When I googled flapjacks, an American site popped up and surprised me greatly. What they call flapjacks is actually what we would call a drop scone or pancake.
If we break it down some more, when ‘flapjack’ popped up in the 1600s, ‘flap’ referred to a flat cake, while ‘jack’ was a reference to the common man. But this isn’t about pancakes. It's about the British classic made with oats and golden syrup - a simple treat, for the ordinary fellow. Much like a Tiffin, it was to make the most of what you had in the larder.
‘Come, thou shalt go home, and we’ll have flesh for holidays, fish for fasting-days, and moreo’er puddings and flap-jacks; and thou shalt be welcome.’
From Pericles, Prince of Tyre, by William Shakespeare and George Wilkins.
Much like any recipe, you can make a flapjack what you want. It is a blank canvas. Have it plain with just oats and syrup, or you can add what your heart desires. In this recipe, I had some soft apricots in my cupboard so let's get to it! Here is how it’s done:
Ingredients:
225g butter
220g demerara sugar
75g golden syrup
350g porridge oats
100g apricots
Instructions:
- Whip out your tray baking tin and grease it up with greaseproof paper. Pop to one side while you pre-heat your oven to 180°c
- In a pan slowly melt your butter and sugar and golden syrup. Be careful not to boil. It is quicker if you cut up the block of butter first before adding it to the pan.
- In a large bowl, measure out your oats and then prepare the finely chopped apricots. As with all recipes, they are yours to make them how you want to! Today I’m using apricots but the next time I may try out cooking the rhubarb from my garden and adding that to the mixture instead. It’s up to you.
- Add the oats to the melted mixture and stir together until all the oats are coated.
- Transfer the mixture to your prepared tin and smooth the mixture into the corners. Really squish it down. A tablespoon is very handy to squidge it all down so it cooks well and sticks together.
- Bake in your preheated oven for about 35 minutes, until lightly golden. If you want it crunchy, leave it in for a while longer. Just keep an eye on it.
- Leave to cool for a bit and then cut it up. Leave it in the tin to completely cool off.
All that is left to do, is get your swim kit together - don’t forget your après-swim socks, and then after your swim enjoy your surroundings, and share your homemade flapjacks with your swim pals while you put the world to rights.
Need location inspiration? Check out our recently visited outdoor swimming locations!
