Flapjacks - what am I doing wrong?

[MissMarplesNiece]

Why do my flapjacks always come out as a soggy, sticky mess? It's impossible to pick them up with fingers & they have to be eaten with a spoon.

I've tried using different recipes, I weigh the ingredients carefully, I've tried flapjacks made with golden syrup and flapjacks made with honey. I use the size of tin mentioned in the recipe and cook them until they're golden brown.

I'm going to have one last try before I give up forever, so any advice or foolproof recipe recommendations are welcomed.

This recipe never fails. I use golden syrup in place of honey and don’t muck about adding raisins or nuts etc. Cut in the tin but leave to cool completely before moving breaking up fully

https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/honeyflapjacks_73203/amp

Either you are not cooking them for long enough, not weighing your golden syrup properly or not leaving them to cool completely before attempting to remove them from the tin.

Dont use honey it’s sacrilege 😂

Flapjacks do seem to have their own minds, I had problems for years with them coming out almost burnt, tried a different recipe and it was fine. But I think I then tried my original recipe again and it then worked!
And have seen others talking about similar quandaries with them.

Flapjacks have a mind of their own.

I always need a spoon or a chainsaw to eat them.

Are you using butter, proper butter not spreadable? Because as they cool the butter goes solid again and it is this that holds them together (if everything else is in good proportions).
DO NOT USE MARGE, OIL, OR SPREADABLE BUTTER! YOUR FLAPJACKS WILL BE WELL FUCKED IF YOU DO!
Scuse the shouting but flapjacks, national importance and all that.

I blitz some of the oats so they are almost like a course flour, along with using proper butter as others have said I always get decent results (she says, thus guaranteeing a next flapjack batch disaster!)

@AppleKatie I'd had no luck with golden syrup then found a recipe that used honey and thought "maybe this one will work". Sadly it was as bad as the others. I do love honey.

@heldinadream Maybe not using butter is part of my problem, I usually use one of those baking margarine.

You need SoupDragon’s recipe, it’s MN lore at this point - hold on I’ll have a hunt for it.

1000% agree that you need to use butter.

I used to use spreadable spread and it was just a soggy mess. Started using butter and waiting for them to completely cool and they work.

Flapjack in the BeRo book is the best flapjack.

Is the baking marge a soft marge? If so that's totes a major part of the problem.

And marge is not good for you, that's pretty much accepted now.
FREE THE FLAPJACKS - USE BUTTER!😂

You need to squish them assertively with a spatula before you bake them. You've got too many gaps if they're crumbling. Consider the texture of a bought one.

Not cooking for long enough is my guess, or your oven not getting up to temp.

If you cook too long or too hot they go teeth-breakingly hard. Whack it up next time and see what happens.

Oh definitely marg will be an issue.

It is the devil's food anyway.

Does your recipe not say butter?

I stir in 3 or 4 tablespoons of flour or ground almonds to the mix before baking. Seems to bind them together better. Then I bake them for exactly the time in the recipe (I use Cranks), so they still look like a molten mess when they come out of the oven, but they are the right consistency when they cool down. Don't be tempted to overcook them.

I also press them into the tin with a potato masher to make sure they are well compacted.

Margarine?! I thought it was banned for being all chemical.

Ooo I had not thought about using potato masher!

@heldinadream my flapjack recipe
(www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2010/apr/09/healthy-snacks-for-children) uses sunflower oil and they hold fine as long as I cook them exactly the right length of time. I think it's the cooked sugar or syrup that cools and provides the rigidity? Butter is really expensive

I use Rachel Allen's flapjack recipe. Works well

You can't use margarine!

Here is RAs recipe, annotations my own.

Did someone mention flapjacks...?

250g porridge oats (the cheap type, not large ones),
150g Butter,
2 generous table spoons Golden Syrup
half a tin condensed milk,

baking tin, no bigger than about 18cm x 28cm

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 160 degrees c
2. Line the baking tin with baking parchment.
3. Melt the butter in a large saucepan over a medium heat and add the syrup. Keep gently heating and stirring until all is melted and mixed. If it starts to boil take it off the heat!
4. Add the condensed milk and mix. Bring to the boil for about a minute.
5. Remove from the heat and gradually add the oats, folding them in. All the oats should be coated, and the mixture quite dense, but still sticky. Don't add so many oats that the mixture becomes dry.
6. Pour the mixture into the tins and spread about so that it lines the tin to a depth of 2-3cm. Don't squash the mixture in, just spread it evenly.
7. Bake in the oven for about 15mins. You should take them out when they just start to go brown round the edges, don't leave longer than this. If they're still squidgy in the middle that's fine, they set on cooking

Must use butter, definitely golden syrup and make sure to cook them long enough. Ovens vary so maybe you need to add five minutes?
I always used the bbc good food recipe

It’s not true that you must use butter. I have a coffee shop and sell loads of home made flapjack. My granola flapjack is vegan, so obviously doesn’t use butter. It’s my best selling cake. The chocolate flapjack is popular too (sweating on the photo as it’s in the sun!). If you’re using nuts etc you need to add a little plain flour to hold it together better. Most people don’t cook flapjack long enough so the oats are a bit chewy. Cook until it is golden and bubbling but not burnt.

Try 225g unsalted butter
225g brown sugar
150g golden syrup
480g small porridge oats (cheaper oats are better!)

Melt the butter and syrup then add the sugar and melt together. mix everything really well. Cook until golden at 180.