When you’re out on the bike you need fuelling. Trendy sports bars pay the magazines well to advertise their particular snacks with added science, but you can make your own for a fraction of the price.
They’re fun to make (OK, it helps if you’ve got kids to join in) and really incredibly easy.
What you’ll need
Butter – unsalted. 150g
Caster sugar – 75g
Golden syrup – 2 big old dollop (OK, 2 tbsp)
Rolled oats – 350g
Whatever else you want to throw in:
Sunflower seeds
Dried fruit eg cranberries. These have superpowers and make you pedal harder.
Whatever you want, go crazy and experiment!
What to do
Heat the butter, sugar and golden syrup in a saucepan gently until it’s all melted and mixed up nicely.
In a mixing bowl, pour the hot mixture over the oats, and mix it all up until every last little bit of oaty goodness is coated. Chuck in a handful of your seeds and/or dried fruit until it looks about right. It’s not rocket science.
You need to bake it in the oven, so get a tin and grease it with butter so it doesn’t stick. I use greaseproof paper Pour your oaty mix into the pan then smooth it out with a spoon, compressing it down a bit.
Chuck it in the middle of the oven at 180, gas mark whatever (sorry, i don’t do gas marks), and it’ll take about 20 minutes but keep watching in case it starts to burn.
Whip it out, and using a suitable implement, cut up into a grid full of flapjack sized flapjacks.
Let it cool down.
Really, go and do something else for half an hour.
Separate the pieces once cool, and store in an airtight container.
Enjoy.