Proper flapjacks

This is the real shizz. he kind of flapjacks that are buttery, soft, chewy, syrupy and instantly gratifying, satisfying, and other things-ing. It is absolutely not healthy in any way - I'm imagining the beta-glucans in the oats would offset approximately 1/27th of the butter in one of these bad boys.

This recipe has taken me a few years to get right - if you like those kind of stodgy, solid flapjacks you get in a sealed wrapper with an alarmingly long 'use-by' date, move along. Similarly, if you're interested in crunchy, thin flapjacks, you have no business here. These are, in my opinion, perfect squares of golden loveliness which make you want to eat the whole batch. Feel free to add things like raisins, dried cranberries, figs, apples etc. Or more to the point chocolate in chip form or on top. I'll love you a bit more for that.

Makes one 23 x 30cm tinful
Ingredients:

150g butter (I use salted, if yours is unsalted please add a good pinch of salt)
100g soft brown sugar
4 big tbsp golden syrup (these three are the bad things)
Enough oats to bind (The only good thing - I usually start with about 400g, it seems like loads but trust me...)

1. Preheat the oven to 140C (fan). The method is sooooooo easy. Melt the bad things together on the hob in a pan until caramelly and liquidy and buttery and amazing. At this point add any dried fruit you want - if adding chocolate chips wait until you've added about half of the oats or they'll melt.
2. Add the one good ingredient and stir properly (not like a polite old lady shaking hands). Give it some proper welly to get as many oats covered as possible. When the last few oats are really hard to get covered and remove their powdery look, you've got the right amount. If you don't have an achey arm then you haven't tried hard enough.
3. Squash it into the tin (lined with baking paper) and really get it nice and compacted.
4. Bake it for about 15 minutes (NO MORE).
5. Remove it from the oven and let it cool in the tin before cutting it up and revelling in sugary fatty heaven. I think these may have magical powers - use them wisely.

JB xx