Much as I like to cook I don’t really watch many food programmes. I do like Nigel Slater’s Simple Cooking though and I think it’s because he’s so down to earth and says recipes are just a starting point and changing it to suit your own taste or what’s in your cupboard is just fine. Just as well really as that’s exactly what happened last week when I made Nigel’s Festive Chocolate Flapjacks and had to replace his cranberries, sour cherries, figs, walnuts and ground almonds with what was in the cupboard – dried apricots, dates,goji berries, almonds and dessicated cocounut. See the link above for Nigel’s original recipe – quantities below are my adapted recipe doubled up to make 16 chunky squares.
What you’ll need
- 100g each brazil nuts and almonds
- 60g each of dates, dried apricots and goji berries, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds
- 2 tbsp dessicated cocounut
- 100g butter
- 200g caster sugar (I didn’t have any so used granulated)
- 4 tbsp golden syrup
- 200g porridge oats
- 150g rolled oats
- 200g dark chocolate (I only had a 100g bar, hence dipped ends rather than halves! – delicious using Divine’s Dark Chocolate with ginger and orange)
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making Chocolate dipped fruit and nut flapjacks
- Turn the oven on to 180C/350F/Gas 4.
- Roughly chop the nuts and dried fruit then add to a food processor along with the other ingredients and half the pumpkin seeds. Add a spoonful of dessicated coconut and blitz together – but not for long – leaving nice sizable chunks of the nuts and fruit. Tip into a large mixing bowl along with the rest of the whole pumpkin seeds.
- In a pan melt the butter with the sugar and golden syrup, trying not to stir it too much and allowing it to melt together gradually.
- Once melted mix in the oats and the fruit and nuts and spread the mixture out evenly in an oven tray lined with greaseproof paper then bake for 25 minutes (having doubled up the recipe my chunkier flapjacks took about 10 minutes longer)
- When the flapjacks are baked, cut them into rectangles. When cooled and hardened dip them as far as you dare into melted chocolate.
- Allow to chill for 20 minutes in the fridge and then serve.
It wasn’t just Nigel’s drool inducing Simple Christmas programme that prompted the flapjack making. My friend Jenny gave me a really thoughtful ‘mum-to-be’ bag of goodies which recommended a flask of hot chocolate and flapjack as fine night feed companions. It’s my due date today but there’s no sign of baby coming so I think I have time to make some more of these flapjacks since all 16 have gone already ….
Well done to Jenny, what excellent crimble gifts.
I see no photos of the chicken soup yet {grin}
nice gift and nice idea to be eating flapjacks for both baby and mum! you must be ready to burst by now
The bubble did not burst on due date of January 6th………
Nic and George looking good on the 5th, and we are now waiting on the call…………………………………………
Bilbo – G ate the soup so quickly there was no time for snapping it!
Johanna – yep fit to pop definitely!
Dad – you may have a little wait – we’re thinking early next week maybe ….
They look fab-u-lous! I could just eat a couple of these with a big, hot mug of tea, yum! Good luck with the bump, whenever it happens and don;t forget raspberry tea, if you need it. Worked for both my daughter’s two xx
Mmmmm, those look good and so decadent dipped in chocolate.
Gorgeous looking flapjacks Nic, the chocolate makes them look so decedent and yet they contain so many goodies. I liked the gift in a jar idea too. Roll on that hot chocolate and more flapjacks!
Lynne – they’re lovely with a hot drink. Have my second batch in the oven now ….
Jac – we had posh chocolate last time. Today’s batch is with value dark choc but I’m sure they’ll still be lovely
Choclette – here here. If we ration them to one a day hopefully baby will appear before the bottom of the biscuit barrel does!
What a thoughtful present. How lovely that someone has taken the time to think of these things, and write you a little note for each one.
I am taking notes myself, on the way to do great gifting.
[…] Chocolate dipped flapjacks […]
Tried Nigels recipe but the amount of butter (50g) and syrup (2tbsp) was simply not enough to bind the other ingredients so I ended up with a toasted muesli. I checked his other recipes for flapjacks and he has used 150g butter and 175ml syrup so am thinking the BBC ingredients list is wrong, wrong wrong. Not impressed
Hi Michaela, thanks for sharing your experience of making Nigel’s flapjacks. It’s gutting when a recipe doesn’t turn out as you’d hoped. I’m not familiar with any of his other flapjack recipes – what quantity of sugar is recommended in other recipes you’ve tried? I found the 100g sugar used to make the buttery syrup mixture was more than enough to bind everything together.
update 4-12-14 – it had been a while since I made these and when I did a few months ago, double batching them, for a charity bake sale I had a bit of a panic thinking they’d failed (just as Michaela described as the seemed very crumbly as I cut through them). But i then remembered that they harden as they cool and to just walk away and put your feet up after a baking session! They were a roaring success at the sale dipped in melted Terrys Chocolate Orange so you know what to do with your leftover chocolates after Christmas …
I’ve made these so many times since first posting nearly 5 years ago. I still half dip them, usually with whatever chocolate is on offer. My favourite is still melting Terry’s Chocolate orange and who doesn’t have one of those knocking around after Christmas!
Hi Nic, adaptable recipes like this are fab for tailoring what we have in the cupboard and our likes, I do love coconut in a flapjack too.
xx
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thanks for commenting Debbie. The coconut makes all the difference. I need to restock my cupboard now we’ve found a favourite sugar free version!