All my life I have been hopelessly addicted to my Mad Aunt Janet's flapjacks.
She makes the best flapjacks in the world.
Bar none.
She is also quite, quite mad … as sane as a chocolate sunhat.
Her flapjacks, however, are syrupy perfection; slightly crispy at the edges and soft and moist and slightly gooey where it matters.
And it DOES matter!
So here - after much cajolery to obtain it - is my Holy Grail: Mad Aunt Janet's very own recipe (she even laminated the card she printed it on, bless her mad and twitching little cotton socks) for you to try at home.
I must confess, my first flapjacks didn't come out quite as perfectly as hers invariably do, but they were pretty bloody good notwithstanding.
And with practice they are getting better …
Now get your pinnies on and join me in the kitchen where we'll cook up an oaty orgasm.
Here are your ingredients.Here also - if you click on the photo to enlarge it - is Mad Aunt Janet's precious recipe.
Today we will need:
- A quarter of a pound of good, organic, unsalted Irish butter;
- Three ounces of Lyle's Golden Syrup (and ONLY Lyle's! It is the elixir of the Gods - accept NO substitute).
- Three ounces of soft, brown sugar (organic and fairtrade, natch);
- Half a pound of organic rolled oats.
Some people use honey in flapjacks but those aren't flapjacks, those are oaty, honey-ish thingummyjigs.
Besides; once you've tried Lyle's you'll never go back.
Believe me.
Katie was concerned that the stuff would be unavailable in the US, but yay for Cynthia who tracked some down for her (in a squeezy tube, no less).
So no excuses, Yanquis! Lyle's it must be!
Anyhoo … Let's get cooking.
Put your butter and your golden syrup and your soft brown sugar in a saucepan and stand it over the lowest heat your hob will allow.Boy howdy, this looks healthy!
Don't stir it yet; just let it sit there and slooooowly melt together while you measure out the oats.
Yay, oats!
You'll also want an eight by eight inch baking tin; nothing too thick or it will take too long to cool down and you'll end up with hard flapjacks.Smear lots more butter all around the tin, then enjoy sucking your fingers clean.
Mmmmm … buttery goodness.
Right! Back to the pan!You can start stirring it gently now until the sugar and syrup and butter become one in a slinky, sexual way that's pretty irresistible to watch …
… or maybe that's just me …
Then you can start ladling in the oats and stirring them around.Pretty, huh?
Can you just feel the pain you're going to have to suffer in the gym for eating this lot?
When all the oats are in there, continue stirring (still over the lowest, gentlest heat possible) until every last oat is smothered in sticky-sweet goodness.
Plop that lot out into your buttered baking tin and then get in there with your fingers and smooth it all down.Don't press it down too firmly though; we want gooey flapjacks, not hard biscuits.
Watch out, because it's pretty darned hot, but fingers are so much better than a spoon or a knife for this; plus you can lick 'em clean after. Woohoo!
Slap that tin right into the middle of your oven, which of course you will have pre-heated to 350º or gas mark 4 (or - as we discovered when Katie bought me an oven thermometer - gas mark three and a third for my own knackered old oven).
You want to leave it in there for thirty minutes.
When it comes out it should look like this.Mmmmmmmmm … Toasty!
Leave the tin on a cooling rack for five minutes or so and then score some lines in the still-soft mixture so that the flapjacks will peel apart when they come out.Then GO AWAY!
Do NOT try to get these suckers out while they're still warm because they need to set firm.
You might THINK they're ready, because they set from the top down, but believe me; these things are tricksy little buggers
Try to get one out early and you just end up with a mess of sticky goo all over you.
Thus speaks the greedy voice of experience.
Hearken!
Don't come back until MUCH later, when they're properly cooled.
Then and only then can you take 'em out.
They should be just a little crispy around the edges and gooey but firm everywhere else.If they're hard then what you've made is not flapjacks but "Crispy Oat Biscuits".
If they're all runny, then you need a slap upside the head.
Use the next few minutes wisely.
Brew up a perfect pot of tea and then arrange a couple of the flapjacks on a plate.
Perhaps some flowers from the garden in a vase on the table …
When your tea is cool enough to drink, take a sip and let the flavour infuse in your mouth.Then bite into a flapjack …
If your mouth doesn't orgasm then you have probably been dead for some time.
Be sure to lock away the rest of the flapjacks, because you will need the iron willpower of the truly deranged if you're not going to just leap on them and eat the lot all in one sitting.
My effusive gratitude flows, syrup-like in the direction of Mad Aunt Janet.
