Making your own “ride fuel” is not only a great way to save money, but also helps you eat healthier and cut out much of the artificial rubbish found in many sports nutrition products. I much prefer to know exactly what’s in my food.
A friend of mine gave me this recipe as an alternative to the usual syrup and butter heavy flapjacks. As a lazy chef I love this recipe as it’s fast, incredibly simple and easily modified to suit your taste. There’s a mix of fast and slow release carbs, protein and healthy fats, making it perfect for those long endurance rides!
Here’s what you need:
1 x 397g tin of condensed milk
250g rolled oats
50g desiccated coconut
50g chopped nuts or mixed seeds
150g dried blueberries and cranberries
Method:
1) Preheat your oven to 165 degrees C and line a shallow baking tin with grease-proof paper ready for later.
2) Combine all the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
3) Warm the condensed milk in the microwave (not in the tin!) for about two minutes.
4) Pour the condensed milk over the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly.
5) Spread the mixture into a shallow baking tray/tin and press down evenly.
6) Bake for 25-30 minutes on the middle shelf, then remove from the oven and leave to cool before removing from the tin and cutting into slices.
I usually cut the flapjack into 16-20 bars then wrap them individually in baking paper before freezing the batch. That way I always have a readily available supply of flapjacks to fuel my ride without having to resort to overpriced store bought products. Enjoy!
A few extra notes:
- The only ingredient I actually weigh out is the oats! All the other dry ingredients I throw in whatever amounts I have until the dry mixture looks good.
- Add any dried fruit, nuts or seeds you like. I personally love blueberries and cranberries as they are high in anti-oxidants and taste great, but sultanas or goji berries work well too.
- A scoop or two of unflavoured whey powder can be added if you want a larger protein hit from your bars (I haven’t tried this though).
Tempo Cyclist - Tasmania 
I’m going to try ’em out!
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Too cool man, thanks for posting this!
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That looks and sounds great. I took a look at some bars that I would take riding and was shocked at the cost–and I didn’t even bother to read the label.
What do you (and anyone else out there who would like to chime in) eat/drink post long ride? TV commercials lately have been spouting the benefits of chocolate milk–this sounds great to me, but I wonder if there is something better.
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A long ride for me currently is 60km/36miles. Even afyer my evening commute of ~30km/18miles, I have a 400ml mug of skim milk added to a paste of cocoa and sugar (teaspoon of each). I only use the cocoa and sugar for flavour, not because I have read all the latest info. I find it quite filling so that I don’t over eat post ride (my nemesis).
Great recipe Tempo. Going out to get some condensed milk NOW!
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I make myself a recovery shake of milk, banana, oats, scoop of whey protein and a dash of honey. Throw it all in the blender and chug it down!
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Looks good!
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They look great. Hungry now…
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Reblogged this on A RIDERS VIEW.
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Tried this last night, got some pics too so I’ll do a post on my blog and refer back to here. Find them a bit dry though to be honest, maybe difficult to eat on a ride. Might try again but adding a knob of butter to the milk when warming.
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They’re not as moist as a normal syrup and butter based flapjack, maybe a little less oats so there’s less to soak up the liquid?
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