I try and schedule blog posts, I really do. I try to be organised. Like with this chocolate flapjack recipe – well it’s a bit off the cuff because I never meant to blog it. I just made it one day because I was in a really bad mood about some sticker printing issues I am having with Mrs Bell’s Brownies. I was so angry I needed to bake. And I wanted something that felt like a breakfast item with added naughtiness. And this recipe for pecan and hazelnut chocolate flapjack was born.
And as with most good things that are unexpected, others wanted to know more about it and all of a sudden I had so many instagram messages and emails that I felt compelled to write it down. Forgive me that it’s not exactly rocket science. It’s just chocolate flapjack with so many nuts that I named it ‘fall apart chocolate flapjack’ when I gifted it to my pals. And I added chocolate because I had so much left over from a shoot that it felt criminal to waste it. And YES you can use milk chocolate and YES you can use white chocolate. It’s totally up to you. Though in my humble opinion dark chocolate is by far superior when coupled with hazelnuts.
Please note this recipe is adapted from my book, Recipes from a Normal Mum, (available on Amazon). Please if you already have it can you leave me a little review? You don’t need to have bought from Amazon but every review makes Amazon tell more people about it. Which would make me insanely happy. Thank you! My other book The Power of Frozen is also available through Amazon.
Last January: Roasted rainbow roots and pan fried pork, Banana and chia porridge bread, Baked tortilla, Roasted cauliflower, celery and garlic soup, Garlic, lemon and sweet chilli chicken, Oreo peanut butter brownies and Skinny orange and cardamom tealoaf.
Two years ago: Lamb and pea pie on This Morning, Halloumi, courgette and carrot fritters, Crunchy piggy meatballs (also on This Morning) and Granola breakfast muffins.
Three years ago: Lemon & blueberry loaf, my Bake Off Cherry Bakewell inspired cupcakes, plus Sesame bread sticks
Four years ago: Love cupcakes, White chocolate, lemon and macadamia cake and a perfect wintery Roasted celeriac, carrot and parsnip soup.
Five years ago: Bake me not chocolate cake, Jelly and ice-cream meringue roulade, Good flapjack and Banana, butterscotch and fig traybake.
Six years ago: Treasure hunt ice-cream, Rhubarb and ginger chutney and Carrot cake.
Yield: 20
- 250g salted butter, plus extra for greasing
- 225g dark soft brown sugar
- 150g golden syrup
- 500g rolled oats
- 100g pecans
- 150g hazelnuts
- 400g dark chocolate, melted
Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan 160C/gas mark 4 and grease and line a 30cm x 20cm tin, about 3 - 4cm deep. Melt the butter, sugar, and syrup in a large saucepan over a medium heat. The aim is to dissolve all the ingredients so that they are smooth, but to not lose any volume through boiling so be careful not to overheat. Add the oats, pecans and hazelnuts and stir well until evenly coated. Tip into the prepared tin and use a piece of greaseproof paper to flatten the top and make sure the flapjack is evenly distributed in the tin. Bake for 30 - 40 minutes until the edges start to brown. Whilst still warm in the tin melt the chocolate (in the microwave or using the bain marie method) and pour over the top. Allow to cool completely at room temperature before cutting with a very sharp knife. Remember to clean the knife between each cut for perfect little squares.
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