Make Ahead
Flapjacks
- Prep time 25 minutes
- Cook time 20 minutes
- makes 10 flapjacks
Author Notes
Order “flapjacks” at a diner or coffee shop in America and you’ll get a stack of hot pancakes with butter and syrup. But in England, flapjacks are sweet, dense oatmeal cookies that are more likely to be eaten at teatime.
When our daughter was studying at Cambridge, she became quite fond of the flapjacks served at Benet’s, a local café. Once I tasted one, I had to agree with her. Back at home, I set to work trying to replicate them. The mother of one of our daughter's fellow historians at Sidney Sussex College helped by sending me her recipe, which she bakes in a square pan and cuts like brownies.
I’ve made a few adjustments—mainly, adding a little bit of all-purpose flour, processing the oats, and using light brown sugar instead of turbinado. Benet’s bakes its flapjacks in individual pyramid-shaped silicone molds, which I found at the New York Cake and Baking Distributor in Manhattan (online at www.nycake.com). But you don’t have to invest in silicone baking molds; I recommend using a buttered nonstick muffin pan; it makes nice, neat little cakes and browns the sides and bottoms for added flavor. —Margot Mustich
Ingredients
-
2 3/4 cups
rolled oats
-
1/4 cup
all-purpose flour
-
Pinch
fine sea salt
-
4 ounces
(1 stick) unsalted butter
-
1/2 cup
firmly packed light brown sugar
-
2 tablespoons
Lyle’s Golden Syrup (see note)
Directions
- Butter a regular size nonstick muffin pan and set aside.
- Preheat the oven to 350° F.
- Put the oats, flour, and salt in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until the oats are ground to a rough powder, almost the consistency of sawdust. Transfer the dry ingredients to a medium mixing bowl. Reserve.
- Heat the butter, brown sugar, and golden syrup together in a small saucepan over a medium heat (or in a large measuring cup in the microwave for about 3 minutes) until the butter is melted. Stir well until smooth.
- Pour the butter mixture over the dry ingredients and stir until thoroughly moistened.
- Spoon the mixture into the prepared muffin pan. Press the dough down into each muffin mold, and pat the top of each cake to make it level.
- Bake for a total of 18 to 20 minutes, turning the pan around back-to-front after the first 10 minutes. The flapjacks are done when they turn golden brown on top, and a deeper caramel color around the edges.
- Cool for a few minutes in the pan. Then loosen the individual cakes with a metal spatula and place on a rack to cool completely.
- Note: If you don’t find Lyle’s Golden Syrup in the baking needs aisle of your supermarket, or on the shelf with the syrups and honeys, try asking for the section where they have items imported from England and Ireland.
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