flapjacks etcetera

what s it been? thirty years or perhaps a little more when i first made these?

flapjacks.

always thought it a funny name, because these cookies (if they are cookies) don t flap, and i can t imagine where the jack came from, but that s what they re called...

oats are not easy to find here, well, actually, if you look, ofcourse you ll find them, but most are prepared so as to make an easy and quick porridge and that s not what i needed. on a visit to Ghent though, in a very quirky store called Vits-Staelens, i found some good oats and immediately thought of making flapjacks.

sweet, buttery, chewy yet crunchy... hmmm. and i did have golden syrup in my pantry, and butter, so i got started:

FLAPJACKS

INGREDIENTS:

125 gr softened unsalted butter
25 gr fine caster sugar
150 gr golden syrup
225 gr rolled oats pinch of salt

METHOD:

1. butter and line a 24x24 cm baking tin with baking parchment (please do line the tin, i didn t and had a little disaster getting the flapjacks out! but more on that later)
2. preheat the oven to 180°C
3. cream the butter and sugar together until fluffy, light and pale.
4. mix in the syrup, oats and salt
5. spread evenly into prepared tin
6. bake until deep golden (my recipe said 40 minutes, but that s far too long, just keep an eye on the color, don t let it get burnt)
7. while still warm, cut into 16 squares and leave to cool completely in the tin before lifting the baking paper up and out
8. these keep quite well in an airtight cookie jar

i mentioned that about lining the baking tin with parchment, didn t i? it s because just buttering the tin is definitely not enough! after cooling i could not get some flapjacks out in one piece, no matter how carefully i tried... so i had a flapjack crumble!

no way i was going to waste that... and this morning i baked us some apple muffins using my earlier recipe and sprinkling some flapjack crumble on the top before baking...

they came out pretty good, don t you think?

still have a little left over, maybe i can incorparate that into some cookies... with extra nuts and chocolate chips?

the easiest ever muffin recipe

do you have five minutes to spare? just to read this?

and perhaps 30 minutes extra? to whip up the easiest ever muffins?

okay, okay. i guess cupcakes are just that little bit more refined. but sometimes you just haven t got the time to beat butter and sugar together until fluffy in order to slowly mix in sieved flour etc...

a muffin can be just as sweet and satisfying as a cupcake, with a lot let hassle, and without the creamy frosting when sometimes that can just be a tad too much.

you don t even need a mixer, just a fork is fine, seriously.

here s my basic recipe:

DRY INGREDIENTS:

250 gr self-raising flour
125 gr fine white (or unrefined) caster sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder, optional
1 pinch of salt

WET INGREDIENTS:

125 ml milk
1 large egg
50 ml sunflower of rapeseed oil
mixed together

preheat the oven to 180°C.
sieve the dry ingredients into a bowl.
add milk/egg/oil mixture and slowly mix with a fork until everything is pretty well incorporated but DO NOT OVERBEAT!

divide into prepared muffin/cupcake tin (this recipe makes just enough for 12 muffins) and bake for about 20 minutes.

easy.

then play around.

like i did today: instead of 125 ml milk, i used half coconut milk and half plain milk. i also added 1 tablespoon of freeze-dried yuzu flakes to the flour mixture. and to top it all off, i added 125 gr of fresh blueberries.

just half an hour, a bowl, and a fork...

oh, yes, there is that little bit of washing up to do... but that s fine when you can have a cup of tea with a warm muffin afterwards, don t you agree?

with a little nod to autumn... while spring is almost here

it s that time of year again, spring is nearly here...

and i m still into my cookie-making mode, although i ve been kept busy with my other endeavors, i just can t help needing to make a batch regularly.

my son had recently asked me to make him a bracelet with some wooden beads and leather. which i did. then posted on FB and apparently the son of one of my friends (who lives in Canada) liked the look of it, so i made him one too... and sent it over.

so my friend asked me whether i would like something from there, and i jumped at the chance (who wouldn t?) of asking her whether she could find me some maple leaf cookie cutters...

she did!

and i received them yesterday! YAY!

ofcourse i couldn t not make maple syrup cookies. even tho i should be baking cherry-blossom flavored ones or more 'spring'-like thingies... oh well, still have time for that!

i had never made these before, but i found a smashing recipe on the Smitten Kitchen blog and this really worked a treat (click on recipe and you will be linked to the post where you ll find all details).

i m just going to show you how delectable they are!

oh, yes, i used grade C maple syrup here, just because i didn t have anything else, and i think it really tastes best of all...

thank you Y! big maply hug!