Welcome to my first post of 2021. I hope you are all keeping well. Like so many, I have been doing quite a lot of baking over the past few months. I find it comforting and relaxing, as well as being rewarded with something delicious to eat at the end. This week I would like to share a favourite savoury bake with you. It’s my sugar-free version of a flapjack recipe I posted a few months ago – you can find that original recipe by clicking here. This version is also packed full of seeds and oats; it is wholesome as well as incredibly tasty. Good as a snack on its own or as an accompaniment to a bowl of soup.

In a traditional flapjack recipe, the sugar and syrup help hold the mixture together by caramelising during baking; when the mixture cools the consistency of the bake becomes firm as the sugars set. My savoury version is much crumblier underneath but has a nice crunchy top. I bound the ingredients together using nut butter (I used peanut, but any nut butter will work) and flax egg.

The combination of seeds and oats you use is up to personal taste. I used pumpkin, sunflower and sesame seeds, along with jumbo oats and regular porridge oats. Other combinations including chopped nuts and oatmeal will also work. Toast seeds and nuts lightly before adding to the mixture for extra flavour.

And finally, the extra flavourings. You could add vegan or dairy-based grated cheese to the recipe to achieve a tangy flavour, but I opted for cooked leek (or use spring onion or softly cooked onion or shallot) and yeast flakes which give the bake that extra “umami” flavour. If you don’t have yeast flakes, you could use some yeast extract to taste. For a sweet and savoury bake, replace the leek with grated carrot and add a handful of sultanas or raisins.

On with the recipe. There’s a little bit of prep to do before you put the mixture together ready for baking, but once that’s done, it’s all very straightforward.

Makes: 16 squares

Ingredients

• 125g mixed seeds
• 150g dairy-free margarine
• 75g nut butter
• 1 large leek, trimmed and shredded
• 2 tbsp ground flax seeds
• 100g jumbo oats
• 100g porridge oats
• 50g gluten-free plain flour
• 5 tbsp yeast flakes
• 1 tsp salt (if you use yeast extract, you probably won’t need to add salt)
• Toasted seeds to sprinkle, optional

1. Heat a small frying pan until hot. Add the seeds and cook, stirring, for 1-2 minutes until starting to toast or lightly brown. Remove from the heat, turn on to a place and leave to cool. Put 125g margarine in a saucepan with the nut butter and heat gently, stirring, until melted and smooth. Leave to cool.

2. Melt the remaining margarine in a frying pan and and gently cook the leek, stirring, for 3-4 minutes until softened but not browned. Drain and leave to cool.

3. Preheat the oven to 200°C, 180°C fan oven, gas 6. Line a 21cm square cake tin with baking parchment. Mix the flax seeds with 90ml cold water and set aside to thicken for 5 minutes.

4. Put the oats, flour, salt and seeds in a bowl. Add the leek and yeast flakes and mix together. Make a well in the centre and add the melted nut butter mixture. Mix everything together then add the flax egg and stir well until thoroughly combined.

5. Spread evenly in the prepared tin and smooth the top. Stand the tin on a baking tray and cook for about 1 hour until golden and crunchy – cover the top with foil if the mixture begins to brown too quickly. Leave to cool for 30 minutes, then remove from the tin and cool on a wire rack.

6. When cool, transfer to a board, and cut into 16 squares using a sharp knife. Store in a cool place, in a sealed container for 4-5 days, or freeze. For extra crunch, sprinkle with toasted seeds to serve.

I hope you enjoy the recipe. I’ll be back posting in a couple of weeks or so, until then, keep well and stay safe 🙂