Chocolate Black Treacle Flapjacks (Dear Joe, I've been on a retreat with flapjacks)

earthy and bittersweet

Dear Joe

If you want Chunky Sweet Syrup flapjacks, make them, but these aren’t that. These go a bit crispy around the edges, are dark in flavour and bitter too. The chocolate melts into the mix a bit, which I love, and every couple of bites there’s some saltiness.

I think it was Nigel Slater who wrote about flapjacks as one of the most comforting baked goods. For him, it’s the syrupy hot butter smell. For me, it’s that they don’t change much in the oven. They come as they are and seem more about returning and circling back than big transformations. This is what I mean when I tell you that I love retreating - not running away, these last couple of weeks, but ‘coming back to’.

Things I’ve learned about flapjacks on the way: toast your inclusions, like coconut flakes or nuts; don’t attempt to cut them into squares before at least 4 hours in the fridge, unless you feel confident with knife cutting and dealing with crumbling flapjacks; if you think they’re ready to take out the oven, they will be.

There’s a big space in my heart for these flapjacks. These moody flapjacks. Make them and you’ll see what I mean. Preheat the oven to 170 (fan oven) / 180 (gas oven). Grease and line an 8 x 8 tin or oven dish. There’s wiggle room there, these flapjacks won’t struggle too much if you use a bigger tin, just bake for less time. Add 225g oats and a couple of generous pinches of salt to a large bowl. Toast 80g pumpkin seeds in a dry frying pan. Melt together 175g unsalted butter, and 50g each of golden syrup, sugar, and black treacle. Now combine the pumpkin seeds and butter mixture with the oats. Roughly chop 50g dark chocolate and mix that into the oats before flattening the mixture into the prepped tin. Lay a bit of greaseproof paper over the flapjack mix and press down evenly with both hands to make sure it's all compact. Bake for 20 mins in a fan oven and 25 in a gas oven. Allow to cool, then put in the fridge for at least 4 hours, to firm up for easier cutting.

Love Caitlin x