blueberries.
The only thing I’d say is don’t defrost them first.
Frozen berries can go a little soggy when you defrost them, so just toss them into the mixture or press them into your flapjacks once the mix is in the pan.
Scatter them over, and gently press them down, then bake as normal.
What Seeds Can You Put in Flapjacks?
I use a bag of mixed seeds. I put them in porridge too. Oats and seeds are a great mix!
My bag of mixed seeds (you can get them from any big supermarket or health food shop. Mine are from Aldi) contains Pumpkin Seeds, Sunflower Seeds, Golden Linseeds and Hemp Seeds.
But you can use any that you like or skip them altogether.
Alternatively, you could swap the seeds for nuts, again, any that you like.
I really love the texture of a flapjack with seeds, and just think they add something extra.
Are Fruit Flapjacks Healthy?
So, we have a habit of thinking that things with fruit in them are the healthier version of our chocolatey favourites.
We think oat and raisin cookies are healthier than chocolate.
Generally, this is kind of true, and kind of not.
Yes, the fruity version has more nutrients, vitamins, and minerals, but it’s still high in fat and calories.
So still not great if you are watching what you eat.
Because of the huge amounts of sugar, I wouldn’t say that this fruity flapjack recipe is healthy. But, the ingredients mean that they do have healthy properties.
Seeds are high in protein (hemp especially is a great protein source), fibre, vitamins, antioxidants, and other nutrients.
Oats are very filling and keep you going for a long time, and obviously, fruit is always good!
If you want to make healthy fruity flapjack, as I’ve said above, you could skip some of the syrup and sugar and go for a firmer, more granola-type bar.
If you want to keep them chewy, reduce the sugar, but keep the syrup.
You could also use low-fat margarine instead of butter.
The easiest way to make your fruit and seed flapjacks healthier is to cut them into smaller squares.
I cut mine into eight giant rectangles, but you could easily get 16 smaller squares out of them, halving the calories and creating awesome lunch box snacks in the process.
How Long Will Homemade Fruit Flapjacks Last?
Because they are so chewy, flapjacks last for ages!
Even just kept on the side uncovered, they’ll be ok for a few days.
But if you keep homemade flapjacks in a sealed container, they’ll last for at least a week. Up to 10 days, I’d say.
Not that they’ll last that long!
You can also freeze homemade flapjacks. Pop them in freezer bags in smaller portions or even individual squares and freeze for up to 2 months.
You could place the bags in an airtight tub if you wanted extra protection from freezer burn.
Let them thaw in the fridge when you are ready for them.
They might crumble slightly, but they’ll still taste great and have a wonderful chewy texture.
How to Make Fruit Flapjacks
Making flapjacks is super simple!
What You Need to Make Flapjacks
I use a large mixing bowl, a saucepan to melt my butter, and a 20cm square cake tin.
Mine is loose-bottomed, but if not, I’d line it with a little reusable baking paper, cut to size. (Affiliate links)
Making Fruit Flapjacks – Top Tips
- Carefully melt the butter, sugar, and syrup together in a small saucepan, stirring often to avoid the sticky mixture catching on the bottom of the pan.
- Mix the oats, seeds, and fruit in a large bowl.
- Mix the wet ingredients in so that all the oats are coated and wet. This ensures your flapjacks stick together.
- Bake your fruit flapjacks until the top is just golden brown. Bake for too long, and they will be firmer but don’t worry, they’ll still taste great.
- Chop any larger fruit down to a raisin-ish size.
- If you want a crunchier flapjack, either bake for a little longer or use a bigger tin so your flapjacks are thinner.
- If your tin is bigger, but you want a chewy flapjack, either increase the mixture or bake for 5 minutes less.
- Soft brown sugar can be swapped for demerara or caster if you don’t have brown.
- Cinnamon is optional, but it tastes great.
- I use regular porridge oats for my fruit flapjacks. They are cheap and always in the cupboard. Jumbo oats, rolled oats, old-fashioned oats, and steel-cut oats are all fine. The texture will be different (probably even better with a bigger oat) but use what you’ve got!
Fruit Flapjacks
Ingredients
- 200 g Porridge Oats
- 50 g Mixed Seeds
- 75 g Dried Apricots (Chopped into smaller chunks)
- 125 g Raisins
- 1 Teaspoon Cinnamon
- 120 g Butter or Margarine
- 75 g Soft Light Brown Sugar
- 100 g Golden Syrup
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees (Fan-assisted) and grease or line a tin.
- Carefully melt the butter, sugar, and syrup together in a small pan, stirring often.
- Mix the oats, raisins, apricots, seeds, and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl.
- Pour over the melted butter mixture and stir until the oats are all coated in butter.
- Tip into the baking tin, spread out evenly, and flatten with the back of your fingers or a metal spoon.
- Bake in the oven for 25 minutes until the top is golden.
- Cool in the tin for 10 minutes before removing to cool completely on a wire rack.
- When cool, slice carefully into eight large rectangles or 16 smaller squares.
Notes
- You might need to bake for longer, or less time if your tin is significantly bigger or smaller, mine (you can see it below) is 10 inches by 8 inches.
- Swap fruit and seeds for your favourites
- Light brown sugar can be swapped for demerara
- For a crunchier flapjack bake for longer, or use a bigger tin so that they are thinner
Nutrition
Any nutritional information is given as a general guide only and may not be accurate. The information is provided using an online calculator and is specific to my ingredients. Please make your own calculations if you want precise information.
I love oat bars! Can’t wait to try this out!
Sorry tried this recipe but not a fan , oats didn’t stick together and temperature of 180 is to high , regards
Sorry to hear that John. It always works for me!
I love flapjacks so much too! I’m a Frenchie, and we don’t really have that in France, except for specialized British supermarkets. That’s actually one of the snacks I eat the most since I’ve moved to London, so thank you for the recipe. It doesn’t look too hard to make either!
Thank you thank you for specifying weight of golden syrup!! These things make all the difference. Create so much mess spooning tbsps of it. Requires extra spoon to get it out of the tbsp measure.
Making it now!
I know exactly what you mean, it’s too sticky for spoons! I hope you enjoy them.
Mine didn’t stick together in a bar either, but it’s still yummy to eat with a spoon! May have been the type of oats I used, have to use gluten free and they’re quite large, not like the soft porridge oats I used to eat.
Ah, that might be it. I’ve only made them with porridge oats, so couldn’t say for sure. I’m glad you enjoyed the flavour at least!