Choc N Cherry Flapjacks

Arlo, aka the terminator, is ALWAYS rattling the cupboards and presenting me with bags of food that he’d like for a snack. This starts at around 6am and continues all day until he finally passes out at night. Little and often is his motto, and as a pretty energetic toddler, it’s the best way to keep him fuelled.

Matthew thinks Arlo is quite like the Juggernaut from X-Men. If you’re not familiar with this character then let me introduce you!

The Juggernaut possesses untold power, mystical in nature, which enhances his strength to an as yet unknown degree and makes him a seemingly irresistible, unstoppable being. Once he begins to walk in a certain direction, no obstacle or force on Earth has been observed to be able to stop him. Apparently, only he can stop himself.

This might seem like an exaggeration, but Arlo truly is a force to be reckoned with. So it’s with this in mind that I embarked on some baking to silence the beast for at least five minutes.

I’ve been meaning to make flapjacks for ages – oats are such a nutritious ingredients and provide a slow release of energy so are ideal for feeding little energetic people. Okay, there’s butter and sugar in flapjacks too, but we’ll gloss over that!

I like the fact that you can personalise your flapjacks with whatever you’ve got lying around. I decided to use up an old tub of glace cherries from the back of the baking cupboard, plus a small bit of the dark chocolate mountain that is towering above the microwave after researching and writing this article.

It was all a bit of an experiment, and of course putting chocolate into the mix made them ultra gooey, so once they came out of the oven and cooled, I whacked them in the fridge to firm up. Kind of a cross between a flapjack and a refrigerator cake.

They were scoffed pretty darned quick, so I can definitely recommend them! Of course you can substitute the cherries and chocolate for whatever else you’ve got in the house. Dried fruit, nuts, desiccated coconut – whatever it is you love!

Choc N Cherry Flapjacks
Makes 16

140g butter
140g soft brown sugar
2 tbsp maple syrup (or honey)
175g rolled oats
75g glace cherries, quartered
30g dark chocolate, cut into small chunks

1. Melt the butter, sugar and maple syrup in a bowl in the microwave for a approx 2 mins.

2. Pour the oats, cherries and chocolate into large bowl, then pour the melted butter mixture over the top and stir thoroughly until all the oats are coated.

3. Spoon the mixture into a 20cm x 20cm greased and lined baking tray and cook at 160C for 35-40 mins. Take out of the oven and cool in the tin. Slice into 16 still in the tin, and then transfer to fridge to firm up.