* Apple and Cranberry Flapjacks

I acquired a bag of apples about a week ago and I've been "umming and aahing" over what to do with them ever since ( a whole 7 days!). Not once did it occur to me to just eat them. I'm not a huge fan of fruit unless it's in something.

I love apple crumble and apple pie and apple pudding etc, but I'm trying to lose a bit of weight and if I'd cooked any of those recipes I would have had to sit and eat the whole lot, because Neil doesn't like them. He's not a fan of flapjacks either - but flapjacks are easily transportable, so I can keep half and share the rest, without fear of too much *lifetime on the hips*. Though there will be some. I'm sure.

This Apple and Cranberry Flapjack recipe - as most of them are just recently - was an experiment that worked incredibly well. I'd have been quite content to just sit and eat the whole concoction raw after I'd had a taste test. The fact that the recipe made it is far as the oven was a minor miracle. Though I did make sure to leave at least a spoonful in the bottom of the saucepan to indulge myself with. Okay it was two spoonfuls. Possibly three.

If there is one thing I would repeat from this recipe (and I'd repeat the whole recipe happily), it would be the addition of the demerera sugar on the top. The flapjack itself was moist, chewy and dense and the sugar gave it a touch of welcome crunch... and it looked pretty damn fine when it came out of the oven...

I was all... like...  "Look Neil, aren't they fab!?!"

And he was all... like... "I don't like flapjacks".

And then I was like... "But if you did like flapjacks you'd eat these flapjacks, wouldn't you?!?"

And he was like... "What's in them?"

"Apple"

"I don't like Apple."

Silence.

And then he was like.... "Um... but if I ate flapjacks and I ate apple... I would really love those flapjacks, honest."

"Now you're just trying too hard."

"I love you."

"Enough to eat a flapjack?"

"Ummmmm..." 

I have no idea which one of us was winding the other one up.

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Apple and Cranberry Flapjacks Recipe

Makes 12

Prep time - 10 minutes
Cooking time - 30 - 35 minutes
Total time - 40 - 45 minutes

You will need
A saucepan
A 20cm square baking tin
Baking parchment

Ingredients
4oz/125g butter
3oz/85g light soft brown sugar
3 tbsps golden syrup
1 tsp ground cinnamon
12oz/350g porridge oats
6 small eating apples - cored and grated (I didn't peel mine but you can if you prefer)
2oz/50g dried cranberries
1 tbsp demerera sugar

Method

• Preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. 
• Grease and line the baking tin with baking parchment.
• Put the butter, sugar and golden syrup into the saucepan, heat gently until melted. 
• Gently stir in the cinnamon, oats, apple and cranberries then spoon the wet flapjack mixture into the baking tin.
• Press firmly and evenly into the tin with the back of a spoon until the top is level.
• Sprinkle the demerera sugar across the top of the flapjack.
• Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until golden. (These took 20 minutes in my fan oven)
• Remove from the oven and cool for 5 minutes then cut into 12 pieces whilst still warm. 
• Cool completely before turning out and cutting again with a sharp knife.

NOTE: The cinnamon flavour in these was very mild - if you love cinnamon you'll probably want to add another teaspoon.

EAT