Enjoy!
42 comments:
Lovely .....hope Jan appreciates how much you love her, by saying how mad she is so many times!!! they do look yummy.....
They ARE yummy!
And remember, this is the same Aunt Janet who signed the letter accompanying her flapjack recipe: "Mad Aunt J".
Hee hee.
MMMMMMMMMMMMMM Oh my. Oh Dive. What HAVE you done? Just when I was being so good. I simply have to make these and I wanted a flapjack recipe too! Marvellous. Now - you went into great detail about the syrup, which I totally agree with. It's gorgeous stuff. However, the oats - ummmm Scott's Porage or what? Please answer directly as I'm trying to hold onto the door posts to stop myself running in haste to the nearest shop. I must have these and soon.
How cool. We'll make these! when you said "flap jacks," I thought you were about to make pancakes. I think the words are interchangeable here.
And I think I can get golden syrup in my stupid little store, although it might not be the right brand for your tastes.
Here in Yankee land flapjacks are pancakes. I make something very similar to MAJ's flapjacks but the name is ever so common... baked oatmeal! I usually don't let them cool as much as you and them warm some milk with a touch of honey and cinnamon and then but a bit in a bowl and pour the warm milk over it. Just a twist from this side of the pond!
wow, evidently the fingers have not gotten their daily charge of coffee this morning there appears to be a few errors in my respones!
Lynn: I used Sainsbury's boring old organic rolled oats, but Scott's Porage Oats will do just as well, with the added bonus that they've got that picture of a hunky scotsman in a skirt on the front of the box.
Robyn: Flapjacks are flapkacks, pancakes are pancakes (and not the strange doughy disc-like things you make in the US, either) and ne'er the twain shall meet!
Prudence: baked oatmeal is something different here; more thin and crispy and healthy; flapjacks are thick and stodgy and insanely fattening.
I do like the sound of your"twist", however!
I may do a pancake post next Shrove Tuesday and risk the bafflement of my friends across the pond as what is a pancake over here and what is a pancake over there are two completely different things.
Hee hee.
Oh, that looks so yummy. Maybe the pan I gave Katie is a little too thick; perhaps I'll get it back and exchange it for a cheaper one! I was so elated when I found the Golden Syrup (a hint from a British friend I play croquet with)! She also told me that English pancakes are like crepes, sort of. Ahhhhh, now I understand how one could race with one on Shrove Tuesday. Ain't knowledge grand?!
It sure is, Cynthia!
Yes, English pancakes are more crêpe-like (though not totally crêpey).
I serve mine with lemon juice only, but I imagine Lynn likes hers sweeter.
When Katie was here we did manage to find some "American Style Pancakes" in a supermarket. They looked more the kind of thing Homer Simpson eats, but I didn't buy any as they were pre-packaged and I'd rather try the real thing fresh when I get to San Francisco.
I am so glad you found the Lyle's in the US. The other brands - as I should tell Robyn - are but pale and watery imitations and will not give the same results at all.
Now your speaking my language! At least in pictures. I was totally confused by the fact that you were making granola bars and calling them flapjacks. But, HEY, just another for the dictionary between us. :) That golden syrup looks and sounds delicious and may be definitely be what takes the tastiness over the top. A tube you say? Okay.
Yay for recipes without baby squid and other grodatiaries (opposite of deliciary)!!! I like this recent turn to sweeter fare! :D
Hi, Shan!
Granola is a completely different animal to the flapjack.
If I'm making granola I'll skip the syrup and add several different types of gravel, grit and soil dust and probably some dried animal poo, too, to get that same texture as the ones in Starbucks.
Real granola (as opposed to the icky Starbies kind) is also a lot harder and chewier than flapjacks, which are moist and gooey. Mmmmm.
You have SO GOT to track down some Lyle's Golden Syrup!
Next week I'll be making squid pancakes with maple syrup … er … perhaps not.
Hurrah, hurrah, the recipe for flapjacks. I'm watching the Tour de France on tv while reading your post. I don't think that uses as many calories as I'd need to use if I were scarfing up bar after bar. Now I'm going to hunt for Lyle's Golden Syrup.
Hi, Lupine Lady!
I only have four old analogue channels on my pathetic excuse for a TV so regrettably I cannot watch the Tour this year.
Perhaps Cynthia can give you some leads on where to look for the syrup (though I know you are at opposite ends of the country).
Your trip to CA next year might involve visiting me at rehab as I try to break my Lyle's Golden Syrup addiction. I blame you for telling me about it, and my mom for buying it for me. At least that's who I'll blame in my group therapy sessions.
