One of the Spinning Ladies of Sanday is gluten-intolerant. We try to make something each week that she can eat without problems. I often produce flapjacks for her. These are good old-fashioned British oat-based goodies, and nothing to do with those things that we know as pancakes, but our Transatlantic cousins call flapjacks…
I offer first a very simple and basic recipe:
Flapjacks
- 8 oz          Rolled oats
- 4 oz          Butter or margarine
- 3 oz          Caster sugar
- 2 tb          Golden syrup
Set oven to 350~F or Mark 4.
Grease an 11 inch x 7inch baking tin.
- Gently heat the butter or margarine,sugar and golden syrup together in a pan until all are melted.
- Gradually stir in the rolled oats, combining well with the syrup mixture.
- Press into the tin and cook for about 20 minutes.
- Mark into fingers and leave in the tin to cool.
- When cold turn out and break up; the flapjacks should still be soft and moist.
That’s all there is to it.
But you can extemporise freely!
My notes
- Far, far better for making with butter rather than with any ersatz product.
- I use Organic Jumbo oats, mixed with standard rolled oats such as Quaker.
- I like to add a little salt
- and a handful of sesame seeds
- Try substituting honey for half, or all, of the syrup
- Any kind of dried fruit or nut or seed of your choice can be mixed in with this – cut the oats back a fraction to allow for the addition. I often add Pumpkin and Sunflower seeds, and some raisins, to the mix. The dried orange peel that Culpepper’s sell is also very good when added in small quantity (a teaspoon, say)
- Good when kept for a day or three before eating – it allows the bars to “relax”