Eat Well, Be Well, Live Well

I apologize that I haven’t posted anything in nearly two weeks… Sometimes life just gets in the way, as I’m sure you’ve experienced. I also go through periods of what I think of as “food homeostasis”–where I’m not trying many new dishes or experimenting with recipes, and I want, and hence cook, the same 5-7 dishes for a week or two. This typically occurs when I’m trying to stick to a restrictive diet (e.g., no gluten, Paleo, no sugar) or when I have loads of work to do and want the comfort and consistency of my standby meals.

But all that aside, over the past few weeks, cravings for butterscotch and caramel flavors keep sneaking into my head. Of course, there’s nothing healthy about butter and brown sugar, so I’ve been pushing the cravings down as best I can. But at some point, I determined that the cravings were a good excuse to make a healthier-than-normal version of British flapjacks.

During the years I spent living in London, flapjacks were one of my on-the-go treats. I suppose the high content of oats made me feel as though I wasn’t being too naughty, but really, it was just the terribly naughty butter and brown sugar combination that lured me.

So here is a somewhat healthier version of the traditional flapjack. It still relies on butter and brown sugar to make the butterscotch flavor, but this recipe doesn’t use a ton of sugar, and it contains nuts and ground flaxseed to boost it’s nutritional content.

Ingredients

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter*

1/3 cup brown sugar (not packed)

1/4 cup coconut nectar

2 cups quick cooking gluten-free oats

1/2 cup walnuts or pecans, finely chopped

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

1/8 tsp ground cardamon

1/3 cup ground flaxseed

*I haven’t yet tried making these with coconut oil, but plan to shortly. I don’t think a straight substitution would work; it would probably require slightly less than 1/2 cup.

Preparation

Heat the oven to 350F.

Line an 8×8-inch baking dish with parchment paper.

In a medium-size saucepan, melt the butter on medium-low heat. Once the butter has melted, stir in the brown sugar, coconut nectar, salt and vanilla. Stir until everything has melted and blended. Stir in the remaining ingredients and mix until thoroughly combined.

Spoon out into the baking dish, and spread evenly. Pat down with the back of a large, fairly flat spoon. (I use one of my large serving spoons.) Place in the oven and bake for 23-25 minutes or until golden brown on the edges.

Allow to cool for 20 minutes before cutting in quarters, then cut each quarter diagonally for the traditional triangle-shaped flapjack.

Enjoy!