It’s turning into a bit of a baking blog here! I do feel a bit guilty because I don’t really do well with pretty cakes – I’m a necessity baker rather than a pretty baker – but I haven’t really managed to complete much else recently so you’re being overloaded with recipes just now! Normal service will resume soon (when the children have grown up, stopped fighting and keeping me up all night…)

Flapjacks are the first thing I ever baked by myself. I’ve mentioned before that my Nana the person who encouraged me to bake, knit and sew and I can remember standing in her kitchen making these in a baking tin that is probably older than I am! They’re so easy to make and my kids go mad for them. This is the recipe I’ve developed over my flapjack making years but it’s very easy to swap ingredients in and out.

You will need:

90g butter
90g light brown sugar
100g ground almonds
190g porridge oats
Generous handful of raisins

Preheat the oven to gas mark 4. Melt the butter and sugar together then add the rest of the ingredients. Mix thoroughly before dumping into a greased square baking tin. Bake for about 20 minutes until the top is golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for five minutes before marking out your fingers then leave to cool completely (preferably overnight). These flapjacks are quite squidgy – if you like yours a bit more crunchy then use a little less butter.

Yum yum!

Posted under baking, recipes

The baby is still breastfed but for some reason my milk output has been dwindling over the last few weeks and I decided to be proactive about it. Oats are a well-known galactagogue, so I whipped up some flapjacks for me and some oat and raisin cookies so the kids didn’t feel left out!

Flapjacks
100g butter
100g soft brown sugar
3 tbsp golden syrup
225g oats

Melt the butter with the sugar and syrup (I used maple syrup as we had no golden left) in a large pan. Stir in the oats and mix thoroughly. At this point, I blasted a 100g bag of almonds through the food processor and added them. Turn your mix into a well-greased 20cm square tin and smooth the top.

Bake in a preheated oven for 25-30 minutes at 180C/250F/Gas 4

Oat & raisin cookies
50g butter
125g caster sugar
1 egg, beaten
50g plain (all purpose) flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1tsp cinnamon
175g porridge oats
125g raisins

Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, then add the beaten egg a little at a time. Beat until well combined. Sieve the flour, salt, baking powder and cinnamon into the creamed mixture. Mix well.
Add the oats and raisins, mix well and place spoonfuls of the mixture well apart on a greased baking tray. Flatten with the back of your spoon.
Bake in a preheated oven at 180C/350F/Gas 4 for 15 mins.

Enjoy!

Posted under baking, recipes