Vegan Flapjack: No Gingerbread Men were Harmed in this Recipe.

With Christmas just around the corner, the shelves are lined with all the festive treats you could possibly imagine. From a classic chocolate orange to a tasty looking sticky toffee Christmas pudding, there is nearly too much to choose from!

However, looking around the shelves and shelves of festive food, one thing that is noticeably missing from the Christmas section is a wide variety of vegan options.

Therefore, rather than taking a gamble and trailing from supermarket to supermarket hoping something you can find is vegan friendly, this article will make that easier and bring the student budget friendly, tasty, vegan Christmas treat to you!

We present: Christmas Gingerbread Flapjacks!

The ingredients are simple!

140g Dairy Free Butter

140g Light Brown Soft Sugar

2Tbsp  Golden Syrup

175g Rolled Oats

1 ½ Tsp Ginger powder

2Tsp Icing Sugar – if desired

The equipment is even simpler!

1 x Baking tray 

1 x Medium pan

1 x Wooden Spoon 

1 x Scales (or a useful student tip that I follow if scales are out of the budget, is googling the tablespoon equivalent of how many grams you need – it may only give a rough estimate but with flapjacks you can afford to be a few grams out)

Method

Step 1. The first thing you need to do preheat the oven to 160C/140C fan and either line your baking tin with greaseproof paper or use your dairy free butter to grease the tray, so you don’t get the flapjack stuck to the bottom.

Step 2. The next thing to do is to melt the butter, sugar and golden syrup in the pan on a medium heat and leave to simmer but make sure to keep stirring to make sure it doesn’t stick. 

Step 3. When the mixture is all melted together, take off of the heat. Then, pour in 175g of rolled oats and stir them so the mixture is evenly distributed over the oats. At this point add in the ginger powder and continue folding into each other. 

Step 4. Pour the mixture into the baking tray and make sure it is spread evenly before putting it into the oven for 35-40 minutes, when the top is a golden brown it is ready!

Step 5. Leave them to cool down so they stick together more and are not too crumbly and then cut them into neat squares and then either present them on a plate or put them in a Tupperware box to enjoy later.

Step 6. If you are like me and have a bit of a sweet tooth, one thing I like to do is dust some icing sugar lightly over the top for a little sweet kick every few bites.

And Voila!

In just 6 easy steps you have a whole week’s worth of tasty treats that cost just under £7 to make, if the ingredients are purchased from Lidl that is (they have all the baking essentials you could need for a simple recipe like this). Despite the growing vegan section in each of the supermarkets, sometimes the products can be a little pricey and they don’t always have a wide variety of seasonal snacks to choose from.

This recipe is quick and simple to make, and the flapjack can be very filling after a piece or two, meaning it will be a while before you have to make it again.

I adapted this recipe from BBC GoodFood website which you can find the original recipe. If you want to add a personal touch, you could always add a series of different dried fruits or add some vegan chocolate chips into the mixture when you mix the oats. The ginger that I added gives the flapjack a nice Christmas kick, but to add a bit of flare and spice it up you could always add a pinch of cinnamon or some orange zest.

This flapjack is super easy and quick to make, with multiple variances available suited to the particular person and Flapjack always seems to be a favourite in every household, so you might even find they become a favourite amongst your flatmates.

They could also make a cosy movie night snack. Alternatively, the baking could be a nice activity to do when it is all gloomy and dark outside, turning a rainy cold night into a warm cosy evening. What more could you possibly want this winter?

Check out some more LGSM Food & Drink articles here

Feature Image: Unsplash