Ships Log: Bars of Optimism - A Flapjack Based Survival Strategy (Recipe)

What sustains the weary cyclist on their endless quest for mileage and misplaced glory? 

Not gels, bars, or suspiciously fluorescent drinks — but flapjacks. Oats, sugar, and a vague sense of self-reliance, compressed into portable slabs of calorific ambition. 

Here follows the pinnacle of flapjack experimentation: a quest to create the perfect ride companion, one chewy square at a time. 

This is version 2.0 as recipe 1.0 isn't worth the bother:

Oats - 400g (All the recipes mess around with which type of oats to use but Sainsbury's Scottish Porridge Oats worked fine for me: https://www.sainsburys.co.uk/gol-ui/product/sainsburys-scottish-porridge-oats-1kg)

Butter - 227g

Golden Syrup - 130g (best to measure in g rather than tablespoons for accuracy)

Sugar - 181g (I don't think it matters too much on the type but I used golden caster cane sugar as that's what was in the cupboard)


Pre heat oven to 180C fan. Very important.

Melt all of the above in a pan (apart from the oats).

Then remove from heat, add the oats and stir.

Pack into a baking tray 1-2cm depth. It's worth lining with greaseproof paper. (You can then use the paper to wrap them for taking on rides as it's far easier to access than using cling film)

Bake for 20 minutes for chewy or up to 5 minutes longer for harder.

Et voila.

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