Chocolate Flapjacks

Who doesn't love a Flapjack? These chocolate flapjacks are an easy bake for the kids to help you with and are our healthier Clean eating version with no refined sugar in them. Perfect as lunchbox snacks or afternoon pick me ups, get a batch of these in the oven today!

Healthy Chocolate Flapjacks

These healthy flapjacks for kids are one of the most popular recipes on the site. People love them, and for good reason. They're refined sugar free, they're sticky, gooey, sweet and the kids go c rackers for them.

So it stands to reason we should have a chocolate version, right? Of course, and here it is, a yummy chocolatey oat-y snack that's pretty much one of the ultimate comfort foods around.

Very often flapjacks and in particular chocolate flapjacks are full of refined sugars and in the case of the chocolate version, have a layer of chocolate on top to boot. And while once upon a time these would have been super appealing to us all (I mean, they still are but...!) there's a healthier way to make them, and I can tell you, they're just as delicious!

If you're going to make chocolate flapjacks, you want them to be chocolatey, and these are. They're very chocolatey.

What's Good About These Flapjacks?

These chocolate flapjacks are made with cocoa and so the actual flapjack itself it chocolate. Usually, as far as I can remember chocolate flapjacks are the usual ones with a layer of milk chocolate on top.

My kids love the gooeyness of the sticky flapjack, the oatmeal taste and texture and the sweetness. And I promise, you're not about to lose any of that. It's entirely possible to have your cake and eat it, so to speak :)

I make these using very ripe bananas and dates. I do use a little maple syrup and not only does this add to the sweetness (although the dates and banana do a great job on their own!) but you need the maple syrup to get the gooeyness that's divine in a flapjack.

When you're shopping for maple syrup make sure to buy the 100% pure one. There are loads of maple flavored syrups on the supermarket shelves. Try not to get these, they tend to be high in corn syrup and very often don't contain any maple syrup at all and just have the flavor of it in a synthetic form.

100% pure maple syrup can be a bit more expensive, but Oh! so worth it.

While we didn't cut out all sugars when we started eating Clean I do bake with unrefined sugars. Usually that's maple syrup, coconut sugar or honey.

Yep, sugar's sugar at the end of the day but making slightly better choices when baking and using unrefined sugars means we can still have sweet treats that are a little healthier than we'd have had before and that makes Clean eating workable for us.

As I mentioned already the chocolate flavor comes from cocoa in these flapjacks. I don't add a layer of melted chocolate on the top to let set, I don't think they need it.

If your kids are stuck on a chocolate top, you could try melting a quarter of the usual amount you pour on the top of a flapjack and then drizzle it over the bake once it's cooled rather than creating a whole, solid, thick layer.

If you're new to Clean eating or just wanting to try something a touch healthier, adding a bit of chocolate if it helps them get used to a different recipe is a whole heap better than giving in and buying the ready made one from the store. Do what works for your family.

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Get The Kids Helping

One of the things I love about baking, especially when the kids were smaller is that they'd love to help me. A couple of them like cooking anyway and so usually took the opportunity to get stuck in but when you're baking and there's a well loved sweet treat at the end of it all, they seemed to be especially keen.

We still make these pretty often now and sometimes the kids will make them unprompted and I'll get an unexpected whiff of chocolatey oats wafting through the house. It's an easy recipe and nigger kids can easily make this alone ofter a few goes with you.

Beware, on more than one occasion they've decided to get stuck in before the flapjacks have even made it to the oven though. And the result? A rather sparse and thin looking chocolate flapjack. Almost like half the mixtures missing :)

Lunchbox Flapjacks

Oatmeal based snacks are one of the treats I out in the kids lunchboxes the most often.

It's always been a fine line for me to make sure the kids food that they take to school isn't so outwardly different from all the other kids that they're aware of it, and so I usually have something snack-y for them to have at break time.

That said I also want it to be something that's going to keep them going until they get to lunchtime. These chocolate flapjacks, in fact any oatmeal based snacks will do that job for you. Oatmeal is higher in protein than other grains you might be used to using in baking and so keeps rumbling tummies fuller for longer.

I like to cut these flapjacks into fairly small bars depending on the size of the kid it's going to. I bake this in an 8 inch square tin and then once it's cooled but it into either 9 or 12 squares.

More Clean Eating Snacks

• Healthy flapjacks for kids
• Healthy oatmeal date bars
• Peanut butter oatmeal bars
• Homemade choc chip cookies
• Old fashioned date cookies
• Healthy apple slices

How To Make Chocolate Flapjacks

Ingredients

• 3 Cups Oatmeal Organic oats
• ⅓ Cup Butter Unsalted
• ⅓ Cup Dates Pitted
• ⅔ Cup Banana Very ripe, mashed
• 2 tbsp Cocoa
• 3 tbsp Maple syrup 100% pure

Instructions

• Make your date paste. Simply take your dates and add ¾ tablespoon boiling water. Blend your paste until it's smooth. Add a little more boiling water if needed, you want the paste to be really thick
• Once your paste is blended, add your bananas and cocoa together and blend the mixture together. Put to one side
• Melt your butter and maple syrup over a low heat. Add the warm butter and maple syrup to the oats and mix
• Pour your banana and date mixture into the buttery oats and mix well. Your mixture should bind well, and be sticky
• Line your baking pan with paper. Rub a little butter on the paper to stop the Flapjack sticking. Push your mixture well into the pan, so it's compact and even on top
• Bake for around 190/375 (depending on your oven) for 18 minutes. The Flapjacks will be soft when you take them out of the oven, they'll harden up as they cool

Chocolate Flapjacks Recipe