I receive a lot of ‘Are they healthy?’ requests, and I must admit, oat-based ones seem to be the most frequently asked. Oats often have a ‘health halo’ around them, beloved for their slow-release carbohydrates and optimal levels of fibre (the main reasons they’re so great for breakfast), but does that really mean any oat-based food is good for you? And are there any healthier alternatives to be found?
Let’s dig in.
What ingredients are in a flapjack?
Let’s begin with the basics: what goes into a traditional flapjack.
Homemade varieties usually include four ingredients: 50% oats, 25% butter, 25% brown sugar, and some golden syrup, in that order. You can see now why flapjacks are so delicious, right? They’re the ultimate combination of sugar and fat.
Oats comprise just half of the entire flapjack, so it wouldn’t be right to say that flapjacks are ‘high in fibre’ for instance as they are weighed out so heavily by saturated fat (butter) and glucose (sugar). In actual fact, flapjacks aren’t much better than cake in the nutritional department.
Are homemade flapjacks healthier than store-bought?
I stipulated ‘homemade’ before, as pre-made flapjacks are a whole other story. While homemade flapjacks aren’t exactly virtuous, their shop-bought brethren are far worse for your health. Below are the flapjack ingredients from one well-known brand:
INGREDIENTS: Oats (39%), Sweetened Condensed Skimmed Milk [Skimmed Milk, Sugar], Partially Inverted Sugar Syrup, Glucose Syrup, Sugar, Butter (Milk), Palm Oil, Rapeseed Oil, Salt, Flavouring.
You can see the golden syrup comes higher up in the mixed form of condensed milk, invert sugar syrup and glucose syrup, along with a few oils to keep the flapjack all tightly packed and moist for longer. The varying sugars ramp up the sugar content and the butter percentage – being far lower than homemade – does not have the same levels of saturated fat.
Sat fat, while not healthy, does help to take the edge of sugar going into the bloodstream and causing sugar spikes; have just sugar with little fat and that’s when you get those god-awful energy crashes.
Where can I find healthier flapjacks?
So you can make your own healthier flapjacks (there are loads online but the Gut Health Doctor’s recipe is probably my favourite as it uses bananas, nuts, and seeds to lessen the glycemic load). But what about if you’re out and about and need a quick, energy-dense pick-me-up?
Squished
Try their… apple flapjacks
You don’t find many flapjacks with more fruit than oats – and that’s what makes Squished so special. They are properly fruit-first, with a quarter of every apple flapjack being purely apple! They taste homemade, in the nicest possible sense; as in, you can taste every last ingredient rather than an amalgamation of chemicals and food-like substances. Best of all, their products are made from ‘rescued’ fruit that otherwise would have gone to landfill. That’s what you call a win-win.
Ingredients: Apple (25.2%), Gluten-free Rolled Oats, Gluten-free Jumbo Oats, Invert Sugar Syrup, Sweetened Condensed Milk (Milk), Light Soft Brown Sugar, Unsalted Butter (Milk), Cinnamon, Coarse Sea Salt.
Fodbods
Try their… mint choc chip bars
These are amazingly filling, thanks to the high levels of protein per bar. With no artificial sweeteners, plenty of nuts and high quality ingredients like cacao powder, it’s easy to see why so many people who are looking to improve their gut health love this product. While not a like for like for flapjacks, they are a fantastic replacement as they give the same level of fullness, just without the bloat from the oats! Highly recommend.
Ingredients: Organic Rice Malt Syrup, Almonds, Organic Pea Protein, Organic Rice Protein, Dark Chocolate (Cacao, Coconut Sugar, Natural Vanilla), Cacao Powder, Soy Protein Crisps, Himalayan Salt, Pure Peppermint Oil
SOAK’d
Try their… peanut butter & banana oat bars
These yummy bars are everything you’d want in a flapjack, except all the refined sugar and oodles of butter. With real banana and peanuts, along with sultanas and seeds, you’ve got a huge fibre hit with the same satisfying feeling of a traditional flapjack.
Ingredients: Gluten Free Oats (29%), Rice Syrup, Dried Banana (9%), Coconut Oil, Date Syrup, Sultanas, Peanut Paste (5%), Peanuts (5%), Sunflower Oil, Chicory Fibre, Sunflower Seeds, Coconut Sugar, Pumpkin Seeds, Cassia Cinnamon, Salt.
My Wellbeing Journal 