Pre-heat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4 & melt the butter in a large saucepan over a low heat
125 g unsalted butter
Stir in the sugar and syrup and turn off the heat
100 g dark brown sugar, 80 g maple syrup
Stir in the oats, peacan nuts, grated apple and cinnamon and pumpkin seeds
225 g oats, 75 g pecan nuts, 1 eating apples, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Line a baking tray roughly 28cm x 18cm with baking paper or a reusable oven liner and tip the mixture in. Spread it evenly and press the mixture into the tin using the back of a spoon, ensuring you spread right up to the corners. Cook in the oven on the middle shelf for 15 minutes.
Remove from the oven and leave to cool. Once cool store in the fridge then when it is hard, it can be cut up into squares.
Notes
Ingredient Notes
Maple syrup is a 100% natural syrup and comes from the sap of the maple tree. Maple syrups are almost all made in Canada or the US. There are different types available and the most noticeable difference is between maple 'flavoured' syrups and pure maple syrup. Pure maple syrup will have a maple leaf logo. It's generally more expensive than a flavoured syrup but use the pure syrup if you can. A maple-flavoured syrup, is just a sugar syrup with added flavourings.
Oats. Because maple syrup is not as sticky as golden syrup, I recommend using fine-rolled oats rather than jumbo oats as fine rolled hold together better.
UnsaltedButter - use an unsalted butter or spread.
Dark Brown Sugar acts like treacle when it is melted and helps to bind the ingredients together. Also sometimes known as Muscovado sugar.
Apples Use normal eating apples as the flapjack won't cook for very long and these are sweeter than cooking apples. Peel and grate the apple. I've found that grating the apple helps to distribute the flavour and also holds it together better.
Pecan Nuts have a sweet flavour and crunchy texture and go very well with apple and maple syrup. Break them up into small pieces before adding to the oats. These are optional but help with a real autumnal flavour.
Ground Cinnamon is optional but again adds a lovely autumnal flavour to the maple syrup.
Recipe Variation
In addition to the basic recipe, you can add in some of the following. Mixed dried fruit, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, white or dark chocolate drops, raisins, dried apricots. Use one or two at a time as otherwise you may not have enough butter syrup and sugar mixture to bind everything together properly.
Tips
The most common mistake people make with flapjacks is over boiling the butter sugar and syrup mixture. This will make the flapjacks hard rather than a nice chewy texture.Only cut the flapjacks when they are cold and have been stored in the fridge for at least one hour.
Storage
Store your flapjacks in the fridge to make sure they keep their shape. They will keep for about 10 days. You can also freeze flapjacks. Separate each slice with some greaseproof paper and freeze in an airtight container. They will freeze well for 3 months.