The question that has been popping up of late, since people are becoming much more aware of the dangerous levels of sugar present in the foods we give our children, is ‘What’s the best thing to give a hungry ‘Little Johnny’ as an after school snack?’
Try as we might to be good, apples are often greeted the school gates with a moan. Many of us have given in and stuffed a packet of biscuits into our bag as we career out of the door.
I don’t blame anyone. The supermarkets are chocca block full of ‘child-friendly’ snacks that are laden with sugar.
So – here’s a little something…
Cheese and Marmite Flapjacks
They have a few hidden beauties in them along side the obvious, there is a carrot and a couple of eggs, I’ve also popped in some ‘oh so trendy’ chia seeds – but you can absolutely leave those out if you don’t have them or replace them with something else, seame/poppy/sunflower – whatever you like.
See how they go down. They are extraordinarily easy and jam packed with good stuff. It’s a ‘chuck it all in and bake’ method. If you love it, pass it on!
You will need:
A tin or oven proof dish around 8×10 inches or so.
Set your oven to 170C
300g Rolled Oats
4 eggs
100g Unsalted Butter, soft.
30g/linseeds/chia seeds or a mix, or really whatever you have feel free to omit if you have nothing appropriate
3-4 tablespoons Marmite (or similar Yeast Extract)
200g Grated Strong Mature Cheddar Cheese. It tastes better with strong mature cheese, but if all you have is the mild stuff, that’s totally OK.
100g Parmesan Cheese Finely grated – this adds extra cheesiness and a lovely umami taste – but again swap in any hard cheese you like.
2 Carrots grated (as not all carrots are the same – you will need about 100g grated)
Method
- Throw all of the ingredients into a large bowl and mix, until well combined. As long as your butter is extra soft this should be easy peasy. I do it in my stand mixer – but by hand with a wooden spoon is totally fine.
- Once all is incorporated, scoop into your tin lined with parchment or baking paper, smooth the surface and stick in a preheated oven at (170º C) for 30-40minutes.
- Once cool, cut into squares and wrap individually for packed lunches and after school snacks. They are also totally delicious split, toasted and buttered. Try them sliced into soldiers for your dippy eggs for breakfast. Just try them!
- These little beauties will last for about a week in a sealed container, make a batch and stick in your freezer if you like, defrost at room temp for a couple of hours.
