Hi,
Can anyone please recommend a healthy flapjack ?

I've given up chocolate for 3 months and been recommended to eat a flapjack for my sweet fix. But when you start looking at the calories of some flapjacks, they're through the roof. I was hoping someone out there might have had a tasty but reasonibly healthy flapjack.

Thx

How about baking your own ? Using less sugary / high calorie ingredients.

Have tried, but can't make them as tasty.

The key is to go for syrup rather than butter based flapjacks (which I prefer anyway). The taste is much sweeter without being fatty and they're really chewy. I'd make them yourself, found this recipe but I've not tried it myself yet
http://yarnstorm.blogs.com/knitblog/2006/06/warnin g_contain.html

I use honey instead of syrup - or a mixture of both. I add sesame and sunflower seeds to the mix too along with dried fruit such as cranberries, apricots or raisins chopped. They may be quite hich on the calories front, but they are great at getting you through the afternoon. They help to keep you regular too!

8oz soya margarine (or other low fat margarine)
4 tblsps syrup (or honey)
1lb rolled oats (or mix of oats, seeds, dried fruit)

Melt margarine and syrup together.
Add oats and mix.
Spread into a tray lined with silicon paper (to avoid more fat)
Bake until golden brown. Cut into squares and leave to cool in the tin.

These are crispy the first day and get chewier the longer they are kept.
I haven't worked out the calorific value - depends on the margarine you use.

Herbie.

Slightly different to your question but by accident I discovered a delicious relatively low cal dessert - find a nice fat free yoghurt/fromage frais or my (and Fiona's) favourite 'Total 0%' and sprinkle with the crumbs from flapjacks!!! I had made my kids some flapjacks and there were loads of crumbs left in the bottom of the tin. When you're on a health kick all food is sacred, so I've put all the crumbs in a little pot and use them as sprinkles!! I also added a pear and kiwi to it today and it was so gorgeous. Not too many sprinkles mind!

Theoretically it would be healthier to make flapjacks using Benecol spread if you don't mind the price.

Has anyone here got evidence that their range with plant stanol ester works to reduce colesterol? They always look so expensive on the supermarket shelves when compered to similar products.

Roger, I don't know the answer to that. I do know that cholesterol isn't always about the food you eat.

I had a very thin friend who had unbelievably high cholesterol, and another friend who was overweight, ate tons of meat and dairy etc and his was normal.

Mine's a fraction above average and I don't eat meat or very much dairy. I've hardly had any cheese since New Year, take soya milk on my porridge and use Flora low-fat spread on my weekend toast.

I wonder if there's anything on Times Health about it?

Trying to recall school biology but I think you make your own cholesterol in your liver, diet doesn't really have anything to do with it except (I read recently and controversially but what do I know!) that maybe sugar/carbs may be implicated more than fat due to the insulin response - cholesterol being produced by the body to deal with the irritation of up/down sugar levels in the bloodstream. Cholesterol gets a bad press, we'd fall apart without it and we should be trying to increase HDL levels. Mine is low now and I love my butter, eggs and the fatty bits on lamb chops - it was higher when I was a low-fat veggie so from my perspective there may be something in this theory. Guess everyone is different, it's finding what works for you that is important. I think exercise keeps it down too?

Not many low fat spreads are suitable for baking, Vitalite is good but doesn't contain that many less calories. Olivio light (oiive oil sprerad) is one that is also suitable for baking, or the supermarket's own brand of it.