Now, you wouldn’t be blamed for thinking that the past 3 weeks have involved little more than baking and eating an array of M-friendly treats.  This week was no exception.  Having attempted the series of lemon recipes as well as the best chocolate cake ever and feeling somewhat delighted with the results, we decided that our next baking efforts were going to be the rather exotically named “Rainforest Flapjacks”.

This recipe came home from school and looked easy enough to adapt for M’s dietary needs.  I will confess right now to having felt a little frustrated by M’s school’s reluctance to cook with him.  The two occasions they have chosen to cook with his class have both conveniently coincided with times when he was away from school.  Do I blame them for not wanting to cope with his complex dietary needs?  Not entirely, but I have had to deal with the fall-out, disappointment and tears at home.

My solution this time round was to suggest to M that he asked for the recipe so that we could attempt it at home.  In due course, the printed sheet made its way into M’s drawer and finally came home in a decent enough state that I could still read the list of ingredients.  Everything was easily substituted for M-friendly alternatives and, in the case of the oats, G-friendly millet flakes.  I had the full complement of ingredients in either the fridge or the cupboard and so we were ready to start.

As ever, I took my chances and doubled the quantities to make sure I had enough flapjacks to last the week and so we began.  The process was easy, the children loved measuring out the ingredients and the odd bit of a chocolate might have strayed into an open mouth along the way.  We used a bar of the wonderful Moo-free Cranberry and Hazelnuts chocolate which is both soya- and dairy-free, though plain dark chocolate would work just as well.

The end result was a delight.  Both children devoured the first few pieces without hesitation and the double quantity only just lasted the week.  G even asked if I could make it without the nuts so that she could take a slice for her packed lunches at school from September.

In case you’re wondering what makes them “Rainforest” flapjacks (as Mike asked), my answer is simple.  They contain bananas, chocolate, are perfect for our 2 little monkeys and the name linked in perfectly with M’s topic for school!

This post is an entry into the Foodies100/Schwartz Flavour of Together challenge – you can add your own exotic Flavour story via this link