Perfect Flapjacks /Oat Bars

Here is a recipe I am going to file under 'instant gratification'!! With only five key ingredients this was in my belly after 55 minutes of me mixing the last ingredient. For me this will be a chewy flapjack recipe I will be using again and again. Adding the hazelnuts, ginger and lemon zest really sets this apart from your ordinary flapjack. And it's a great use of porridge oats! I don't know about you, but I don't think I've ever had porridge oats for breakfast. I'm more of a cereal girl, like Cornflakes, Alpen, Shreddies, that type of stuff.

So here we are, Perfect Flapjacks!
175g butter
110g granulated sugar
175g golden syrup (I use Lyles)
325g porridge oats
50g whole hazelnuts
grated zest of ½ lemon
¼ tsp ground ginger
¼ tsp cinnamon


Line a 20 cm/ 8-inch square baking tin with greaseproof paper and preheat your oven to 160°C/ 320°F.

Begin by melting your butter in a saucepan over low heat. Whilst melting, use a small amount of the butter to lightly grease the lined tin. Add sugar to the saucepan and gently stir until all the sugar dissolves. Add the golden syrup to the butter and sugar mixture stirring gently.

Once all ingredients have dissolved, remove the saucepan from the heat. With a sturdy wooden spoon, stir in the hazelnuts, porridge oats, lemon zest, ginger and cinnamon until combined.

Spoon the mixture into the prepared baking tin and squash it down flat to create an even surface and fill the corners of the tin. Bake in the oven for 40 minutes. Allow to cool in the tin for 10 minutes before removing onto a cooling rack.

Bee's notes
These are flapjacks as we know it in the UK. Not to be confused with what the US think are flapjacks. Would the US call these 'oat bars'???