Be on Your Guard for Dangerous Shaped Flapjacks!

Who knew the homely flapjack could become a controversial missile?

You may remember back in March 2013 when a boy was hit in the face by a flying triangular flapjack at a school in Canvey Island in Essex. The school immediately held a review of "the texture and shape of flapjacks" as a result of the isolated incident and decided to ban triangular flapjacks from then on. Staff were told to serve only square or rectangular ones.

The decision was labelled "half-baked" by the Health and Safety Executive.

A spokesman said: "We often come across half-baked decisions taken in the name of health and safety, but this one takes the biscuit. The real issue isn't what shape the flapjacks are, but the fact that pupils are throwing them at each other - and that's a matter of discipline, and has got nothing to do with health and safety as we know it. We're happy to make it clear that flapjacks of all shapes and sizes continue to have our full backing."

High in energy, flapjacks contain plenty of good wholesome ingredients and are always welcome in a lunch box or on the tea table. Here’s a useful very simple basic recipe made with only three ingredients: butter, syrup and oats.

All flapjacks cut into 8 generous slices or triangles (just don’t go throwing them at small boys!) or 16 small squares

Tips

It’s worth spending time smoothing the mixture in the tin with the back of a wet tablespoon to ensure the finished flapjacks are firm and don’t crumble to pieces.

An 8 inch (20cm) square glass or ceramic baking dish makes a fantastically efficient baking tin. The same size as a regular brownie tin, it doesn’t need lining: grease it lightly and the whole baked flapjack will just slide out. It’s easier to clean too.

Main Recipe: Plain Flapjacks

175g (6oz) salted butter, diced

6 tablespoons golden syrup

400g (14oz) porridge oats

Preheat oven to 160C (fan ovens) gas mark 3 or equivalent

You will need a greased 8 inch (20cm) square baking dish (or greased and lined brownie tin)

Melt the butter and golden syrup over a moderate heat (as with any recipe involving golden syrup and heat, don’t cook on too high a heat or high or too long or the mixture will seize and toffi-fy).

Stir in the oats in batches, mixing thoroughly to ensure they are fully coated with the buttery syrup mixture. Press into the prepared tin or dish, smoothing down well with the back of a wet tablespoon (see Tip above).

Bake for 15-20 minutes until pale golden: don’t over-bake and make them too hard

Remove from the oven and leave to settle and firm up a bit for around 10 minutes.

If using a glass or ceramic dish, refrigerate until cold, then turn out the whole thing and mark into pieces. If using a tin, mark into pieces in the tin whilst warm.

Store in an airtight tin when completely cold.

Chocolate Coated Flapjacks

Coat plain or fruited flapjacks with 200g of melted 70% dark chocolate: gently stir 25g (1oz) soft butter into the chocolate when almost melted.

Muesli Breakfast Flapjacks

Prepare as for the main recipe but swap half the oats for unsweetened muesli.

You could also swap 2 tablespoons of the golden syrup for clear honey: melt the butter and syrup together, remove the pan from heat, stir in the honey then the oats and the muesli.

Tip

It’s best not to replace all: honey doesn’t bind as efficiently as golden syrup.

Apricot Flapjacks

Prepare as for the main recipe and add 110g (4oz) ready to eat apricots, cut into 6-8 pieces.

Fruit, Nut and Seed Flapjacks

You can add a few raisins or dried cranberries to the basic mix without affecting the quantity of oats but if including chopped nuts or seeds, add a measured 50g (2oz) and reduce the oats by the same amount. Add the extras first and then the oats – you will be able to tell if the mixture ‘feels right’ and contains enough oats – it should be fairly stiff but not so stiff that the finished flapjack crumbles into dry pieces.

Fig and Walnut Flapjacks

The quantity of oats is reduced in this variation to accommodate a generous amount of figs and walnuts.

175g (6oz) butter, diced

6 tablespoons golden syrup

175g (6oz) dried figs, stalks removed, each cut into 6-8 pieces

50g (2oz) walnuts, broken into pieces

285g (10oz) porridge oats

Method as before.