Revealed: The secret to flapjacks that don’t fall apart (2024)

FAQs

Revealed: The secret to flapjacks that don’t fall apart? ›

After five minutes cooling, press the flapjacks with something heavy and flat (this compresses them and stops them falling apart). Cool on a wire rack. Cut into squares. They will keep for a week to 10 days in an airtight container and freeze really well.

If your flapjacks appear to be extremely crumbly when cutting, score the top of the bake immediately and put them in the fridge or freezer for a short period to firm up. When you are pressing the mixture into the tin before baking, it's important to pack the mixture in tightly.

For me, too much golden syrup makes them hard to bite through and dunking is simply not an option with flapjacks. Golden syrup can also make flapjacks sickly sweet. Cooking times and oven temperature are important.

Use as a crumble topping for fruit, yogurt, ice cream. Or sundae - layers of fruit, yogurt and crumble. Or custard.

Why are my Flapjacks Hard? Over-boiling the sugar, butter and syrup, is one possible reason for flapjacks being so hard. Simmering the butter-sugar-syrup mixture on low heat is better. Adding flour helps make them chewy and soft.

I find it best to store flapjacks in the fridge so that they stay firm. You can also store them in an air-tight container in a cupboard but they may break apart more easily. They will keep for 10 days in the fridge. I find in Winter, they are fine stored in a cupboard, but in Summer, they need to go in the fridge.

Granny's Top Tips

Just be sure to grease your tin first (so the greaseproof paper sticks to it). And be careful to make sure your entire tin is lined, with no gaps – if your flapjack seeps through the greaseproof paper it will stick to the tin! Another change I've made to the recipe is the quantity of butter.

Put it in the oven for 20-25 minutes. It should look a bit runny still, because it will keep cooking in the tin for another five minutes. Leave it to cool for ten minutes and then cut it into 12 pieces.

Not to overbake!

When you first take them out of the oven they will look slightly wet and bubbly on the top. This is completely normal and as soon as they cool the bubbles will set and the mix will almost look glazed over. This is exactly what we want. If you overbake, the flapjacks they will turn out hard and crumbly.

The lumps form because flour contains gluten, a sticky substance that activates when it gets wet and mixed. If gluten is over-mixed it becomes tough, rubbery, and unappetizing.

Why are flapjacks unhealthy? ›

They're the ultimate combination of sugar and fat. Oats comprise just half of the entire flapjack, so it wouldn't be right to say that flapjacks are 'high in fibre' for instance as they are weighed out so heavily by saturated fat (butter) and glucose (sugar).

The second batch when they crumbled I thought it was because of me adding a bit of water so rebaked them. To make them a bit more gooey add more syrup only. Also what type of oven are you using, if it is a fan then make sure you lower the temperature and possibly give less cooking time. Hope this helps.

Lining the baking tin with parchment paper makes it easy to remove the flapjacks. Once they have cooled in the tin you can slide the whole flapjack on its paper onto a board to cut into pieces.

Why do my homemade flapjacks fall apart? This can happen if you overcook or undercook your flapjacks. When you overcook a flapjack, the golden syrup dries out and it becomes crumbly. An undercooked flapjack will have a raw doughy texture that doesn't hold its shape.

5 Bake for 25 minutes until golden. After five minutes cooling, press the flapjacks with something heavy and flat (this compresses them and stops them falling apart). Cool on a wire rack. Cut into squares.

The larger "jumbo" (old fashioned) oats tend to give a crumblier flapjack as they don't seem to bind so well. If the mixture continues to be crumbly then you may like to increase slightly the amount of golden syrup in the mixture.

Leave in the tin until nearly cold before cutting into pieces and removing to a wire rack. The flapjacks will keep in an airtight tin for up to 10 days.

I made flapjack today, greased the tin et voila, no sticking. You're either cooking too long or miscalculating ingredients. I don't use paper (have had similar experiences) - juts goes straight in a greased tin. The recipe is important too.

I use the flapjack recipe from BBC website, if you want them softer I would suggest using more syrup, sugar and butter. Or cooking in a tin that means they are thicker. Be careful not to over cook, they are very soft when they come out the oven but harden up quickly so take them out as soon as they have coloured.