Flapjacks

You might have noticed that a lot of the recipes I do here are quite 'basic'. To be frank, I only started cooking and baking in earnest in the last few years although I've been a lifelong enthusiastic eater and food lover. It's only when I lived on my own in Hong Kong and got married a year later that I was forced to cook everyday. However, the lack of kitchen implements, more importantly a decent oven, hindered my development as a cook. So now that I am sort of delving deeper into cooking and food appreciation that I began to educate myself of the basics in cooking. That is the reason why I have a lot of traditional or unsophisticated dishes here besides the fact that I love uncomplicated food. One advantage of this is you get to have new insights on the different variations you can do or perform the same techniques to a different dish.

When I was doing these classic flapjacks, I suddenly remember a coconut sweet snack that my mother made when we were young. And I realised that I could do it in a flapjack way, i.e. press in a baking pan and bake a little to make it come together and then cut into bars. Great! Now I have to call long distance to confirm the recipe with my Nanay.

As for this lovely snack, it is so moreish that I couldn't keep myself from eating them. It must be the nice combination of golden syrup and muscovado sugar plus the wholesome goodness of the oats. I suggest that the oats you use should have as much whole ones as much as possible, having porridge grade oats will make it quite crumbly. The BBC Good Food magazine's 101 Cakes and Bakes provided the recipe that I adapted.


Flapjacks

250 g  [heaping 2 2/3 cups] porridge oats or rolled oats
140 g  [scant 1/2 cup] golden syrup or light corn syrup
50 g  [scant 1/3 cup] light muscovado sugar
175 g  [scant 3/4 cup] butter - cut into pieces

1. Preheat oven to 180°C/fan 160°C/350°F/gas mark 4. Line a 9-inch baking pan with grease-proof paper (if it's not non-stick).
2. Put butter, syrup, and sugar in a saucepan and heat gently until sugar is dissolved.
3. Remove from heat and add in the oats. Mix well.
4. Press into the prepared baking pan and bake for 20-25 minutes or until top is golden brown.
5. Cool in baking pan for 5 minutes and cut into squares or bars.
6. Cool completely in the pan then remove carefully. This is to prevent it from falling apart.