ROCKY MOUNTAIN FLAPJACKS (STARBUCKS FLAX BARS)

Seeded flapjack recipe | Hello Victoria

Seeded flapjack recipe | Hello Victoria

My first job after high school was working at Starbucks. It was a pretty great job because the hours were good, the people I worked with were friendly, and you got an insane amount of free coffee per shift.

People have always raved about the Starbucks oat bars (flapjacks here in England), but there was another bar that they used to carry that was my favorite. The coffee shops where I lived used to serve what they called a flax bar (flax seeds = linseeds), which had all kinds of seeds as well as some great citrus flavor. I’m not sure, but I think it wasn’t available everywhere except maybe the west coast of Canada, because I can’t seem to find a copycat recipe anywhere!

Seeded flapjack recipe | Hello Victoria

So I did what any sane person would do – I read ingredient lists online for a company that used to produce them for the local Starbucks (they still make them for their own store). That way, I would know exactly which seeds they contained, and in what order (to determine quantities). Then, I took a flapjack recipe from a friend and altered the amounts of oats/seeds it contained, adding a bunch of citrus zest!

Seeded flapjack recipe | Hello Victoria

It’s hard to know if these are just like the original flax bars since Starbucks doesn’t make them anymore, and I haven’t had one in… probably over 6 years! But they are good, and got Richard’s seal of approval!

They aren’t healthy by any stretch (lots of butter and sugar) but I like that instead of just oats, they contain a bunch of seeds… which is sort of healthy… no?

Seeded flapjack recipe | Hello Victoria

Now, I will note that the type of oats you use will affect the bake. When I developed the recipe at my last job, I only had porridge (quick) oats on hand. Then, when I decided to make it at home for this blog, I found properly rolled oats in the store and used those (they are also what was photographed in the first few photos). However, they didn’t absorb all the butter and sugar like the porridge oats, which resulted in a buttery mess. So make sure you use porridge oats for this recipe, unlike me! (I am still trying to work out how to make it with rolled oats, but haven’t solved the problem yet.)

Difference between rolled and porridge oats in a flapjack | Hello Victori

Oh, and I used golden flax seeds in the first batch (couldn’t find regular brown ones) and then a mix of the leftover golden seeds and brown flax seeds in the batch I took finished photos of.

As for the name of my recipe? Well, as I mentioned, I developed this recipe at my last job as something new we could offer. Since people over here call oat bars flapjacks, I knew I should use that name to prevent confusion. I could have just stuck with the original “flax bar” idea, and called them “linseed flapjacks”, but the name just didn’t have a nice ring to it.

Citrus and seed oat bars | Hello Victoria

Seeing as how this recipe is my own ‘invention’, and no one over here has ever had a Starbucks flax bar, I decided I could call them whatever I wanted! Since I’m from western Canada, I thought why not use something Canadian? And as the bars were almost healthy, I thought the “Rocky Mountain” bit would evoke a sort of healthy outdoorsy-seed-filled trail-mix type thing! In my mind, it makes sense – if not, well, you can call them whatever you wish! But for me, they are Rocky Mountain Flapjacks.

Rocky Mountain Flapjacks (Starbucks Flax Bars)

Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 35 minutes

Ingredients
  

  • 250 grams butter
  • 250 grams brown sugar
  • 170 grams golden syrup
  • 358 grams porridge oats quick
  • 60 grams flax seeds linseeds
  • 36 grams poppy seeds
  • 23 grams sesame seeds
  • 23 grams sunflower seeds
  • Zest of 1 orange
  • Zest of 2 lemons

Instructions
 

  • Preheat your oven to 180°C (350°F) and line a rectangular cake tin with baking paper (mine was 8″ x 12″ or 20cm x 30cm).
  • In a small saucepan, melt the butter, golden syrup and brown sugar.
  • While the butter is melting, mix together all of your seeds, oats, and citrus zest.
  • Pour the melted butter mixture into your dry ingredients, and mix well.
  • Press oat mixture into the pan in an even layer, and bake in preheated oven for 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown on top.
  • Allow to cool and cut into bars. Store in an airtight container or well wrapped with cling film.

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