Chewy Flapjacks

I like flapjacks - they feel all wholesome and good for you. Which I guess they are, if you ignore the copious amounts of butter that go into making them. Not a biscuit, not a cake; they fall into that undefinable weird snack group. My grandmother makes lovely crunchy flapjacks which is what first inspired me to look into a recipe but I must admit that I'm more of a soft and chewy person myself. Hence, when I tried some of a friend's yummy batch, I was quick to nick the recipe and modify it to make my perfect flapjack experience. Just so you know, porridge oats are really cheap - you can buy 1kg of Tesco Value Oats for a mere 58p which will make four batches of flaps.

Soft & Moreish, Ultra Tasty Flapjacks
(with thanks to Dan for the initial inspiration!)

Makes:

Soft and chewy flapjacks with a sweet and buttery taste. A great way to use up over ripe bananas.

Ingredients:

80g demarera sugar

110g (unsalted) butter

250g oats

1 banana (ideally really ripe)

2 tbsp golden syrup or runny honey

Method:

- Preheat oven to 220c

- Melt butter on a low heat

- Remove from heat and stir in sugar and syrup/honey for a few minutes (it won't all combine into a smooth mixture so don't worry too much!)

- Add oats to wet mixture and mix well until all the oats have a thin coating of buttery sugar-ness

- Mash up the banana with a fork until it's smooth and gooey

- Fold banana into oats

- Spread evenly into a non-stick tray so that it's about 2.5cm thick

- Bake for 15 - 20 minutes until golden brown on top

- Leave to cool for 5 minutes and then score into pieces with a knife

Variations:

Add dried banana chips, chocolate chunks or soaked raisins to the mixture before you bake for more flavour.