Have you ever wanted a sweet snack but deprived yourself of it, knowing that you've filled your junk food quota for the day? It can be a terrible feeling to be so conscience of the fact that you've eaten too much unhealthy food, especially when that sweet tooth is nagging you to pick up that chocolate bar or other equally delicious and fattening snack. It's an even worse experience when you're making a persistent effort to be healthy and possibly lose some weight.
This recipe is by no means fat-free, but it is a healthier alternative to say, a chocolate slice or a rich butter cake. If you're anything like me, you'll look at the positives of this slice (besides the fact that it tastes good and is easy to make)- it has dried apricots in it (fruit!), it has rolled oats in it (fibre!) and, sure, it has some chocolate, but if you want to be really healthy, you could always omit it from the recipe.
To make this yummy slice, you will need:
2 cups rolled oats
cup brown sugar
cup fine desiccated coconut
1 cup plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
175g butter
2 tablespoons honey
cup dried apricot, roughly chopped
375g milk chocolate melts (this is the approximate size of one bag of chocolate melts. You're definitely welcome to use less (if you want a thin chocolate layer) or none at all- it's up to you!)
1. Preheat the oven at 180ºC.
2. Find a large and fairly deep slice tin (it can be rectangular or square-shaped) and line it with baking paper, leaving a length of the paper hanging over two of the sides. This will make it easier to remove the slice from the tin once it is cooked. Lightly grease the tin and paper, so that the mixture doesn't stick. Put the tin aside.
3. Melt the butter in a separate bowl and put it aside for later.
4. Put the oats, brown sugar, desiccated coconut and dried apricot into a large mixing bowl.
5. Sift the flour and baking powder into the bowl.
6. Pour the melted butter into the bowl and add the honey.
7. Stir the contents of the bowl until they are evenly combined.
8. Place the mixture into the slice tin and flatten it out, using the back of a spoon. Press the mixture into each corner of the tin, and make sure the base is even otherwise you'll end up with a lopsided-looking slice.
9. Put the slice tin in the oven and bake for 20 minutes.
Once you have removed the slice from the oven and allowed it to cool, you can start melting the milk chocolate that coats the top of the slice (if you're going to go for the less healthy version of this slice).
10. Take a bag of milk chocolate melts (a 375g bag will do if you want a nice thick layer) and pour into a heatproof bowl. I use the microwave to melt chocolate because it's faster, although you can heat the chocolate over the stove if you'd prefer.
11. Once the chocolate is melted, pour it over the slice, making sure it is evenly distributed.
12. Place the cake tin in the fridge and allow it to cool for about 20 minutes.
13. Once the chocolate has set, take it out of the fridge and cut it into squares to serve.
This recipe makes about 18 pieces, although this varies depending on the sizes of the slice you want. It's very likely that the chocolate will crack when you attempt to cut it, and the oats may also crumble a little bit (more so if you don't have a chocolate layer over the top), but don't worry too much about this- even though it makes the slice look a little messy, it still tastes delicious.
