Have you ever heard of baobab? I hadn’t until the nice folk at the Eden Project asked if I would like to try some Baobab Powder. I was curious and asked more.
It turns out baobab is a tree referred to as the ‘Tree of Life’ in Africa and the fruit that the tree bears is highly sought after as it has many healthy qualities. In fact, this super fruit has more vitamin C than oranges, more iron than red meat and is packed with potassium, magnesium and calcium. The fruit comes in a powdered form which can be added to recipes and I was told, great in baked goods. The Eden Project also carry a range of other items with baobab in it.
I was sent the baobab powder to try as well as a couple of chocolate bars, one white and one milk chocolate with mango. Both the bars were delicious.
The powder has a slight fruity taste, but not overpowering. I couldn’t taste it at all in the bars. I thought adding it to flapjacks would be good, especially as I had come across a flapjack recipe, which promised it was lower in fat and sugar.
I added the powder to my flapjack ingredients and still could not get any overpowering taste. Good to know you are getting lots of minerals and vitamins without even trying.
The flapjack recipe, one from Delicious magazine used low-fat spread in place of butter and the sweetness comes from dates and apricots. The original recipe called for apple juice, but I only had light purple grape juice in the fridge, so mine were even healthier.
Here’s how I made them;
Yield: 16 flapjack squares, approx.
Ingredients:150 grams low-fat spread (I used I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter Light)150 grams dates, chopped3 tablespoons fruit juice (I used light purple grape juice)30 grams chopped nuts (I used pistachio)100 grams dried apricots, chopped220 grams porridge oats1 heaped tablespoon baobab powderAdapted from Delicious magazine
Method:Pre-heat your oven to 170C. Line an 8”x8” tin with greaseproof paper. Melt the spread in a saucepan. Transfer to a large bowl.
In a food processor, add the dates and fruit juice. Blitz until the mixture is smooth. Add this to the melted spread and mix together. Also add the nuts, apricots, baobab powder and oats. Stir altogether with a spoon and transfer to the prepared pan. Press the mixture down firmly, into the corners. I used an off-set spatula here to help me.
Pop into the oven for 20 minutes, or until the top of the flapjacks are browned.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes before removing from the tin. Allow the flapjacks to cool fully on a wire rack before cutting into squares.
The bars are chewy, sweet and deliciously moist. You can eat these without too much guilt at all. Enjoy!
