Flapjack with apricots, nuts and sultanas

I bake more nowadays than I used to. The last time I baked this much was in my early teens, before I discovered boozing and boys. What that period of my life and my current situation have in common is that I had the great luxury of time. I look after my son full-time at the moment, so on a rainy day baking comes in handy. Double up a rainy day with a Chickenpox infected toddler and you have a perfect storm for baking, and so it is that today we made flapjack.

When I bake with my toddler I often try to make healthier recipes, for obvious reasons. Listen, a cake is still a cake even if it has carrots in it! But I believe the majority of food that we eat should be a balance between pleasure and wholesome nourishment. My flapjack is a perfect example of this; it’s syrupy, chewy buttery-ness is juxtaposed against the dried fruits and nuts to create a thoroughly satisfying and yummy snack for kids and adults that’s perfect for lunch boxes or scoffing in front of Corrie with a cuppa. 

Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes
Total time: 25 minutes

Ingredients: 80g butter
80g brown sugar 
2 tablespoons of golden syrup
Pinch of salt
130g porridge oats
100g sultanas
100g chopped dried apricots
50g chopped mixed nuts

Ingredients: 

1. Preheat oven to 180C. Grease and line (try using foil as it sticks less afterwards) a baking tin measuring about 20cm width and 34 cm length or thereabouts.
2. On the hob, gently heat the syrup, butter, salt and sugar until it’s all dissolved.
3. Mix the oats, chopped nuts, sultanas, and chopped apricots and add the hot syrup mix.
4. Stir and then press into your prepared baking tin.
5. Cook for about 15-20 minutes, but keep an eye as the sultanas may start to colour too much on top.
6. Take it out and let it cool a little before removing from tin. I just tip it upside down onto a bread board. It may fall apart a little at this point, or stick to the paper, but just squidge it back together and leave to cool in a block.
7. When cooled entirely, chop into whatever size pieces you fancy.  This freezes well, so it’s great for lunchboxes, just get a few out when you need them.