My mum used to make a big tray of flapjacks almost every week when I was a kid, so they’ll always be one of my ultimate comfort foods. They are so easy to make too, but that means that even my most kitchen-shy friends don’t appear that impressed when I’ve whipped up a batch and they come round.
So I’ve devised an ingeniously simple way to make your flapjacks look much more impressive than just gooey, oat-y squares from a tin – here’s how.
You’ll need all the usual ingredients for flapjacks:
175g butter
175g golden syrup
175g golden caster sugar
350g porridge oats (I prefer to used unrolled oats as they are a bit beefier and give the flapjacks a bit more texture).
And then you’ll also need 200g milk or dark chocolate, whichever you prefer, a handful of pecan nuts and a handful of raisins.
Make the flapjacks just as you would usually. So, melt the butter over a medium heat, then add the sugar and syrup and let the sugar gently dissolve (try not to stir the mixture too much). Whilst it’s melting measure the oats, and raisins into a bowl. Crush up the pecans and add them to the bowl. Once the sugar is melted completely add the mixture to the bowl and mix together well. Add it to a greased and lined baking tin and bake in the oven for about 40 minutes at 150°/Gas 2.
When the flapjack are ready, remove them from the over and leave them to cool for about 15 minutes before cutting them into rectangles and putting them on wire rack. As they continue to cool, gently melt the chocolate. Do this by putting a pyrex bowl over a saucepan of water on a medium heat, making sure the bowl is just above the water line. Be sure not to stir the chocolate as it melts. This is the only method to get it looking really sleek and shiny once it’s melted.
Dip half of the flapjack pieces into the melted chocolate, making sure that half is fully covered. If you want them to look especially posh, press a whole pecan onto the chocolate. Do this with all the pieces then put them on a tray and transfer them to the fridge. Give the chocolate a good 15 to 20 minutes to harden, then remove them from the fridge and carefully break off any bits of chocolate that have gone astray.
And there you have it, posh flapjacks. Something about the mixture of raisins with the chocolate and the extra crunch of the pecans really works. I defy your friends not to be impressed.
