Ingredient
Flapjacks
A flapjack is oats bound by a hot sugar syrup, and whether it comes out chewy, crisp or in a heap of loose oats is decided almost entirely by the ratio of syrup to butter and by how long it bakes.
What holds it together
Butter, sugar and golden syrup are melted together and poured over oats. In the oven the sugar syrup concentrates as water evaporates, and on cooling it sets into a glue holding the oats in place. That set is the structure — there is no flour, no egg and no gluten doing anything.
Golden syrup is largely invert sugar, which resists crystallising. That is why it gives a chewy, slightly sticky set where granulated sugar alone would give something hard and brittle. Honey behaves similarly; treacle darkens it considerably.
More syrup means chewier and more likely to hold together. More butter means richer and more crumbly. Longer baking means crisper throughout.
Getting the texture you want
- Chewy
- More golden syrup relative to sugar, and a shorter bake. Take it out while the centre still looks soft.
- Crisp
- More granulated or demerara sugar, less syrup, and a longer bake at a slightly lower temperature.
- Falls apart
- Not enough syrup, or cut while warm, or baked too briefly for the syrup to concentrate.
- Rock hard
- Overbaked, or too much sugar and not enough syrup. The sugar has crystallised.
- Greasy
- Too much butter for the amount of oats.
The method
- Melt the butter, sugar and syrup together over a low heat until the sugar has dissolved. Do not let it boil hard — you are not making caramel.
- Weigh the syrup rather than spooning it. A generous spoonful is easily twice a level one and it changes the result.
- Stir in the oats until every one is coated. Rolled oats give the best texture; jumbo oats are chewier, instant oats turn to paste.
- Press firmly into a lined tin. Firmly is the operative word — loosely packed flapjack crumbles.
- Bake at around 180°C until golden at the edges and still soft in the middle. Twenty to twenty-five minutes for a normal tin.
- Mark into squares while hot but leave them in the tin until completely cold. Cutting warm flapjack is the commonest reason it disintegrates.
Additions that work
- Dried fruit — sultanas, chopped apricot, dates, cranberries. Add with the oats.
- Seeds and nuts, toasted first for much better flavour.
- A layer of jam or stewed apple through the middle, with half the mixture below and half pressed on top.
- Dark chocolate drizzled over once cool, or chunks stirred in once the syrup has cooled slightly.
- A good pinch of salt in the syrup. Flapjack without it tastes cloying.
Keeping them, and why they go hard
Flapjacks stale differently from cake: they harden rather than drying, because the syrup crystallises as it cools and keeps on doing so.
- Keep them airtight at room temperature. They will hold for a week and are best in the first three days.
- Do not refrigerate. Cold accelerates the hardening considerably.
- Cut them while warm, and lift them out once cold. Cutting cold flapjack shatters it.
- Golden syrup keeps them softer than honey, which sets harder, and both keep them softer than sugar alone.
- More syrup and less sugar gives a chewier flapjack that stays chewy for longer.
- They freeze well, cut into portions and wrapped. Thaw at room temperature.
- A hardened flapjack is redeemed by ten seconds in a microwave or a few minutes in a low oven.
Common questions
Why did mine fall apart?
Cut too warm, or too little syrup, or not pressed down hard enough. In that order of likelihood.
Can I use honey instead of golden syrup?
Yes, and it works well, though it browns faster so drop the oven 10°C.
Are they healthy?
Oats are, but a flapjack is roughly a third sugar and a quarter butter. It is a biscuit.
How long do they keep?
A week in an airtight tin, and they soften over time. They freeze well.