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

No added sugar or fat flapjacks

OK, let's lay down some groundrules. I love carbs, and fat, and sugar. However Mr B is on a mission to reduce his body fat to 'professional athlete' levels, and unfortunately my regular flapjacks contain more than a tad of each.

My normal flapjack recipe will follow (and I admit it tastes waaaaaaaaaay better) but... For those with dietary issues or trying to be virtuous, what follows is actually pretty good. Anyone who eats breakkie on the run would certainly be better off with one of these and a cup of tea than those breakfast biscuits you get filled with weird stuff...

Ingredients (makes 9 largish flapjacks)

• 400ml apple juice
• 3 apples (dessert) or pears or a mixture
• large pinch salt
• 130g raising or other dried fruit
• 30g seeds of your choice (pumpkin, sunflower etc)
• 250g oats
• 1 tbsp cinnamon
• good grate of root ginger if you have it - dried if not.

Method

1. Core and chop the fruit roughly (leaving the skin on for added good stuff). Poach it in the juice gently for 30 mins or so until it's nice and squish-able, although it will hold its shape.
2. Blitz the apples until you have a lumpy purée (only a few pulses).
3. Add the flavourings (cinnamon, salt, ginger) and dried fruit and seeds to the apple schmush and stir it in.
4. Finally, add the oats until you have a cement like mess. It's meant to look like this, honest.
5. Squash into a tin lined with baking paper (mine is 23 x 30cm) and bake at 180C for 30-40 mins.

So here we have them...

Not too bad for health food!