Sweet and moreish, these carrot cake flapjacks are perfect for enjoying on the go. Make a batch and pack them into your picnic basket for pudding. Filled with nuts, seeds and dried fruit, they’ll be sure to keep you going. Being easy to make, you can even get the little ones involved! Once made, keep in the fridge for up to 3 days.

Ready in: 1 hour + chilling time

Makes: 12

Ingredients

170g butter, cubed
200g dates, pitted and roughly chopped
250g honey
2 large carrots, grated
300g rolled oats
100g dried cranberries
150g dried apricots, chopped
70g walnuts, chopped
70g mixed seeds
2 tsp mixed spice
2 tsp ground cinnamon
For the icing
1 tbsp cream cheese
2 tbsp icing sugar
1 small orange, zested
1-2 tbsp orange juice

Method

1. Heat the oven to 170C and grease and line a 20cm x 30cm tin.

2. Tip the dates into a bowl and cover with 60ml boiling water. Set aside for 10 minutes, allowing them to rehydrate. Next, tip into a food processor and blitz until smooth.

3. Place the butter and honey in a saucepan over low heat and stir until smooth.

4. Tip the carrots, oats, cranberries, apricots, walnuts, seeds, mixed spice and cinnamon into a large mixing bowl. Pour the melted butter mixture over the top along with the dates. Stir until combined then transfer into the prepared tin. Press down evenly then bake in the oven for 45 – 50 minutes. If the flapjacks begin to brown too quickly, cover with foil to prevent them from burning. Once cooked, allow to cool completely in the tin then chill in the fridge for at least 3 hours.

5. Finally, make the icing. Place all the ingredients in a bowl and mix together until smooth. Drizzle the icing over the flapjacks and cut into 12 pieces.