With no dairy, wheat, gluten or sugar, these banana pecan flapjacks are probably the healthiest treat you can bake

If you’re trying to cut dairy, wheat, gluten, sugar, or all of the above out of your diet, but still want to enjoy the occasional sweet treat, these banana pecan flapjacks will hit the spot.

I won’t go into detail about the various ailments that have led me to trying to avoid sugar, dairy and wheat (or more specifically gluten, the protein found in wheat) lately. Basically, sugar and dairy give me spots and wheat makes me bloated. Suffice it to say, the vast majority of cakes all out of the question for one reason or another.

So I decided to try and invent a recipe for something that will satisfy the sugar craving that usually hits at about 3.30pm every day. By combining various recipes I found online and guesstimating quantities, I’ve come up with a flapjack that is dense, chewy and tasty. Because I used gluten free oats (I found them in the ‘free from’ section of my local big Tesco – I didn’t realise normal oats were often ‘contaminated’ with wheat) and olive oil rather than butter it’s definitely wheat and dairy free.

The only caveat I will make is that it isn’t technically sugar free. It uses just 80ml of honey, whereas some recipes call for up to 200g of sugar, plus syrup, equating to more than 20g of sugar per flapjack. Each of the dozen bars in my recipe contains less than 7g, which I find is a small enough dose not to have any dietary effect. And it’s definitely preferable to an afternoon impulse visit to the canteen, wherein all manner of sugar, dairy and gluten laden monstrosities await. Bake a batch of these – they’re so quick and easy – to take to work and keep the vending machine at bay all week.

Banana pecan flapjack recipe

Ingredients:

300g gluten-free oats

3 bananas

80ml olive oil

80ml honey

50g pecan nuts, roughly chopped

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ground ginger

Method:

1. Line a baking tray with greaseproof paper and preheat the oven to 180°C
2. Peel and mash your bananas in a bowl.
3. Mix the oats, honey, oil, pecans, spices and bananas in a mixing bowl.
4. Tip the oat mixture into the baking tray, spread it into the corners and smooth the top with a fork.
5. Bake for 20-25 minutes until the top is lightly browned, cut into squares then leave to cool.

Et voila, you’re done!

While we’re on the topic, check out Jo’s recipe for super healthy muffins and read about Olivia’s attempts to kick her sugar habit. If only she’d had this recipe at the time!