Flapjacks

One of the first treats to make with children and a real ‘go to’ fast energy snack. Portion them any size, to suit your needs, and they will definitely hit the spot!

According to the OED (Oxford English Dictionary) the humble flapjack has it’s origins back in the beginning of the 16th century as a flat tart that hails from the United Kingdom! Although, it’s fair to assume that the sticky sweet substance used then, was in fact honey and not the golden syrup that we tend to use today. Golden syrup wasn’t available until around the 1880’s.

Generally, when we think of flapjacks, we imagine a sweet, tray-baked oat bar, most commonly made from rolled oats, butter, brown sugar and golden syrup. This simple treat has evolved in recent times and is the stock basis for such things as cereal bars, granola bars or oat bars. The ingredients may be different but the ancestry is clear to see.

My most favourite things about this little snack are that they can be customised infinite ways to suit all palates and pockets and they are a food item that with a small tweak, (changing the type of fat/oats used) can be given universally as a snack. Great if you have to provide a little something for hungry mouths with food allergies/intolerances*).

Years ago (I think I was around 10), my sister and I were staying with our Aunt and her family and we made lots of different things. One of them was flapjacks. The thing that I remember the most is not the delicious buttery taste. Nor was it four children eagerly awaiting for them to cool enough to get them out of the tin to eat. It was in fact the smell of over caramelised sugar coming from the oven because we were so engrossed in salt dough modelling (while we were waiting) that we all forgot about them! Needless to say that we had to say goodbye to the poor baking tray they had cremated themselves in but, we had a lot of fun making them, even if we didn’t actually get to eat them! The moral of this tale? Keep an eye on the oven or model salt dough afterwards!

I challenge you to come up with as many interesting and delicious combinations of flapjack as you can!

*always check that the ingredients are suitable before giving to anybody with a known food allergy/intolerance.