These flapjacks are perfect if you want to pretend that your New Year’s resolution to eat more healthily is still going strong, when actually these beauties include a tonne of sugar and syrup. But there’s oats and fruit, so that makes it all okay. Right?
These are the type of flapjacks that are soft and chewy, and almost fall apart in your hands (AKA the best type). I love that they are still a little bit Christmas with the orange and cranberry, which is brilliant if you the sort of person who is still clinging on to the festive season long into January. Do I really have to stop wearing Christmas jumpers to work now?
Instead of syrup I used orange blossom honey to make these, which (unsurprisingly) is a special type of honey made from the blossom of orange trees. Along with the orange zest, this gives the oats themselves a beautiful orangey taste, which goes amazingly well with the apricot chunks and juicy cranberries that I’ve thrown on in there. These might just be the best flapjacks I’ve ever tasted.
They smell really great too whilst they are baking. I love making something that makes the whole flat smell delicious.
I used the type of dried apricots that are still pretty juicy (see the photo above). If you end up using apricots that are completely dry (i.e. you can’t squish them) then it might be a good idea to soak them in water for a few hours before you begin. The cranberries in these were pretty dry before I began, but they did manage to soak up a lot of juiciness during the baking process.
As I mentioned above, the flapjacks are quite soft and chewy, which is the dream. But, this does mean they can be a little tricky to get out of the tin. I used a tin with a removable base, which helps. The best advice I can give you is to pop them in the fridge overnight, or at least a couple of hours, and then cut them into squares when they are still cold.
Don’t be tempted to try and get them out too soon, or you will end up with a delicious crumbled mess.
- 150g [¾ cup] unsalted butter
- 110g [½ cup] light brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons orange blossom honey (or regular honey)
- 175g [2 cups] rolled jumbo oats
- 150g [¾ cup] dried apricots, chopped into small pieces
- 70g [½ cup] dried cranberries
- Zest of one large orange
- Preheat the oven to 160°C/320°F (140°C fan) and grease and line a 20 cm (8 inch) square brownie tin.
- In a medium saucepan, melt the butter, sugar and honey over a gentle heat. Once the butter has completely melted, remove the pan from the heat.
- Add the oats, apricots, cranberries, and orange zest to the saucepan, and mix well until all the oats are coated in the honey mixture.
- Spoon the mixture into the pre-prepared tin, and press down to ensure that there are no gaps. Bake for 45-50 minutes, until the edges are fairly brown. The flapjack will still be very soft, but will harden whilst cooling.
- Leave the flapjack to cool in the tin on a wire rack, and then leave in the fridge overnight to fully harden. The next day, cut the square into 16 pieces.
- The flapjack will stay fresh for over a week if kept in an airtight container. The flapjacks can be frozen for up to 3 months.
- This recipe will make 16 square flapjacks, or 8 bars (as photographed).
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