Cereals bars can contain a lot of added sugar and one bar can have up to three teaspoons of sugar. Watch out for the hidden sugars in cereal bars and always read the ingredients at the back of the product. Some examples of hidden sugars used to make cereal bars are invert sugar syrup, glucose syrup and glucose fructose syrup.

Here is my quick and simple flapjack/cereal bar recipe:

Ingredients:
½ cup of any nut smooth butter e.g. peanut butter
½ cup of mixed seeds e.g. sunflower seeds
½ cup of dried cranberries
½ cup of mixed nuts
1-2 tbspn honey
3 mashed ripe bananas
1 tspn ginger powder (optional)
½ tspn cinnamon
1 tspn vanilla extract

Method

1. Pre heat oven to 180 degreese celsius, set aside a greased baking tray
2. Melt nut butter, honey and vanilla extract on a low heat in a pan or microwave in a bowl
3. Add the dry ingredients in a food processor and pulse until crumble texture
4. Add the dry mixture into the wet mixture and mix until combined
5. Add the mixture onto the baking tray and flatten on top (large square shape)
6. Bake in the oven for 20-30 minutes until golden
7. Leave to cool, cut into squares and serve

Optional

– Recipe can be adapted and can add any dried fruits or nuts
– Melt some dark chocolate and drizzle onto the flapjacks as you take it out of the oven and let it set
– Can use low fat spread instead of nut butter

Recipe by Gopika Papiah
Children’s Healthy Weight Advisor