Festive Chocolate Flapjack is flapjack spiked with coffee, chocolate, spices, cherries & orange zest. Easy, different & delightfully festive.
If you like flapjack you are in for a treat. This Festive Chocolate Flapjack is flapjack with a seasonal twist. Spiked with coffee, chocolate, spices, cherries and orange zest. Yep, this chocolate flapjack has attitude.
Festive Chocolate Flapjack is one of my personal favourite recipes since you can temper the level of spices and coffee to suit your audience. Even a toned-down version of all the exciting additions brings new interest to a traditional family favourite. Extra bonus – you can also tinker with the toppings: kids, true to form, will be drawn to anything with bright sprinkles on but adults may prefer to go sprinkle free or adopt a more sophisticated scattering – dried cherries, perhaps.
Versatility aside, there is another reason I love Festive Chocolate flapjack: it actually sticks together even after it’s been cut. Yes, perfect squares.
Ehh? I hear you asking, doesn’t all flapjack stay in one piece?
Confession: my flapjack never stays together. No matter what recipe I follow, as soon as I stick that knife in to cut neat squares, it just falls apart into a mass of oaty clusters. Every time. It’s a bit embarrassing really, since flapjack is one of the first things kids learn to bake with success.
Whenever I hit an obstacle like this in the kitchen, I tend to dig my heels in and will not be beaten. Case in hand – flapjack. In fact, I feel the need to thank my long-suffering family for their patience in this matter. I’ve subjected them to countless failed batches of crumbs in the quest for perfect flapjack (How hard can it be?). On the positive side of things, at least all of the crumbs I’ve served up have been tasty.
So, given my problem, when I hit upon this foolproof flapjack formula, I was obviously going to fall in love with it and stick with it – unlike my regular stuff.
All I have to do now is master a classic version. I’d warmly welcome any recipe suggestions you have.
Festive Chocolate Flapjack
Ingredients
- 350 g Butter
- 3 tbsp Golden syrup
- 175 g Soft light brown sugar
- 175 g Dark light brown sugar
- 275 g Rolled oats (not jumbo)
- 50 g Dried cherries
- 6 tbsp Cocoa powder
- 1 1/2 tsp Instant coffee granules
- 3/4 tsp Ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp Mixed Spice
- 1/4 tsp Ground ginger
- Zest 1/2 orange - finely grated
30g/ 1 oz White Chocolate(melted) for drizzling & festive sprinkles
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 140C/ 275F/ GM 1 and grease & line a 20cm x 30 cm baking tin with baking parchment
- Cut the cherries in half then put them into a small heatproof bowl and cover with hot water from a just-boiled kettle. Set aside
- Weigh out the oats, cocoa, orange zest and the spices into a bowl. Stir briefly
- Tip the butter, syrup and sugars into a heavy-based saucepan and put it over a medium heat to melt, stirring often. When the butter has melted and the sugar has dissolved use a balloon whisk to gently bring the ingredients together until you have a thick, brown, evenly mixed liquid
- Stir the coffee granules into the liquid and mix well
- Drain the cherries then add them to the pan along with the oats. Stir until thoroughly combined
- Spoon the flapjack mixture into the prepared tin and spread it out. Use the back of a metal spoon to push the mixture into the edges and corners of the tin and to press the flapjack down so that it is nicely compact
- Bake in the oven for 35 minutes until golden. If, after 20 minutes, the cherries look as if they are about to catch & burn, lay a piece of foil loosely over the flapjack for the final 15 minutes of baking
- Allow to cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then, using a sharp knife, mark the flapjack into 18 bars. Let cool completely in the tin
- Once cool, cut into the marked portions and remove from the tin
- Melt the chocolate, drizzle a little over each slice and scatter with festive sprinkles of your choosing
- Once the chocolate has set, store the flapjack in an airtight container for up to 5 days
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