by Joanne Price
Following on from my last post, I want to share another fabulously easy recipe with you, this time for flapjack. There are several reasons for this - firstly, it's half-term, and this recipe is simple enough for children to have a go with minimal input from a parent; secondly, we have had some great feedback from our easy Victoria Sponge Recipe which was featured in my last blog; and last but not least, who doesn't love flapjack?Before I give you the recipe, I'd like to expand a little on the second reason I gave, namely the feedback we have had from the Victoria Sponge recipe. We have had people telling us things such as, I'm not much of a baker usually but this recipe looked so easy that I was inspired to give it a try, and got great results, which to my mind can only be a good thing. Whilst programmes such as The Great British Bake Off have done a lot to raise the profile of baking and baked goods, let's face it, not many of us have got the time to dedicate a whole afternoon (or the skill, for that matter) to recreate their spectacular showstopper bakes or tackle their technical challenges.
So if we at Pryces the Bakers can encourage people to try baking when they wouldn't normally have done so, by making the usual obstacles and excuses invalid (I haven't got time or I'm no good at baking) then that makes us happy. And with these kind of recipes, anyone can have a go and end up with some delicious homebaking that doesn't take forever to create.
Our cake and biscuit range at our bakery in the Manchester area often changes to reflect changing tastes and trends, but there are certain products that have a permanent place on our shelves, and flapjack is one of them, which is surely testament to its enduring popularity and deliciousness!
Now for the recipe, which is the same one that we use in the bakery, but quantities have been scaled down to suit the domestic baker:
Ingredients
110g butter
110g soft brown sugar
1 tablespoon golden syrup
150g rolled oats
Method
1. Preheat oven to Gas 3, 160 degrees C
2. Put butter, sugar and syrup into a pan and heat gently on the hob, stirring with a wooden spoon, until the butter has melted and you can no longer hear the sugar crunching as you stir.
3. Add the oats and mix thoroughly.
4. Line a 20cm baking tin with greaseproof paper and put the mixture into this.
5. Bake for 20-30 minutes until golden. (If you prefer a chewy flapjack, bake for a shorter time; if crunchiness is your desired outcome then bake for a bit longer)
6. Allow to cool slightly then remove from tin and divide into pieces.
This is the most basic version of flapjack, but feel free to get creative by adding dried fruit (and maybe convince yourself that the flapjack will count towards your five-a-day!). Try raisins, apple, banana, coconut, cherries, combinations of these, whatever takes your fancy really. These should be stirred in at stage 3. Or allow to cool, then drizzle with or dip into melted chocolate. Or do both! Chocolate and cherry maybe.
Delicious!
If you give this recipe a go, let us know what you think and what flapjack varieties you have created. Happy Baking!
