Apricot & Almond Flapjacks

These delicious apricot flapjacks have been flavoured with honey and a little cinnamon. The crunch and texture comes from a combination of toasted blanched almonds, pumpkin and sunflower seeds. Apricot and almond flapjacks are one of my all time favourite sweet treats.

A good flapjack should not be dry and flaky. At their absolute best when they have the right amount of chew and a little crunch.

As with all baked goods, they have to be worth the calories. Too often I have looked forward to the sweet, stickiness of a flapjack to be handed something dense, stodgy and almost cake-like (and a bad cake at that).

What I like most about this easy flapjack recipe is that it requires very little technical expertise. Melt some butter and sugar, then add to a bowl of dry ingredients, mix then bake! Flapjacks are a great bake for children, just ensure you watch them with the hot butter sugar mixture!

Why you’ll love this recipe

• A great make ahead bake as flapjacks store really well, up to a week at room temperature.
• Grab and go breakfast perfect for busy days when you start early and need something to keep you going till lunch.
• Made with gluten free porridge oats so suitable for coeliacs or anyone following a gluten free diet.
• For vegan apricot flapjacks swap the honey for maple syrup.

Recipe ingredients

• Nuts – for this recipe I use whole blanched almonds which I toast quickly first before adding to the flapjack mixture.
• Apricots – I use dried apricots, which I cut down into smaller pieces before adding to the mix.
• Butter – I used unsalted butter to help bind all the ingredients together.
• Sugar – I use light muscovado sugar or light brown sugar to sweeten the flapjacks as they add a great molasses flavor.
• Honey – I enjoy the flavour of honey in my flapjacks. However, if you don’t like honey you can use golden syrup or maple syrup instead.
• Oats – I used large gluten free porridge oats (rolled oats) as the base for this flapjack recipe. The larger oats have more crunch and texture, but you can use regular porridge oats too, they are just cut a little finer. If you don’t require gluten free flapjacks you can use regular rolled oats.
• Seeds – sunflower and pumpkin seeds add great crunch and texture to the flapjacks.
• Cinnamon – a teaspoon of ground cinnamon adds great flavour to the flapjacks.
• Salt – I add a touch of salt to balance out the sweet flavors.

How to make apricot flapjacks

Preheat the oven to 200C/180CFan/390F and roast the whole almonds for 10 minutes on a baking tray. Remove from the oven and place into a large mixing bowl to cool a little.

Turn the oven down to 180C/160CFan/350F.

Line the baking tray with baking parchment to stop the flapjacks from sticking to the tray.

Chop the dried apricots into small pieces.

In a small saucepan add the butter, sugar and honey over medium heat until melted, stir to combine.

Add the remaining ingredients into the bowl with the toasted almonds and chopped apricots, and stir to combine. 

Once the butter mixture has melted pour over the dry ingredients and combine fully to ensure all the dry ingredients are evenly coated with the butter and sugar mixture.

Pour the mixture onto the lined baking tray and spread evenly across the tray and press the flapjack mixture into the tray. Use the back of a metal spoon to ensure the mixture is compressed and flat in the tray.

Place the tray into the oven oven and bake for 30 minutes.

Remove the tray from the oven, set on a wire cooling rack and allow to cool completely before removing the flapjacks from the tray and cutting into squares.

Recipe variations

Flapjacks are really versatile and can be easily adapted to use what you have in your stores at home. Just make sure you keep the overall weight the same!

• I’ve used whole blanched almonds for the crunch, but you can chop them up or use flaked almonds if you prefer.
• Swap the almonds for hazelnuts, pecans, cashews, pistachios, walnut or peanut.
• Stir through some desiccated coconut.
• Add other seeds into the mix like flaxseed, chia, sesame or poppy seeds.
• Add other spices like ground ginger or nutmeg into the mix.
• I love dried apricots, but you can swap the apricots for any other dried fruit like raisins, sultanas, cranberries, figs or dates.
• Add some dark, milk or white chocolate chips to the flapjack mix.

Serving suggestions

I love flapjacks as a mid afternoon treat with a cup of tea or coffee. However, they make a quick and easy grab and go breakfast option too.

Useful hints and tips

1. To avoid burning, take care when handing the hot sugar and butter, particularly if baking with younger children.
2. Use baking parchment to line the tray as this makes the flapjacks a lot easier to remove when cooled and ready to cut.
3. This recipe makes around 24 flapjacks but you can cut the flapjacks as large or small as you wish.
4. Allow flapjacks to cool completely in the tray before cutting, this helps keep their shape.
5. Using gluten free porridge oats makes these flapjacks suitable for coeliacs or gluten free diners.
6. To make vegan apricot flapjacks swap the honey for maple syrup.
7. Allergy advice: gluten free, egg free, soya free and peanut free. For comprehensive and detailed allergy advice go to Allergy UK.

FAQs

Pin the recipe

Additional recipe suggestions

If you like this recipe then try some of my favorite simple oat based recipes:

• Christmas Spiced Flapjacks
• Christmas Spiced Granola
• Chocolate Hazelnut Granola
• Cinnamon Granola with Almond & Apricot

If you enjoyed this bake have a look at our Ultimate Guide to Baking with Kids, full of great recipe suggestions, hints and top for baking with children.