Something to whet your appetite

Beetroot and Raspberry Flapjacks

A recipe? Well - since these helped the guys over their first few days, we thought you might be interested. These were inspired by eating beetroot flapjacks made by the same company that does the beetroot shots when we were at the Festival of Cycling at the start of the Tour De France in Yorkshire. In a market of overly sweetened and flavoured “energy bars’, these stood out as gently sweet and very tasty. This version can be made less sweet still by varying the sugar, though I’d suggest leaving the golden syrup in, as this seems to help the beetroot juice thicken to hold the mixture together. The addition of the raspberries was due to having some ready and handy in the garden, but the add a really nice fruity note that’s worth including, though tart apple would also do the job.

Ingredients
150g organic butter
50g demerara sugar
3 tablespoons golden syrup
100ml bottle of beetroot drink
150g raw beetroot, peeled and grated (best done on a plate in the sink to avoid redecorating the kitchen)
100g raspberries
250g porridge oats
100g medium oatmeal
3 tablespoons pumpkin seeds
3 tablespoons sunflower seeds
2 tbsp sultanas or raisins
Zest of 1 lemon.
2 tsps cinnamon

Method:
Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6

Heat the butter, sugar, beetroot liquid and syrup in a saucepan over a low heat and stir until all melted and combined.

Add oatmeal and simmer until it thickens.

Remove from the heat and stir in the grated beetroot, oats, seeds, sultanas, cinnamon and lemon zest.  Mix thoroughly and push into a 30x20cm (12” x 8”) tin.

Bake in the centre of the oven for about 20 minutes or until lightly golden brown on the edges.

Mark out the  squares while it’s still hot, then leave to cool.  When it’s cool, remove from the tin, cut into the squares and refrigerate in an airtight container.  In theory they should keep for about a week in the fridge.

If you want them for a long cycle ride like our boys, once they have cooled a little, break them up into squares then spread these out between 2 baking sheets and return to a low oven for around 20 minutes to dry them out more. This will extend the “pannier life”, and also make them more chewy, but they will soften up as they take in moisture over a few days.