Here's another nice recipe to chuck together using mainly store cupboard ingredients. I originally made these oat bars to use up some fruit and to try out on my toddler as a healthy snack, and they were such a hit that I made another batch soon after! They are pretty virtuous: very little butter, and big on the dried and fresh fruit, so if you feel they need a bit more 'treat' in them whack in a couple of handfuls of chocolate chips or up the golden syrup... 

250g rolled oats 

100g sultanas

85g dried apricots, chopped 

1 apple, peeled and grated 

2 ripe bananas, mashed

2 tbsp smooth peanut butter (Whole Earth)

50g butter, plus extra to grease 

2 tbsp honey 

1 tbsp golden syrup 

Generous sprinkling of orange zest 

Small handful of flaked almonds 

What to do: 

1. Preheat the oven to 140c (fan) and grease and line a 20cm tin with baking parchment. Mash the bananas and grate the apple finely. 

2. Heat the butter, peanut butter, honey, and syrup in a pan until melted. Add the banana, apple, about 100ml of water, and mix well to combine. 

3. Put the oats, dried fruit, and orange zest in a large bowl then pour the wet ingredients from the pan into the bowl. Stir until well coated and combined. 

4. Tip the mixture into the lined tin, flatten and level the surface evenly across the tin. Sprinkle the flaked almonds on top. Bake for 50-55 minutes until golden. Cool in the tin, then turn out and cut into bars or grab-size squares. We stored ours in an airtight container in the fridge for up to three days. 

While on the subject of oats - we were given a recipe for a kind of savoury flapjack (you know a sentence is going to end well when it starts with savoury flapjacks, right?!) by a friend and it was SO good. It is well worth a try while you've got the rolled oats on the go (another hit with the toddler too).  Recipe below...

Golden Slices (thanks to Jess and Jane!):

300g rolled oats; 350g grated carrot; 250g grated cheddar (I used mature); 2 beaten eggs; 125g melted butter; seasoning, curry powder, other herbs etc if you wish (we omitted salt for our baby's batch). 

Mix all the ingredients well in a big mixing bowl and spread the mixture into a tin and press down firmly. Bake for around 20 minutes at 180c; the top should be golden brown. Best bit: may be eaten hot with parsley sauce (or other sauce), or cold cut into rectangles.