Chocolate oatbran flapjack cookies

So as you read this, we’re on our family cruise around the Med on Celebrity Eclipse and are currently steaming towards Portugal (squee!). During the run up, as you know, I was eating really, really healthily (with the odd treat) and exercising daily. Mr E and I have been out cycling on our bikes and I’ve been walking a few miles with the dog every day, plus - an absolute revelation: I’ve been doing free weights, kettlebells and even sit ups at home, which I really enjoy. I really feel that my arms are more toned already and my jeans feel looser too. Bonus. I know they’re not for everyone but I’ve found a couple of the fitness tracking apps really useful motivation, and I’m watching my portion sizes (always an issue when you live with three strapping fellas). I’ve been fiddling about with this recipe for a while as, while I’m definitely not eating biscuits, sometimes I really crave something crunchy and sweet, and I thought it I could create a little treat that’s going to kill the cravings, but not derail the healthy eating, I’d be pretty happy. So I had a little experiment and created these relatively healthy little oatbran flapjack cookies. And then I ruined it by smothering them in chocolate.

Without the chocolate

Quick disclaimer here: yes, these biscuits do contain butter and sugar, but I’m a firm believer in not cutting out any food groups - I love my dairy - and with just 75g of sugar in the whole recipe, it works out at just over 3g per cookie.

Also, I know it’s a bit of a cliché, but oatbran really is a superfood. It’s super high in fibre and has the miraculous ability to absorb excess cholesterol in the body too. Plus, if you’re interested in that kind of thing, one of these little cookies comes in at a very decent 80 calories (according to my rough calculations), which is great, right?

I’ve made big fat ones, or smaller ones and they’re all delicious. I like to eat a couple piled with banana and dolloped with yogurt for a nice breakfast.They have a really satisfying crunch and the boys really love them (that’s where the ‘flapjack cookies’ name came from) and I’d much rather they tucked into the odd one of these, full of oats and good stuff, than a lot of the other crap that they currently eat.

oatbran flapjack cookies

Oatbran flapjack cookies for breakfast with banana and yogurt

Oatbran flapjack cookies

125g butter

75g soft brown sugar

100g oatbran

1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

150g oats

So basically just cream the butter and the sugar together, then add in the oatbran, bicarb and oats.

I used a tablespoon measure to just scoop them out onto the non-stick baking sheets (they do spread so leave a bit of room between them) then just bake for around 15-20 minutes, depending on size, until they’re golden brown.

So far so (relatively) healthy. But then it was Sunday morning, and the boys had some friends over, and I baked some and started thinking how like digestive biscuits they were, and then I covered them in chocolate. Not so healthy, but still home made and delicious as a treat.

So: piled with fruit and yogurt for a healthy-ish breakfast? Or smothered in chocolate? You decide.