Suzanne Askham

Wellbeing notes: Coconut flapjack recipe

01/09/2023 at 9:28 am | Posted in Wellbeing notes | Leave a comment
Tags: oats, recipe, simple pleasures, sweet treats, wellbeing

Back in the 1970s, I was given a new, blank recipe book. The first treats I added were simple, buttery flapjacks, which tasted lovely, but were… gooey. Over the next two decades, in a string of London kitchens, I tweaked the original ingredients. The notebook filled up, but the flapjacks remained a favourite. They were so easy to make, and almost everyone liked them. 

In the 2000s, cooking times were adjusted for an old Aga that I acquired, in Wiltshire. But then, unaccountably, the recipe book was put on a shelf and forgotten. Not any more, though. “Oh, my goodness, these are amazing,” said one friend. Another mentioned that oats and coconuts have lots of health benefits (some of the other ingredients, less so, but I reckon home-baked snacks are broadly better than packaged sweets). A few asked for the recipe. So here it is.

Ingredients

170 g butter

1 tbsp honey

1 tbsp golden syrup

170 g demerara sugar

280 g oats

30 g desiccated coconut

Handful of sultanas

Optional: 30 g chocolate chips

Method

Set oven at 150ºC (fan-assisted)/170ºC (conventional) or use baking oven of Aga.

Butter and line a square 7”/18cm baking tray.

Slice the butter and melt gently in a pan. Add honey and syrup, then sugar. Stir from time to time until dissolved.

Add oats and coconut to a large bowl. Pour melted mixture over and mix well. Stir in sultanas, and chocolate chips if using.

Transfer mixture to baking tray and press down with the back of a spoon.

Bake for 16 to 20 minutes, or until browning slightly at edges. 

(If using Aga, place on oven shelf on floor of baking oven, or use roasting oven with cold shelf above.)

Remove from oven and leave to cool thoroughly before cutting into squares.