Green olive and walnut flapjacks

Serves: 12
Course: Side Dish
Cooking Time: 0 hr 40 mins

Ingredients

  • 100ml coconut oil or butter
  • 250ml maple syrup or honey
  • 150g green olives
  • 140g walnuts
  • 150g oats
  • 35g buckwheat groats
  • 90g mixed seeds (I used 30g sunflower and 60g pumpkin seeds)

1 Preheat the oven to 180 degrees, or 160 degrees if using a fan-assisted oven. Grease and line a 20 x 20cm high-sided square tin with parchment paper, leaving a little parchment hanging over the sides so the flapjacks are easy to remove later.

2 Heat the coconut oil (or butter, if using) in a small saucepan with the maple syrup (or honey) until hot, melted and bubbling. Cook for a further two to three minutes on a medium heat to thicken slightly. Remove from the heat and set aside.

3 On a chopping board, remove the flesh from the green olives (if using olives with the stone in) and roughly chop. If using pitted olives, just roughly chop them and set side.

4 Roughly chop the walnuts and put them into a large bowl with the olives.

5 Add the oats, buckwheat groats and mixed seeds to the bowl. Pour the melted coconut oil and maple syrup into the dry ingredients and mix everything well to combine.

6 Spread the mixture into the prepared tin and press down firmly with the back of a spoon or a palette knife – this ensures the flapjacks stick together.

7 Bake in the preheated oven for about 35-40 minutes, until golden on top. Remove from the oven and leave to cool completely, at least two hours.

8 Slice into bars, I go for about 12 small bars, but you can make them smaller or larger, whatever you prefer. The sliced bars can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week.

Aoife Noonan

Aoife Noonan

Aoife Noonan is a pastry chef and culinary consultant. She writes a weekly baking column for the Irish Times Magazine