Gluten-free flapjack granola recipe

I’ve always loved the comforting flavour of flapjacks — that golden syrup sweetness, the chewiness, the toasted oats — but sometimes you want something you can grab by the handful, scatter over yoghurt, or munch on straight from the jar. This flapjack-inspired granola gives you all the best bits of a traditional bake, but in crunchy, toasty, snackable form. It’s gluten-free, naturally sweetened, and ridiculously easy to throw together.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• Naturally gluten-free (just make sure your oats are certified GF)

• Sweetened with date syrup + agave — no refined sugar

• Packed with texture from nuts, seeds, and raisins

• Easy to batch bake and store for the week

• Crispy, golden, and a bit addictive

Allergy-Friendly Swaps

This granola is super flexible, so it's easy to tweak depending on what you (or someone you're baking for) need:

• Nut-free? Skip the mixed nuts and add extra seeds like pumpkin, flax, or more sunflower seeds.

• Coconut-free? Use a neutral oil like sunflower or light olive oil instead of coconut oil.

• Low sugar? Reduce the syrup slightly or swap the agave for maple syrup — it’s naturally sweeter, so you can use less.

• No raisins? Go for any dried fruit you like — chopped apricots, cranberries, or dates.

• Vegan? You’re good to go! This recipe is already dairy- and egg-free, just make sure your syrup and add-ins are too.

• Oat-free? Use quinoa or buckwheat flakes (certified gluten-free if needed)

• No Agave + date syrup? Use maple syrup or a trusted allergen-free sweetener

  
  

This is one of those recipes that works with you, not against you, so don’t be afraid to switch things up based on what’s in your cupboard or what your body needs.

Ingredients:

6 cups of gluten-free oats

1 cup of coconut oil, melted

1/2 cup of date syrup

1/2 cup of agave syrup

1 tsp cinnamon

1 cup of raisins

1 cup of mixed nuts, chopped

A pinch of salt

1 cup of sunflower seeds

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 150 °C fan and line 2 large baking trays with baking parchment and coconut oil.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together the melted coconut oil, date syrup, agave syrup, salt and cinnamon.

3. To this mixture, mix in your oats, nuts and seeds.

4. Spread the mixture out evenly on your baking trays and place in the oven for 10 minutes. Take them out, stir the granola, and respread and bake for another 10 minutes until the granola is golden on top.

5. Leave the granola to cool on the trays for 10 minutes. Once firm, break up the granola.

6. Pour into a sealable container and mix in your raisins. Enjoy as a delicious breakfast or an easy snack.

   
   

Tips & Variations

• Swap the raisins for dried cranberries, chopped dates, or chocolate chips (add chocolate after it’s cooled!)

• Don’t skip the salt — it brings out the flavour.

• Want more spice? Add ground ginger or nutmeg.

• You can use maple syrup in place of agave or date syrup if that’s what you have.

This granola is perfect with yoghurt and fruit, sprinkled over porridge for extra crunch, or eaten by the handful straight out of the jar.

For more gluten-free recipes and behind-the-scenes kitchen trials, check out my Instagram @rubysgfkitchen — there's always something baking.

Let me know if you give it a go!

Happy Baking,

Ruby x

Chocolate and date caramels

I love dates, and use them a lot, but one of my favourite characteristics of them is the caramel-like flavour and consistency they can create. This creates the perfect opportunity for the creation of several different sweet treats using this quality. I love this as a chance to get experimental with the recipes I try that highlight this versatile ingredient.

Specifically, these caramels are a great option for an easy snack that can readily be available in the freezer, giving that caramel-like quality with far less time than traditional caramels. This recipe is also gluten-free and vegan, so it is a great one to make when catering for multiple allergies, and could make a great addition to a birthday or Christmas present.

Being so easy, this would be a fun one to make with kids or friends, getting creative with flavours and shapes. There are many different ways this recipe could be altered to suit your preferences, the preferences of the individuals you're making them for or what you have available to you.

In this recipe, I give the option for making a homemade chocolate coating, or you could melt your favourite chocolate, experimenting with flavoured chocolates, dark, milk or white chocolate. There is also the addition of nut butter to the base of the caramels; this could be any type, from pistachio to cashew or almond, etc, but if there are concerns, such as allergies, alternatives of seed butters could be used.

