I can start with 4 ingredients in the cupboard and have 2 trays of flapjacks ready and out of the oven in less than half an hour. This is a delicious flapjack recipe – my absolute favourite, with a chewy texture and a delicious caramel taste. It’s my go-to recipe for home-made treats in a hurry. I was originally given the recipe by another ordinand’s wife when the Vicar was training for ministry and I must have baked these flapjacks at least 100 times since then without a bad batch. I usually make a double batch as it only takes a couple of minutes more than a single batch and there never seems to be any trouble in disposing of them.
Ingredients
- 150g granulated sugar
- 150g soft margarine
- 4 tbspns golden syrup
- 250g porridge oats
Melt the sugar, margarine and golden syrup together in a large microwave bowl (or in a saucepan on the stove if you don’t have a microwave) – it takes about 2 minutes on full power in my cheapo 750W microwave. To get the golden syrup out of my measuring spoon easily I dip the spoon (a metal one) in a mug of just boiled water before adding each spoonful. Once the sugar, marg and syrup have melted together, mix in the oats. Then pop the mix in a 8″x12″ baking tin, lined with silicone baking paper (or a reusable liner like I use), and flatten it down so that it’s evenly distributed and pop it in the oven.
Your oven needs to be pre-heated to 180ºC (Gas 4, Fan 170ºC). In my fan oven, the flapjack takes 15 minutes to cook, but can take 20-30mins if your oven isn’t as speedy or isn’t quite up to temperature at the beginning. Once it’s golden on top, remove from the oven and leave in the tin for five minutes before cutting into slices sized to your flapjack appetite (generally 21-24 in my experience) and leaving to cool fully in the tin. If you cook it a little longer, it’ll be crunchy rather than chewy, so you can cook differently according to your flapjack preference.
The Vicar's Wife 
I love flapjack, but have never found a really successful one for the plain version. They are usually either really greasy or fall apart. With the successful track record I have had with your other recipes, I think I will give this a go sometime! I have never tried a microwave version.
hopeeternal
‘Meanderings through my Cookbook’
Hi hopeeternal. This flapjack is probably on the fall-apart end of the spectrum, but if you leave it in the oven a little longer it holds together better (but then you lose a bit of chewiness). I think the amount of golden syrup is the key and the texture can depend on how heaped your syrup tablespoons are. It’s always delicious though!
Thanks – I’ll bear that in mind. When I made Delia’s from her original Complete Cooking (twice because I forgot I had already made it the second time!) we ate crumbs!
h/e
I have a terrible record with Flapjack, but I made this last night and it’s going down very well here in the office! Thank you
Very glad to hear that Catherine – thanks for letting me know!
Flapjack success – thank you. I was brought up with a tin of flapjack always in the cupboard – brings back happy memories. The other recipe I would like to find, is for what we called munchie – sort of oaty and coconut flapjack.
Glad to hear that it worked Harriet. Have you tried the date and coconut chews? https://thevicarswife.wordpress.com/2011/02/22/vicarage-recipes-date-and-coconut-chews/
Not quite munchie, but very delicious! Oaty coconut flapjack sounds great too. Maybe I shall try experimenting…
I thought this was really good and it worked out for me so thanks!