Carrot cake fridge flapjacks

MAKES 12 PREP 15 mins plus soaking and 3 hrs chilling COOK 50 mins EASY V 170g butter, chopped, plus extra

for the tin

200g pitted dates, roughly chopped 250g honey

2 large carrots, coarsely grated 300g rolled oats

100g dried cranberries

150g dried apricots, chopped 70g chopped walnuts

70g mixed seeds

2 tsp mixed spice

2 tsp ground cinnamon

For the icing

1 tbsp soft cheese

2 tbsp icing sugar, sieved 1 small orange, zested, plus

1-2 tbsp orange juice

1 Boil the kettle. Heat the oven to 170C/150C fan/gas 31/2, butter a 20 x 30cm cake tin and line with baking parchment. Tip the dates into a heatproof bowl and cover with 60ml boiling water from the kettle. Set aside to rehydrate for 10 mins, then tip into a food processor and blitz until smooth.

2 Melt the butter and honey in a saucepan over a low heat, stirring until smooth. Tip the carrots, oats, cranberries, apricots, chopped walnuts, mixed seeds, mixed spice, cinnamon and a small pinch of salt into a large bowl. Stir the sweetened butter and puréed dates into the dry ingredients until combined, then tip into the prepared tin and press into an even layer using a spatula. Bake for 45-50 mins, covering with foil halfway through if the flapjacks brown too quickly. Cool in the tin. Once completely cool, chill in the fridge for at least 3 hrs.

3 For the icing, whisk all of the ingredients together until smooth. Drizzle the icing over the flapjacks and cut into 12 bars. Will keep, covered in the fridge, for three days.

GOOD TO KNOW fibre • 1 of 5-a-day

PER SERVING 466 kcals • fat 21g • saturates 9g •

carbs 59g • sugars 41g • fibre 7g • protein 7g • salt 0.3g