Tom and Oliver say: “Growing up in the 80s, health-food shops were rife with giant slabs of dry, joyless flapjacks that crumbled to dust in your hands. We wanted to update that version from our childhoods, and a date slice is a stone-cold classic, so we kept all the best bits and added a little flair and stability, upping the sweetness a tiny bit and making the dates into a jam instead of a stew, then topping it off with chocolate. A big upgrade, but still a nostalgic throwback for anyone craving the old-school health-food feels. Now you can take it out on a ramble without the risk of total collapse.”

Ingredients

For the date jam:

• 290g dried chopped dates
• 290ml water

For the flapjack:

• 315g chopped walnuts
• 480g gluten-free oats (a mixture of jumbo and porridge/rolled is good)
• 1 tsp salt
• 260g golden syrup
• 200g coconut oil
• 200g soft light brown sugar

For the topping:

• 80g dark chocolate
• 1 tbsp desiccated coconut

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C fan/350°F/gas mark 6 and line your 22 x 33 x 5cm baking tray.

To make the date jam, combine the dates and water in a large pan over a medium heat and cook until the dates have softened and broken down to form a soft paste. Set aside.

Blitz your walnuts in a food processor to break them up into a rough rubble, then mix them with the oats and salt in a large bowl.

In a separate pan, warm the golden syrup, oil and brown sugar over a medium heat until the sugar has dissolved and everything is fully combined into a beautiful silky black mass.

Pour this into the bowl with the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly, then weigh 900g of the mix into the prepared tray and smooth down. The easiest way to do this is by covering it with a sheet of baking parchment and then pressing it down with the base of another baking tray; you want a nice, even top, so you can press quite hard.

Now add the date jam mixture by spreading it across the pressed oats, making sure to spread it evenly: the back of a metal serving spoon works well, or a spatula. Finally, loosely scatter the remaining flapjack mixture across the top, then gently smooth with a spatula.

Bake this for 45 minutes until golden, then remove from the oven and set aside.

To make the topping, melt the chocolate in a bain-marie, then transfer it into a piping bag. Snip a piping hole about 3mm thick in the end of the bag, then pipe the chocolate over the flapjack in a diagonal pattern before sprinkling with the desiccated coconut. No piping bag? No problem! It’s time to pretend you’re an artistic genius.

Hold your bowl of melted chocolate just above the flapjack and, using a fork, flick torrents of melted chocolate all over the top to finish the masterpiece. The messier, the better.

Leave to cool in the tray. These will keep for 2 weeks in an airtight container in the fridge.

Tom and Oliver say: “If you have a busy lifestyle and don’t have time to watch apricots ripen on the tree, but still want to make homemade cakes, then dried fruit is your friend. Dried apricots may not have the romance of the fresh, plump variety, but they still hold a whole load of flavour. Or for a super-simple version of this, you can just use shop-bought apricot jam instead of making your own purée. If you’re not worried about keeping it vegan, some yoghurt icing will add a bit more tartness.”

Ingredients

For the apricot purée:

• 290g dried apricots, chopped
• 290ml water

For the flapjacks:

• 310g chopped pecans
• 480g gluten-free oats (ideally a mixture of jumbo and rolled)
• 1 tsp salt
• 260g golden syrup
• 200g coconut oil
• 200g soft light brown sugar

For the topping:

• 65g vegan white chocolate (or just regular white chocolate if you’re not worried about keeping it vegan)

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C fan/350°F/gas 6 and line your 22 x 33 x 5cm baking tray.

Begin by making the apricot purée. Simply combine the dried apricots and water in a heavy-based saucepan over a medium-high heat.

Stir occasionally, then simmer for about 15 minutes until the apricots completely relent, becoming soft and absorbing all the water.

Next, crush the pecans to break them up, but not too small. They’re not the sturdiest of nuts, so you can just do this by hand over a large bowl, then add the oats and salt and mix thoroughly.

Warm the golden syrup, oil and brown sugar in a heavy-based pan over a medium heat until the sugar has completely dissolved, then pour this mixture over the dry ingredients. Mix everything together really well, making sure there are no dry clumps of oats hiding away.

When you’re happy with the consistency, weigh about 900g of the flapjack mixture into your lined tray, spreading it out evenly and smoothing it down with a spatula. You want to create a nice, dense base layer here – the best way to do this is to place a sheet of baking parchment over the mixture, then place another baking tray on top and press down.

Now spoon the apricot purée all over the pressed flapjack and spread it out evenly using a spatula. Finally, scatter the remainder of the flapjack mixture over the top and smooth it down gently; you want this top layer to be a bit jagged and not as compressed as the base layer. Bake for 50 minutes until the edges of the flapjack begin to turn golden brown.

Just before the flapjack comes out of the oven, melt the white chocolate in a bain-marie, then pop it into a piping bag. Snip a piping hole about 3mm thick in the end of the bag, then pipe the white chocolate over the flapjack in a diagonal motion and leave to cool in the fridge in the tray. If you don’t have a piping bag, it’s not a problem. Just use a spoon or fork to trickle or flick the chocolate over the flapjack.

Allow to come up to room temperature before eating. These will keep for two weeks in an airtight container in the fridge.

Tom and Oliver say: “This is inspired by the Indian drink mango lassi. It might not cool you down in quite the same way, but it’s the perfect flapjack for a late summer evening snack. Pair with a crisp glass of gin and tonic or a soda and lime to really bring out the cardamom.”

Ingredients

For the mango compote:

• 450g mango flesh (about 3 mangos)
• 100g soft light brown sugar
• Juice of 1 lime