I love trying new foods and I was kindly given the chance to review Flahavan's oats for the blog, as part of my January health kick. I love oats and Porridge, but I decided I would not only try these products in the traditional way, but also try something new and more exciting than my usual bowl of porridge. At this point I should add that these oats are chunky, tasty and a lot more filling than our usual supermarket brand porridge oats - and they do make a delicious breakfast!
I decided I would make some sort of breakfast bar/snack. We are always in a hurry; no matter how organised I try and be, you can bet something will get in the way so that we are dashing out to school, shoving a banana in the kids mouths as I lock the door behind us. Breakfast bars would be a quick easy grab and if I could just think up a good recipe they could be tasty and filling too...
We love chocolate, so I decided that I would use choc shot syrup as well as regular fruit syrup for the wet ingredients, along with a light butter spread, the Flahavan's original oats, some saltanas and for some extra oohs - dark chocolate chips. (NB - You could just use choc shot instead of regular fruit syrup - I just didn't want to use it all up!). The recipe worked pretty well so I thought I had better share!
The results...
The bars looked amazing and they tasted great too! Considering the recipe is a reasonably healthy one, these are really yummy and perfect for breakfast and snacks as well as a quick lunch box treat. This recipe made 16 'bars', but depending on your tray size you could make more or less. These are a little crumbly, so best served on a napkin! I will play around with this recipe some more and see what else I can come up with, but for now these are delicious at least.
Alongside the regular oats we were also sent their Multi Seed Oats, which contain sunflower, flax, pumpkin, and hemp seeds. These make a great porridge and I love knowing that all that goodness is being absorbed too! I would recommend these to anyone serious about getting healthy, delicious and very versatile considering the amount of oat recipes out there! These oats are low in salt and saturated fat but high in omega 3 fatty acids, wholegrains, protein and fibre, a perfect slow releasing food to start off the day. I can't wait to make something tasty with these as well.
My Chocolate Oat Bar Recipe...
- 100g Light Butter Spread (or similar)
- 260g Flahavan's Oats
- 100g Choc Shot (Sweet Freedom)
- 75g Fruit Syrup (any brand)
- 50g Saltanas
- 50g Dark choc chips
- (optional - add chopped nuts)
- Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees C
- Line a baking dish/tray with greaseproof paper
- Put dry ingredients in mixing bowl
- Melt butter with wet ingredients in a seperate bowl (this can be done in the microwave!)
- Add wet to dry ingredients
- Mix until all oats are covered and chocolatey
- Pour mixture into tray and flatten down until it is evenly spread
- Bake in the oven for approx 20 minutes (check after 15)
- Remove from oven and leave to stand for 5 minutes
- Cut into desired shapes/sizes and leave to cool in tray
- Drizzle with melted dark chocolate (optional!)
- Once fully cooled, remove from tray, eat one and keep the rest in an air tight container. To keep bars a little firmer, pop the container in the fridge.
This mixture should make around sixteen small bars, perfect for a snack or Breakfast treat.
I really enjoyed baking these and I will definitely make them again, maybe with chopped nuts or something like dates inside for a different texture. You can really pop what you like in on top of the basic ingredients and if it comes out too crumbly, just serve with natural yoghurt, you can't lose! I really loved the oats and would give them a big thumbs up from the whole family. Enjoy!
Thanks for reading,
Wafflemama
Disclosure: I was sent samples of the oats in exchange for an honest review, all words are my own.
