Name: Banana flapjacks recipe
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 20 min
Yield: Makes: 10
Cuisine: Baking, British
Ingredients: 85g dates, pitted; 1 banana, roughly chopped; 50g butter, melted; ½tsp bicarbonate of soda; 225g whole jumbo oats; 2tsp ground ginger or cinnamon

By Jessica Ransom

last updated 3 July 2023

Banana flapjacks make a delicious breakfast or snack throughout the day and this recipe requires just six ingredients.

Lots of flapjacks have sugar or syrup as one of the key ingredients. However, our banana flapjacks only include naturally sweet ingredients. This means they provide a stable release of energy and avoid sharp sugar crashes which you might get from food with lots of refined sugars in. For maximum sweetness and flavour make sure your banana is nice and ripe.

Ingredients

85g dates, pitted
1 banana, roughly chopped
50g butter, melted
½tsp bicarbonate of soda
225g whole jumbo oats
2tsp ground ginger or cinnamon

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Method

Heat the oven to 180C (160C fan, Gas 4). Lightly grease a 18cm (7 in) square cake tin. If you have it, line with a sheet of baking paper that overhangs too as this will make it easier to lift the flapjacks out.
Put the dates into a small bowl and pour over 85ml boiling water. Leave to soak for about 10 minutes.
Once softened, put the dates and water into a food processor, along with the banana, melted butter and bicarbonate of soda. Blitz until smooth.
Combine the oats and ground ginger or cinnamon into a large mixing bowl and add the processed date and banana mixture. Stir to combine. Pour the mixture into the prepared baking tin and level with a spoon or palette knife.
Bake for 20 minutes or until a very light golden brown. Gently mark into 10 portions but do not cut all the way.
Cool in the tin completely, then slice into bars. These flapjacks will keep in an airtight container for three days.

Top tips for making banana flapjacks

Banana pancakes are a delicious treat that should be enjoyed as part of a healthy, balanced diet. To learn more about how many calories are in banana flapjacks and how to get the most flavour into your bake, have a read of our tips below.

Are flapjacks good for diabetics?

There is no single food that is good or bad for people with diabetes. Whether you have type 1 or type 2 diabetes it’s important to eat a balanced diet and to monitor your blood glucose levels carefully throughout the day.

Carbohydrates have a big impact on blood glucose levels so many diabetics choose to closely monitor their intake. Our banana flapjacks have 22.6g carbohydrates per portion and are made with whole oats which are considered a healthier carb according to Diabetes.org.uk.

How many calories are in a banana flapjack?

Our banana flapjacks have 160 calories per portion with 2.8g protein and 3.1g fibre in each bar too. You could cut the flapjacks into smaller bars so that each portion is only 80 calories. This would also make the batch last longer.

Most of the calories in this recipe are coming from the oats, butter, and dates. You could experiment with reducing the butter amount and replacing it with a beaten egg or some more mashed banana. This will bring the calories down but will also change the final texture.

When are bananas most flavoursome?

The most brown spots on your banana skin, the riper the fruit and the softer the flesh will be. Bananas are also sweetest when the skin is brown and the flesh is soft. This is a good recipe if you have some bananas that are very soft because you are mashing them up anyway.

Food Writer Jessica Ransom adds, ‘You can add a tiny pinch of clove to the mixture and it will intensify the banana flavour. I do this whenever I bake banana bread and often get lots of compliments.’

This recipe calls for an 18cm square tin. You can use a bigger or larger tin but keep in mind the cooking time could be a little longer or shorter. The shape of your bars will also be different. If you’d like to buy a new tin, this one from MasterClass is a great option.

If you’d like another healthy flapjack recipe, try our protein flapjacks which are made from nuts, seeds, and oats and have 5.8g of protein per portion. Our granola bar recipe is another tasty option that is perfect for when you’re on the go or want to take sweet items on a picnic.

Jessica is a freelance food writer, stylist and recipe tester. She previously worked as Senior Food Writer at Future. While at Future Jessica wrote food and drink-related news stories and features, curated product pages, reviewed equipment, and developed recipes that she then styled on food shoots. She is an enthusiastic, self-taught cook who adores eating out and sharing great food and drink with friends and family. She has completed the Level 1 Associate course at the Academy of Cheese and is continually building on her knowledge of beers, wines, and spirits.