Easy Vegan Flapjack Recipe With Secret Crunch | Thinly Spread (2024)

FAQs

Why do my flapjacks always fall apart? ›

Why do my homemade flapjacks fall apart? This can happen if you overcook or undercook your flapjacks. When you overcook a flapjack, the golden syrup dries out and it becomes crumbly. An undercooked flapjack will have a raw doughy texture that doesn't hold its shape.

If you can break your teeth on it you are probably overheating the sugar/treacle/honey or syrup before you mix in the rest and therefore making a nice batch of caramel or hard toffee with oats in.

5 Bake for 25 minutes until golden. After five minutes cooling, press the flapjacks with something heavy and flat (this compresses them and stops them falling apart). Cool on a wire rack. Cut into squares.

Are flapjacks healthy? It really depends on the recipe. Some flapjacks are made from highly processed oats stuck together with butter and sugar, which makes them low in fibre and high in fat and sugar.

For me, too much golden syrup makes them hard to bite through and dunking is simply not an option with flapjacks. Golden syrup can also make flapjacks sickly sweet. Cooking times and oven temperature are important.

Flapjacks contain high levels of sugar, syrup and butter, meaning it shouldn't be mistaken as a food that has many health benefits but rather as a delicious treat to have in moderation.

Line the tray with a piece of baking parchment, scrunch it into a ball first, then open it up again to help it push into the corners. Put half the oats in a Nutribullet, blender or food processor and blend until they form a fine flour. This helps the flapjacks stick together so don't skip this stage.

Using a bread knife, cut your flapjacks when warm to ensure even, easy slices. Allow to cool completely once cut and store in a biscuit tin to keep them as fresh as possible.

Your flapjack will not look completely baked when you remove it from the oven. Due to the nature of the ingredients, they will still be quite melt-y, but don't worry – it will set as it cools down. As long as the edges have started to darken and look slightly crisp, it's ready to come out the oven.

The larger "jumbo" (old fashioned) oats tend to give a crumblier flapjack as they don't seem to bind so well. If the mixture continues to be crumbly then you may like to increase slightly the amount of golden syrup in the mixture.

Should you keep flapjacks in the fridge? ›

Flapjacks need to be kept cold and are best stored in the fridge. This will help them hold their shape. If your flapjacks do fall apart in warm weather, just press all the pieces back into the tray as you did before you cooked them and place the tray in the fridge for a few hours. Once cold, you can cut them up again.

Yes, maple syrup can be used instead of golden syrup in many recipes, however this will result in a slightly different flavour. Golden syrup and maple syrup are generally substituted in a 1:1 ratio, however you may choose to use slightly less maple syrup to maintain texture and consistency.

Golden syrup – This gives the lovely sticky texture. You can replace it with honey if you prefer but it can be more unpredictable as honey is a natural product where the consistency varies. The flavour can also be quite strong. Brown sugar – Soft light brown sugar gives a good flavour but caster sugar will work too.

In other English-speaking countries, the same item is called by different names, such as cereal bar, oat bar or (in Australia and New Zealand) oat slice. In the United States and Canada, "flapjack" is a widely-known but lesser-used term for pancake.

There aren't any major differences in the nutrition benefits of the three types of oats. All forms of oats are 100% whole grain, a good source of fiber and have the same nutritional information – same calories, fiber and protein per serving.

The oven temperature can also affect the texture, so bake your flapjacks until golden and slightly soft in the middle (bear in mind that they will harden slightly after cooling, too).

More fat (butter) is the answer. I use gluten free oats as some of my children are Coeliac and I always had problems with flapjacks being far too hard. I found that increasing the amount of butter over the recipe amount made a lot of difference...

The flapjacks are cooked once the edges are golden and only the middle wobbles. They may look slightly bubbly on top, this is normal. If you overbake the flapjacks they will be hard and crumbly, rather than soft and chewy.