COOKBOOKS GALORE

Flapjacks are one of my family's favourite things to eat and a Bakewell tart is another, so a combination of both is a marriage made in heaven! I've been having a good sort out of my baking files lately - you know the ones, with cut out bits from newspapers, magazines, recipe cards you've picked up in supermarkets, handwritten recipes on scrappy bits of paper ...... and I came across a recipe for these flapjacks. I've changed it a bit to suit our tastes. Preheat oven 180C/gas4                 Grease a medium baking tin Put 150g oats, 75g ground almonds, 45g plain flour and 45g caster sugar in a bowl and mix together. Add 150g melted butter, 3 tbspn golden syrup and 3 tbspn milk and mix well. Put half of the mixture into your tin and press it down; spoon over 2 tbspn raspberry jam and sprinkle over 15g flaked almonds. put the rest of the mixture on top and smooth over. Sprinkle a few more flaked almonds over the top. Bake for 10-15 mins ti...

Two of my favourite bakes are Bakewell Tart and Flapjacks of any kind, so I decided to combine the two and try and make some Bakewell flapjacks. I was very pleased with the result, as were my children who ate some then took the rest back with them! I just managed to get a photo before they all disappeared!  I didn't make any pastry as you would with a tart, but used the flavours of a Bakewell and the ingredients of a flapjack. Preheat oven 190C/gas5       Grease and line a 20cm square cake tin. Melt 150g butter, 50g caster sugar and 4 tbspn golden syrup in a pan. Then add 200g oats, 50g ground almonds and 1 tspn almond extract. Mix together. Spoon half of this mixture into the tin and flatten till smooth. Spread 3 tbspn jam [ I use blueberry, but you could use, strawberry or raspberry] over the mixture leaving a frame round the edge. Spoon rest of mixture on top and spread so it covers the jam. Sprinkle over a handful of flaked almonds. Bake for 15-20 mins t...

I bought some plums from a local market. They were very ripe and needed using, so decided to make a plum cake of some sort. I found this recipe in my late mil's notebook, so not sure where it originates. It's a sponge cake with plums on top, then a sort of streusel layer, some of which sank into the cake and made it taste a bit like flapjacks - hence my recipe title! Grease and line a 20cm springform tin. Preheat oven 180C/gas4 It's an easy cake to make: Put 175g soft butter or marg in the bowl of an electric mixer; add 175g soft brown sugar, 2 beaten eggs, 175g sr flour, 1/2 tspn baking powder and 1 tspn cinnamon, and beat together till nice and creamy. You need 450g plums, halved and stoned. [ If they're not really ripe, put them in a dish in the oven sprinkled with 2 tbspn granulated sugar and bake them for about 20 mins till they've softened.] Put the plums, cut side up, on top of the cake batter and make the topping. Melt 50g of butter, add 50g sr...

Seem to have had a lot of very ripe bananas lately. Am a bit fed up with banana loaves and cakes, but was given a recipe booklet recently about Fairtrade bananas, made up with recipes given by some of our church members. We love flapjacks, so banana ones seemed a great idea. I made them in a swiss roll tin, as we like them thin, but if you prefer thicker ones, use a square cake tin instead. 125g butter 85g light brown sugar 2 tbspn syrup 350g oats 1/2tspn baking powder 1 tspn cinnamon 2 medium ripe bananas Preheat oven 180C/gas4 Grease a Swiss roll tin  23 x 33cm or a 20cm square cake tin Melt butter, sugar and syrup in microwave or on hob. Add oats, baking powder and cinnamon then add mashed bananas. Spoon in tin and smooth top with back of a spoon. Bake 20-25 mins till golden and firm. Cut into bars while hot then cool in tin. I made 15 bars. We really liked the added texture of the banana, but they are a soft flapjack, not a crisp one. I'll certain...

I haven't made flapjacks for ages. Each time, I change my original recipe and add new things; today it's cranberries and sunflower seeds. 125 gr butter 75g caster sugar 1 tbspn golden syrup 300g rolled oats 50g sunflower seeds 75g chocolate chips or chopped dark chocolate 50g dried cranberries Preheat oven 180C/350F/gas4 Grease a 20cm square cake tin. Put the butter, sugar and syrup in a pan and melt over a low heat. Mix well. Take off the heat and add the oats and sunflower seeds. Stir until well mixed, then add the chocolate chips and cranberries. Spoon into the cake tin and press it down well with the back of a spoon. Bake for 25 mins. Let it cool in the tin for a bit, then mark into 12 squares.