Chocolate and Coconut Flapjacks

These delicious Coconut Flapjacks are coated in dark chocolate packed with desiccated coconut for a delicious, tropical-tasting treat. Made with gluten free oats these are the perfect coeliac-safe lunchbox treat.

I absolutely love a gluten free flapjack and finding different flavour combinations always makes me really happy!

Chocolate and coconut is the perfect combination, a bit like Bounty chocolates which I used to absolutely love.

I use dark chocolate on top of this flapjack recipe to complement the sweetness of the syrupy flapjack. If you prefer milk chocolate you could try my chocolate chip flapjack.

They taste deliciously more-ish and are really easy to adapt to be dairy free and vegan – just seen my simple substitutions below.

Chocolate and coconut flapjack ingredients

All you need to make this easy gluten free chocolate and coconut flapjack recipe is the following ingredients:

• Unsalted Butter – if you want a dairy free flapjack you can replace this with something like Stork baking block.
• Golden Syrup – this is key to making the perfect, chewy flapjack! In the US you may have to look for ‘light treacle’ instead.
• Brown Sugar – I often interchange light brown and dark brown sugar in this recipe and both work equally well.
• Gluten Free Oats – Always ensure you are using ‘gluten free oats’ as in the UK, oats are not considered coeliac-safe otherwise. More on gluten free oats here.
• Desiccated Coconut – I add this into the flapjack for a lovely texture and taste, as well as sprinkling it liberally on top too.
• Dark Chocolate – You can use milk chocolate if you prefer. Ensure the chocolate you use is gluten free and does not have any ‘may contain’ warnings. I tend to use the Lindt dark chocolate or Dr Oetker baking chocolate as these are gluten free.
• Coconut Oil – I use this in the topping to give it a lovely gloss and extra coconut flavour. You can use butter if you prefer though.

And if you don’t have all of these ingredients to hand, don’t worry.

There are some very simple swaps you can make to ensure you still have a delicious gluten free flapjack at the end!

Swaps and Substitutions

If you want to make this recipe dairy free, or you don’t have butter, you can always use margarine or something like Stork baking block instead.

If you don’t have brown sugar, any sugar will do really. The darker the sugar, the more syrupy and rich the flapjacks will be. But caster or even granulated sugar will work just fine.

The syrup is key to the texture of the bake – you could use honey or even maple syrup instead, but might find your flapjack doesn’t hold together quite as well. It’ll still be delicious though!

And if you can’t tolerate – or don’t have – gluten free oats, you could use rice flakes or even quinoa flakes instead. I’ve even made a similar recipe with crushed gluten free cereal flakes before which was yummy!

If you want to mix up the texture of the flapjack, switching some of the desiccated coconut for coconut flakes can add a nice crunch.

You can always swap the chocolate for a milk chocolate (or white chocolate) and of course if you need a dairy free/vegan recipe then use vegan chocolate instead. Or just omit the chocolate completely – coconut flapjacks are delicious!

How to make coconut and chocolate flapjack

Making these flapjacks is SERIOUSLY easy – there’s a printable recipe card below but here I’ll go through the step-by-step process:

1. Preheat the oven to 180‘C/ Fan 160’C / Gas Mark 4. Line an 8-inch/20cm square baking tin with baking paper and set aside.
2. To a large saucepan, add the butter, sugar and syrup. Heat over a low heat, stirring constantly, until the butter has melted. Remove from the heat.
3. Add the oats and desiccated coconut and mix well with a wooden spoon until fully combined.
4. Pour the mixture into the lined baking tray and use a spoon to press the mixture down as compact as possible, and right into the corners and edges of the pan.
5. Bake for 20 minutes. Once baked, remove from the oven and onto a cooling rack.
6. To make the topping: Melt the coconut oil and chocolate together over a very low heat, stirring well. Pour over the cooled flapjack, smooth across the top and then sprinkle with desiccated coconut. Refrigerate until set (at least 1 hour) before cutting into 8 bars (or 16 squares).

Frequently asked questions

This gluten free coconut flapjack recipe makes eight bars (or 16 squares) and they’ll keep in an airtight container for around a week.

If you make this recipe and love it, please do let me know by tagging me on my Instagram or using #theglutenfreeblogger. You can also share your creations in my Facebook group!