porridge oats Archives - Munchies and Munchkins

Over the last few months I have been going through my older recipes on the blog, trying them out and making some amendments where needed. You will start to see some of the more popular recipes revisited and revamped a little with some hopefully more appealing photos. I first posted this recipe for flapjacks back in 2013, at the time I didn’t really consider about readers actually making my recipes – it was almost like an online recipe binder just for me. Since then my readership has grown – thank you for that – and I wanted to make sure all of my recipes worked, tasted good and looked a little better! The first new ( old ) recipe is for these Dark Chocolate Chip Flapjacks.

I used to really like the flapjacks made by the dinner ladies at my secondary school and I tried and failed to recreate them many times. Chewy gooey with just the right amount of buttery syrup. This is the closest I have found, with a slightly more mature taste due to the slightly bitter dark chocolate. It really is the simplest recipe with minimal preparation.

Dark Chocolate Chip Flapjacks

You will need:

350g of rolled oats
200g butter
200g golden caster sugar
5 tbsp of golden syrup
100g 70% cocoa dark chocolate chips

Preheat your oven to 180c. Line a tray bake tin with greaseproof paper.

Melt your butter, sugar and syrup in a pan on your hob over a low heat until melted and then stir in your oats until thoroughly combined. Empty into a mixing bowl, cool and then stir through your chocolate chips. Spoon into your tray using the back of spoon to level the mixture out.Bake for 20 mins then leave to cool slightly in the tray before removing, you should cut into squares while still warm but not hot.

Now just try to stop yourself eating them one by one. Keep in an airtight container – they will keep for about a week.

Linking up to the We Should Cocoa challenge as hosted by Tin and Thyme.

For me a fruit crumble is the absolute comforting dessert. If I feel a bit under the weather, stressed or just COLD ( it’s been so cold this month) I always seem to make a crumble. More often than not it will be just a plain old apple crumble but I’ve used raspberries, blueberries and peach in the last 12 months as well as my current favourite – apple & blackberry. I’ve been meaning to share the recipe for a little while but kept forgetting so I’m doing it now – finally after a tweeter asked me for it. Thanks for the nudge 😉

There are two ingredients that I feel make a crumble go from a nice dessert to something a bit special and different and they are ….drum roll …. Porridge oats and lemon! After seeing a tip from a celebrity chef ( can’t remember who – sorry ) a while back I have always used lemon zest and juice in my fruit filling. It doesn’t make it taste super lemony but it does add a certain zing. Also I should note that typically I use frozen blackberries unless we are lucky enough to get some whilst out strolling at the right time of year.

Anyway here is the recipe in its entirety:

1kg mix of chopped apples and blackberries – decide which you want most of 🙂
180g plain flour
160g caster sugar
120g cold butter, chopped
Zest of ½ lemon
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 tbsp water
2 tbsp porridge oats
An extra knob of butter

Preheat oven to 180C/gas mark 4.

Rub your flour and butter together until it resembles breadcrumbs then add half of your sugar, mix thoroughly and set aside.

Place your apples, blackberries,lemon zest, juice, water and the remaining sugar in a saucepan and simmer for around 5-10 minutes just to soften. This will smell incredible and you will want a little taste.

Pour into an ovenproof dish and top with your crumble mixture, then sprinkle on your oats. Just before placing in oven break your knob of butter into several chunks and place on top of crumble – this is a Rachel Allen tip and will make it even tastier.

*If you prefer a chunkier crumble mix pinch some between your fingers to create lumps.

Bake for approx 30 minutes until the fruit is bubbling and the top is golden brown.

Enjoy with cream, ice cream or custard.

Dark Chocolate Chip Flapjacks

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