Recipe: Pumpkin Flapjacks / Porridge Bars

This is not our recipe, but a new favourite discovery that needs to be added to any squash / Halloween repertoire. It’s from The Pioneer Woman’s blog: find the full recipe and method here, but we’ve translated the ingredients from cups to grams for your convenience below.

It’s such a great snack, really good for school break or a lunchbox, and particularly nice warmed up a little before serving.

Notes:

• For the pumpkin puree, I’ve used half a standard-sized Halloween pumpkin, boiled until just soft and then blended up. You can freeze pumpkin puree if needed, which is quite useful as when it defrosts a lot of the water separates off.

• You can use any kind of pumpkin or squash.

• I don’t strain it overnight, I have either piled it into a clean muslin and squeezed as much water as possible out, or just gently stirred and pressed the water out in a sieve.

• Rolled oats work, but make it more porridgey and less like a flapjack. I prefer the jumbo oat version, but they’re both very enjoyable.

• I’ve also used honey and / or golden syrup in place of sugar.

• I’ve used 2 teaspoons of mixed spice in place of the ground spices, which is not quite but almost as nice.

Ingredients
425g pumpkin puree
420g jumbo oats
130g light brown sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon allspice
280ml milk
2 eggs
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 teaspoon vanilla extract