It is a completely different order of deliciousness, is it not?
Mmmmmmm …
That looks like a very tasty morning treat. And we know how much you enjoy morning treats.
Hee hee Mark.
Regrettably, my only morning treat is the alarms going off at 4:40AM to tell me to get my lazy ass out of bed and catch my stupid train.
Hey ho.
While I have come across the name before, I had no idea what flapjacks were. Now I do!
They're yummy, Vanda.
Make some and see for yourself.
lol you guessed right! Gosh I like jam, I like syrup on mine but I have to agree I also like lemon on pancakes - with a dusting of sugar. Mmmmmm I don't wait til Pancake Day to cook them, just when we feel like them! Oooh I also like a little syrup with cinnamon dusted on top now that's YUM. Oh dear.
Lynn someday you'll have to fly over to Maine in August and have fresh blueberry pancakes with Vermont maple syrup.
Oooh gosh yum yes I will if I can!
Sounds delish. I'm not sure if I'll find Lyle's here in York, PA. I'm sure I could have in SF. You can find everything but good East Coast pizza in SF.
Please do a pancake post, Dive. I'd like to see your take on them.
When are you going to San Francisco??? Hmm?
Well, boy howdy yourself. I sat there trying to figure out how that lumpy, syrupy concoction was going to come out as pancakes. And when you said to butter the pan, I really got confused. You were going to BAKE pancakes?
Well, now. I see you meant baked oatmeal. That is what we call it in my neck of the woods.
I have found a local source of Lyle's Golden Syrup!! There's an English tea room and shop a couple of towns up the road from us. Nothing stopping me now!
By the way, I like that plaid shirt. I have one almost like it.
Goodness me and here I was thinking flapjacks were something like pikelets. I certainly learned something today Dive dear although I'm trying to diet since I'm off to the snow at the end of the month. You heard it here first folks - me ski-ing! Yay!
You do look so sweet in the bottom photo and I happen to know you might have been smiling at your darling :))
Lynn: I had a feeling you'd be a syrup girl. Hee hee.
Syrup and cinnamon does sound yummy but I'll stick to just lemon or the sugar rush might have me bouncing off the walls.
Katie: I have never tried American pancakes or indeed maple syrup. If I can find where I left my sweet tooth I might try them when I come over.
Neetzy: I'm sure there must be a weird little store somewhere that stocks the stuff. I can't wait to try San Francisco's food myself.
Petrea: I shall do one next Shrove Tuesday; it's the only day of the year I make pancakes (and I forgot this year, ho hum).
Maria: Baked oatmeal here is a kind of health food shop biscuit that looks like, tastes like and is slightly less nutritious than cardboard.
Pancakes are pancakes. The things you guys make are like doughy pikelets, though I've yet to try one; they may be delicious.
Lupine Lady: Yay for finding syrup on the east coast. You'll have to let the others know where you found it.
I like that plaid shirt, too. Katie chose it.
Mme: Ah, the myriad confusions of the English-speaking diaspora!
Flapjacks are these things;
Pancakes are kind of like crêpes only not quite;
US "pancakes" are like pikelets only doughy and artificial-looking (at least the ones I found in the supermarket are, and I'm not going to try them).
Yikes! You're off skiing? Be VERY careful of your back!
And yes, Katie did take that photo. Hence the very rare view of a happy Dive.
Hello flapjacks! I like oatmeal cookies so I suspect I would like these as well. Then again I've rarely met a sweet my hips didn't like. ;)
Word from one Mad Aunt to another!
I wonder what I'd have to do in order to qualify as a mad aunt.
How could they possibly sell ready-made "American-style pancakes"?! What WERE they? It's not something you can make ahead and keep.
And just remember: as wonderful as American diner breakfasts are, the pancakes taste pretty bland because they are made with white flour only.
You gotta use part whole wheat, or else they just taste boring. (Pancakes made by any of your readers excepted, of course.)
If the pancake itself tastes good, then the maple syrup is just the proverbial icing on the cake.
And this business of regional variations in the meaning of words like "pancake" and "flapjack" reminds me of food words in Spanish.
Lots of words for foods in Latin America come from the pre-Spanish, indigenous languages.
Which is to say, a carrot may have ten different names in different parts of Latin America, not to mention an eleventh name in Spain.
It makes it difficult to write a Spanish menu for a Spanish-speaking audience in, say, San Francisco. Since the readers might come from many different parts of the Spanish-speaking world.
