Flapjack – yum! Very easy to make, four ingredients, and only 30 minutes from start to finish. When you want something sweet with your afternoon tea, this hits the spot.
Flapjack came to mind the other day when I got home after a hard day’s shopping. I thought I’d like something nice with a cup of tea but I didn’t want to spend long cooking, so I thought of flapjack.
It only takes half an hour from thought to plate and uses ingredients I keep in the cupboard.
Finding the right Flapjack recipe
Unfortunately, I couldn’t find my recipe. I dug up a few recipes from my cookbooks and found a vast difference between the amounts of butter and sugar they used. I tried a couple of recipes but they weren’t right.
By then I had become rather focused on finding the ultimate flapjack recipe, so I went to the mother source – my mum’s recipe book. (Fortunately, I’ve scanned all her handwritten recipes.) Eventually, I came across the ultimate, traditional flapjack recipe.
Key ingredients
Butter, brown sugar, golden syrup and oats are almost all you need.
Butter
I only use butter for cooking for two reasons – the flavour is better and I know what’s in it. I often buy a cheaper brand to cook with and I keep loads of it in the freezer.
Soft Brown Sugar
Dark or light – it doesn’t matter. Dark has a stronger flavour but you don’t really notice it.
Golden Syrup
Having a sweet tooth, I love golden syrup. Try it on oats with milk for breakfast! Although it’s more of a comfort food than a good breakfast, I have to say – and I don’t have it every day.
Most recipes measure golden syrup in tablespoons which is okay but the amount can usually vary a bit. I’ve put the weight in as well in case you like to be sure, but a bit more or less isn’t going to ruin your Flapjack.
The best way to weigh golden syrup is to put the tin on the scales and zero them. Then you will see the weight that you take out as a negative/minus number. Bear in mind that some sticks to the spoon, so use the spoon that you’ll use for mixing.
Oats
Rolled oats are what you need for Flapjack. Not jumbo oats, not oatmeal, and not instant oats.
Salt and Ginger
Salt is a wonderful thing. Adding a good pinch to a sweet recipe, that might otherwise be a little bland, enhances the flavour – so don’t leave it out.
A good pinch (or more) of ginger powder is my secret ingredient. Again, it adds a little flavour – but you can’t taste ginger. It’s just definitely better with than without it.
Secrets of Success
Soft and chewy, or crunchy Flapjack?
My Mum likes her flapjack quite biscuity and crispy, whereas I prefer a soft flapjack. Fortunately, this is easy to sort as the difference is only in the cooking time. 20 minutes for a softer finish. Add 5 minutes for the crunch.
The first couple of times you make Flapjack, note the cooking time and see whether you want a crunchier biscuit – longer time – or softer – shorter time.
What else do you need to make Flapjack?
- 20cm square traybake tin – Perfect for most small traybakes. I use this tin a lot!
- Lining the tin with a baking parchment square makes it easy to remove the flapjack. Or if you use the tin a lot, try using a piece of magic liner, cut to fit, which is washable. Keep it in the tin so you know where to find it!
If you like this…
…Why don’t you try:
Cherry Flapjack
Ginger biscuits
Melting Moments
Stockists
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Flapjack
Ingredients
- 165 g butter
- 125 g soft brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons golden syrup (60g)
- 250 g rolled porridge oats, (not jumbo oats)
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 pinch ginger
Instructions
Preparation:
- Preheat the oven to 200°C/ 180°C fan/ gas mark 6/ 400°F
- Grease the baking tin and line the bottom with a square of baking parchment
For the flapjack:
- Weigh the butter, sugar and syrup into a large saucepan
- Heat the mixture on a low heat, stirring often, until the butter is melted
- Remove from the heat and stir in the oats, salt and ginger
- Turn the mixture into the prepared baking tray. Spread evenly and firm down with the back of a spoon
- Cook for about 20 minutes until a light golden colour for a soft flapjack. Give it a bit longer if you prefer your flapjack slightly crisper
- Run a palette knife around the edge of the tin then, after 5 minutes, mark the flapjack into bars or squares
- Leave in the tin until almost cold, then cut into pieces.
Notes
- Don’t be tempted to leave out the ginger. It adds flavour without being ‘gingery’
- I like to cut this into different sized pieces to cater for different appetites
- Cherry – add 75g quartered glace cherries
- Raisin – add 100g raisins. Replace the golden syrup with honey
Suzy says
Just made this and eaten three pieces already! It is lovely 🙂
Susie Collings says
Hi Suzy. Haha! It is a bit moreish. My favourite thing about flapjack is that I can make it even when I’m tired and there’s the possibility of messing up something that requires more skill or ingredients. Happy eating!
Jimmy says
This is my go to flapjack recipe, everyone loves it and I’ll never tell where I got the recipe from 🤣
Susie Collings says
Sneaky! I’m glad it’s so popular 🙂
Laura says
What is the weight of the golden syrup? mentions weighing it in intro but no weight in recipe thanks x
Susie Collings says
Hi Laura, Use 60g of golden syrup. I’ve updated the recipe to add that in 🙂 Cheers – Susie
Keziah says
Made these today and the recipe worked a treat. I only had a bigger, rectangular baking tray so I doubled the recipe and made a larger and deeper flapjack. It worked really well for those who like crunchy and chewy as the top was crunchier whilst the middle was still chewy and soft.
Susie Collings says
Hi Keziah, Glad you like the flapjack. More is always better! Cheers – Susie
Nicola Hall says
I would like a little advice pls. I followed the instructions and the flapjacks themselves smell and taste lovely, however the baking paper was welded to the flapjacks? Thank you
Susie Collings says
Hi Nicola. What sort of paper did you use? Baking parchment doesn’t need greasing, but greaseproof paper (which is thinner) does. I use baking parchment squares which fit my tin – mostly out of laziness – and they’re fine. Let me know if that solves it. Cheers – Susie
Ann says
I suggest you take the flapjack out of oven turn upside down onto a wire tray and take the paper off whilst hot it comes off easily at this point x
Nicola says
Thank you. That’s great