Flapjacks

"Who else could go for some flapjacks right now?"

"...Too early for flapjacks?"

Did anyone else watch "Groundhog Day" yesterday? I guess that Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow yesterday which means six more weeks of winter. "Don't forget your booties because it's cold out there..."

Anyway I was thinking about flapjacks and did you know that in England flapjacks are NOT pancakes but instead it's an oatmeal bar? (You've gotta love Wikipedia). I looked up some recipes and decided to try it because it looks pretty yummy and incredibly versatile. I'm using the recipe that I found on epicurious because most of the comments were from people from England and they seemed pretty excited to have a recipe close to the original treat. I can tell you that my boys were excited to come home from school on a cold day and have these along side a cup of hot cocoa.

Posted by Jen.

The Ingredients:

1/2 c butter

1/2 c packed brown sugar

2 Tbsp corn syrup*

1 Tbsp honey*

2 1/2 c quick oats

pinch salt

*The true English recipe calls for 1/4 c golden syrup. I don't have any so I duplicated it with part corn syrup and part honey. You may notice that there isn't honey in the picture. I actually had to borrow some from a friend and the honey is in the little red container!

The Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8x8 pan.

In a medium sauce pan, melt the butter, brown sugar, syrups, and salt until smooth.

Remove from heat and add the oatmeal. Stir until it is all coated.

Add to the greased pan and press in oatmeal mixture until it is all even.

Place in oven and cook for 15-20 minutes. When you remove it, it will still be soft. Trust me that it will harden up when cooled. The longer you cook them, the crunchier they will be once they're cooled. I took mine out at 17 minutes because I wanted them soft like a granola bar.

Wait about 5 minutes and slice into small squares. (Yes, while still a little soft. This will make it easier to separate when cooled)

Eat when cooled. I'm excited to try these again but I'll add chocolate chips, OR raisins and cinnamon, OR Craisins and orange zest... Oh! The options are limitless! What would you add?

OK. I'm sure that some of you are thinking, "That's fine, but I was hoping for a pancake recipe." Well, lucky for you there are many pancake recipes on this blog to choose from. Here are just a few to satisfy your pancake craving.

Pancake posts:

Cheesecake pancakes with strawberriesBanana chocolate chip pancakesLemon ricotta pancakes with raspberryPumpkin pancakesOatmeal raspberry chocolate chip pancakesCrepes