Friday, 3 February 2012

What's the secret of the perfect flapjack?

Questions that divide the nation:

Should Scotland be independent?
Should babies get breast or bottle?
Will Andy Murray ever win a Grand Slam?
Do you understand the point of TOWIE?

How do you make the perfect flapjack?
And what is the perfect flapjack anyway?

There are people out there who like them crumbly: half oatcake, half hobnob.

And people who like them brittle: cracking against the roof of your mouth as you bite down.

They're wrong of course. They probably get TOWIE too.

The perfect flapjack, for me at least, is chewy and sticky; dental decay in every bite. The
miraculous combination of butter and golden syrup coating you teeth as you chew, with the gentle crunch of the oats and the burnt warmth of the brown sugar following behind.

And are my flapjacks like that? Of course not.

I consider myself a good cook (is that a universal delusion? Do we all think we can cook? And would anyone tell us if we couldn't?) but I cannot, cannot, despite multiple attempts, make the flapjacks of my dreams. They start off ok: warm from the oven, they ooze and stick satisfyingly, but as they cool, they harden into lumps of sweetened concrete. With sharp edges.

So what am I doing wrong? Is my oven too hot? Am I cooking them for too long? Are my proportions (or ingredients) just wrong?

Anyone know? Flapjack makers of the world, I need your help.




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19 comments:

  1. The Moiderer3 February 2012 at 11:20

    Ok I am up for the challenge. Here is the recipe. These are sticky and chewy for me...will they be for you?
    http://www.themoiderer.com/blog/2012/01/flapjacks.html

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Harriet3 February 2012 at 18:51

      We'll have to see... Recipe looks v like mine so am scared that if they turn out rubbish I'll have only myself to blame! Still, weekend plans have been cancelled so I can feel a flapjack mission coming on!

      Delete
    2. Harriet5 February 2012 at 22:34

      Well, we did them... Jolly good. Proper in depth review post coming up (probably tomorrow night though).

      Delete
  2. Amy @ isewstitch3 February 2012 at 13:36

    I too failed to find the perfect flapjack recipes until I found this one a few years ago!

    300g butter, 340g Demerara sugar, 4 heaped tbsp golden syrup, 1/2 tin of condensed milk, and 500g rolled oats.

    Melt butter, sugar and syrup on the hob. Removed from hob and add condensed milk. Add oats. Put into a linned tin (I actually use a rectangle roasting tin as there is quite a lot). Bake in oven at 160c until golden brown.

    Thus stays gooey for days, I'm told, I don't actually know as it lasts mere hours in our house. The only problem with the recipe is you're left with another half of condensed milk which means you have to make a second batch to save wasting it, what a shame that is!!

    Note: I cannot be held responsible for any weight gain caused by sharing this recipe lol! Enjoy!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Harriet3 February 2012 at 18:52

      Ooh! Condensed milk! Controversial, but tempting...(if not for the diet part!)

      Delete
  3. Dorset Dispatches3 February 2012 at 14:37

    the key is a load of old flap, jack.

    Can you tell its been a long week?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Harriet3 February 2012 at 18:55

      Maybe it's because I'm not a bake well tart...

      Weekend tomorrow (let's ignore the fact that I'm single parenting while b swans off to the rugby for a minute... Hey ho. Will. Have flapjacks to make and a diet to ruin)

      Delete
  4. Iota 3 February 2012 at 19:40

    Not a bake well tart... snort...

    Flapjacks are really hard to get right. My m-i-l does, though.

    Had to google TOWIE.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Harriet3 February 2012 at 21:25

    I thank you. My latest DVD is available... Or not.

    And on the TOWIE front, consider yourself fortunate.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Harriet3 February 2012 at 21:26

      And if the moiderer and Amy's versions don't work, I will be demanding your m-i-l's.

      Delete
  6. Ellen5 February 2012 at 15:58

    My mother makes the best flapjack in the world. This is a fact. She has an Aga which might be the missing ingredient.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Harriet5 February 2012 at 22:35

      Now that might be the killer argument for spending the necessary £10,000.

      Or maybe not.

      Although to be fair, my mum always made pretty good flapjacks in her Aga. Hmmm.

      Delete
  7. Anonymous5 January 2013 at 18:27

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I know. I'm sorry. I hate these word recognition, are you a robot, guff things too, but having just got rid of a large number of ungrammatical and poorly spelt adverts for all sorts of things I don't want, and especially don't want on my blog, I'm hoping that this will mean that only lovely people, of the actually a person variety, will comment.

So please do. Comments are great...

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