(I used to work at a place that had this problem, believe it or not.)
Heck, even in the States, the word "flapjack" (meaning pancake, of course) isn't common to the whole country. And I'd never heard of baked oatmeal, unlike some of your American friends here.
But this stuff looks yummy, and I might have to try it.
In my quest for Golden Syrup, I found that our supermarkets have an Irish section (not British) where I found Mushy Peas (ugh-sounding), baked beans, and Digestives among other biscuits, but no Golden Syrup. I happened to run into a Brit friend who advised me to check a certain location in Newport (didn't pan out), and he also said that maple syrup would be a good substitute. Dive, would maple syrup do? Is Golden Syrup runny or thick? You don't actually show the syrup, only the can.
Maybe during a break in gardening, I'll take a ride up to Warren to the British Tea Room to get the "real thing."
Oh, on pancakes--there are lots of kinds--buckwheat, for instance. We particularly like "Multigrain Pancakes" that have a meusli base and a wonderful flavor. I'll send Katie the recipe. I would never buy pancakes off the shelf in a market. Sarah Williams is right--you don't make them ahead to keep for later (except for the multigrain ones that I make, but those are leftovers. Recipe from America's Test Kitchen.)
Cali: You're supposed to eat them, not rub them on your hips.
Sarah: Over here anything dubbed "American-Style" is inevitably something pre-packaged and inedible made from weird chemicals with a couple of pounds of fat, corn syrup and salt ladled on top.
I've come across the problem with Spanish before; apparently the English are not the only nation whose colonial rebels twist their language into unrecognisable forms. Hee hee.
Lupine Lady: I'm afraid maple syrup is not the same thing at all (or even remotely similar except in that they are both icky if you eat too much).
Mushy peas are wonderful!
I shall let Katie describe Lyle's to you; she is already addicted, poor girl.
I see I have a lot to learn about the regional US varieties of pancake. Let's hope I don't get too fat on my voyage of culinary discovery.
Oh, one more thing I found in the Irish section of the grocery (in remembering the July 8 post--): Spotted Dick.
Dive, you will love visiting San Francisco. The scenery, the climate, the food, the cable cars, the history, the people, and really just the pulse of "The City." It is so unique. You are in for a treat, and Im not talking about Rice-A-Roni either.
ps Katie will tell you about Rice-A-Roni. lol
That's interesting as when I first read the word "flapjack", I had something else entirely in mind. I'll have to see if I can get a hold of the syrup here.
Lupine Lady: You're going to love Monday's post!
Mark: Ew! Rice-A-Roni? I have no idea what that is but it sounds dangerous.
Pilgrimchick: Hey, you've lived over here; you must have experienced the joy of flapjacks and the heavenly bliss of Lyle's golden syrup?
If not, you're going to have to come back and try them.
Not tried Maple syrup? Oh, my.
Mme I'm so delighted that you are going skiing since it must mean you are tons better now! Yippee. You have to be pretty fit to ski and I can't wait for the pics!
So Dive...dun dun dur. I made them! I have flapjacks as per your recipe sitting on my kitchen table right now. Er.. some are missing since yesterday.. not sure where they can have got to. They turned out well, though my fierce and efficient oven would have preferred 20 mins not 30 I think. They are still soft and chewy in the centre though. Lovely, I'd been meaning to cook them for ages so thanks! Son and his girl enjoyed them too. :) I thought at first the mixture wouldn't be enough for a family's worth, but the jaws certainly get exercised in the process so there's just enough there for a full house to have a taste each! YUMMY.
You know how I love sweet stuff, but flapjacks isn't one of them. Don't ask me why, but I just haven't acquired a taste for them. Go figure.
There is always Maple syrup in my fridge did you not know that????
Dive, good news. A friend found Golden Syrup and bought a jar for me. What a pal. So I'm now headed for the kitchen. And in my hunt for it yesterday, I tracked down the elusive British tearoom and found an eviction notice posted on the door. No wonder they didn't answer the phone.
Reporting in--they're delicious! I think I baked them in a pan that was too big, tho, because the centers are not soft, but crispy all the way through. They do hold together. Maybe with the approaching rain they'll soften a bit. thanks for the recipe.
Lupine Lady: Woohoo! I'm so glad you managed to find some.
Sounds like the pan is too big (or the heat up just too high) if yours are crispy. They should only be crispy at the very edges.
Be careful with the Lyles; Katie is already an addict and was eating it on toast yesterday while we chatted (hee hee).
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