The caramels can also be topped with a variety of optional toppings, which change the texture and flavour. Some ideas include:

• Chopped nuts, ie pistachios, almonds or peanuts

• Flaky salt

• Drizzled nut butter

• Cocoa nibs

• Chopped chocolate

• Chocolate chips

• Dried fruit

Here is the standard recipe:

Ingredients (Makes 12)

Caramels

190g Dates

3 tbsp Melted coconut oil

115g Nut butter (I used peanut butter)

80ml Liquid sweetener (I used date syrup)

1/2 tsp Vanilla extract

A pinch of salt

Chocolate coating

3 tsp Melted coconut oil

3-4 tbsp Liquid sweetener (Depending on how sweet you want the chocolate)

2 tbsp Cocoa powder

Alternatively, your favourite chocolate could be used

Optional toppings:

Examples include cocoa nibs, dried fruit, chopped nuts, flaky salt, etc

Method

1. Soak the dates in boiling water for 10 minutes. Line a tray with greaseproof paper.

2. Add the dates, coconut oil, nut butter, sweetener, vanilla and salt to a blender and blend until smooth or add all the ingredients to a bowl and blend with a stick blender.

3. On the prepared tray, use a spoon to put balls of the mix onto the tray, and shape them into the desired shape (I did small rectangles).

4. Place the tray in the freezer whilst you make the chocolate coating.

5. Put the cocoa powder, sweetener and coconut oil into a bowl and mix. Keep adding water until it is a pourable consistency, similar to a ganache texture. Or if coating with chocolate, melt the chocolate in the microwave in 30-second increments.

6. Spoon the chocolate coating over the caramels and smooth the chocolate around the caramels with the back of a spoon.

7. Add the toppings of your choice and freeze until the chocolate sets to enjoy.

I hope you enjoyed reading and gained some inspiration from this recipe for some experimentation in the kitchen. If you want to keep up with what I have been making recently, head over to my Instagram @rubysgfkitchen.

Happy Baking,

Ruby X

Peanut butter flapjack

As a peanut butter lover, I am always looking for new recipes where I can use it. This one strikes the perfect balance between the sweet notes from the banana and syrup, with salty additions from the peanut butter, nuts and seeds.

The ingredients are flexible to what you have available or the flavours that you prefer, there are many different combinations of syrups, nuts, fruits, etc that you could use to make these bars unique.

One thing that I love about this recipe is how it uses up a banana, which is perfect for those spotty bananas sitting in the fruit bowl. These bars also happen to be gluten-free and vegan, which makes them perfect for catering towards friends or family members with an allergy, preference or multiple allergies.

They make a great snack or breakfast option, and could be served with additions such as yoghurt, jam or on top of a smoothie for an at-home smoothie bowl to add some fun variation to your weekly meals and snacks.

Recipe

Ingredients

2 tbsp Syrup (I use date syrup)

4 tbsp Peanut butter (I use crunchy)

4 tbsp Coconut oil, Melted

1 Mashed banana

2 Cups of gluten-free oats

1/2 Cup ground seeds

3/4 Cup almonds, roughly chopped

2 tbsp Cocoa nibs

1/2 Cup dried fruit (I used blueberries)

Method:

1- Preheat your oven to 180 °C fan and grease a square pan (I use a brownie pan) with coconut oil and greaseproof paper.

2- Put your peanut butter in the microwave for 40 seconds in a microwave-safe dish and add this to a large mixing bowl.

3-Add the syrup, coconut oil and mashed banana to the bowl and whisk until combined.

4- Add the oats, almonds, ground seeds, cocoa nibs and dried fruit to the bowl and mix until coated.

5- Pour the mixture into your prepared tin and flatten down with and spoon or a fork until evenly flat on top, bake it in the oven for 15-20 minutes or until golden.

6- Leave to cool, slice and enjoy!

If you want to see what I've been baking recently, head over to my Instagram @rubysgfkitchen.

Happy Baking,

Ruby x