Ruth's Coconut Oat Bars

Makes 12
Ready in 55 minutes

For the base
85g self raising flour
85g porridge oats
50g soft brown sugar
85g butter

For the topping
25g butter, melted
3 eggs
175g soft brown sugar
140g raisins
85g desiccated coconut
the grated rind and juice of a large lemon
50g icing sugar (optional)

Make the oat base
Turn the oven to fan 160c/conventional 180c/gas4. Put the flour, oats and sugar in a bowl and rub in the butter with your fingers. Tip into the base of a 26x18cm tin and press down until smooth. Bake for 10 minutes or until pale golden.

Mix the topping
Beat the melted butter, eggs and sugar with the raisins, coconut, half the lemon rind and 2 tablespoons of juice. Pour over the baked base and return to the oven for 20 minutes more until the top is set and pale golden.

Mark the 12 bars while still warm, then leave to cool before cutting through. It is much easier to get them out of the tin when they have completely cooled.

Drizzle with icing (optional)
Tip the icing sugar into a small bowl and mix with the remaining lemon rind. Stir in up to 3 teaspoons of lemon juice to make a smooth icing then drizzle in diagonal lines over the top of each bar.

These will keep in a tin for up to a week. They are best not frozen as it will spoil texture.

Try some other flavours
juicy apricot - replace the raisins with the same amount of read to eat dried apricots, but chop them first to make raisin sized pieces

Slightly spicy - add half a teaspoon ground cinnamon to the oats to given the cake a spicy base.

Orange and coconut - Use a small orange instead of the lemon.