The Best Trail Mix Flapjack Recipe Ever

You can buy all manner of exciting trail bars to keep you fuelled on hikes, rides and, I dunno, spelunking. But the cost of these can add up pretty quickly, not to mention there's often an ungodly amount of packaging involved for something that you'll practically inhale.

I've spent the last year refining my trail mix flapjack recipe because a) flapjack is an art form and b) what else was 2020 good for?

I feel like I should take this moment to clarify what I'm talking about when I talk about flapjack. If you're British, you can skip this bit. If you're American; a flapjack is in no way, shape or form, a pancake. The flapjacks in the UK are oat-based and look like the header image - oaty. They are not this:

Not flapjacks - these are very much pancakes

Now we've got that out of the way, let's talk about why shop bought flapjacks are so squidgy. .

Homemade Flapjack vs. Shop Bought Flapjack

Flapjack is typically made with golden syrup to hold it together and give it that slightly sticky texture. Have you ever wondered how cafe and shop bought flapjacks are squidgy?

Here's the secret; they use condensed milk.

I've tried this method and the flapjacks absolutely came out like they do in the shops; chewy, moist and glorious.

But also slightly sickly. Which is not something you want out on the trail. For this reason, this flapjack recipe sticks to the more traditional ingredients of golden syrup, butter and sugar. All the healthy things!

Trail Mix Flapjack of Joy Recipe

Ingredients:

• 380 grams organic oats
• 1 tbsp golden syrup
• 240 grams organic butter
• 110 grams light brown sugar
• Pumpkin seeds
• Linseed/flax seeds
• Raisins/sultanas
• Italian mixed peel
• 1 tsp Cinnamon
• Dried coconut
• 50g dark chocolate

Equipment:

• Saucepan
• Glass bowl
• Mixing Bowl
• Scales
• Tin
• Greaseproof oven paper

Method

1. Pre-heat oven to 150°C (I do this on a fan oven, so raise by 20°C on a non-fan oven. But let's face it, every oven cooks differently)
2. Melt the butter, golden syrup and sugar together in a bain-marie.
3. Roughly chop the dark chocolate and dried coconut.
4. Pour 380g of oats into a large mixing bowl.
5. Add all nuts, seeds, chocolate and dried fruit into in the oats and mix together.
6. Lining baking tray with greaseproof paper.
7. Pour melted butter/syrup/sugar mix into dry ingredients and mix until it looks so good you wonder if you should just eat it as is.
8. Pour mixture into baking tray and press down flat.
9. Put in oven.
10. Sit in front of oven with mouth open for 30 minutes.
11. Take out at 30 minutes, it will still look squidgy, this is fine. It'll harden as it cools.
12. Leave to cool for 10 minutes then use the greaseproof paper to lift onto a rack.

It took me a while to get the cooking time right with this and I'm fairly sure it'll be oven dependent. Suffice to say, it needs less time than it looks as it will harden as it cools and, personally, I hate a dry flapjack.

If you still think it's underdone after it's been left to cool for 10 minutes then by all means, put it back in. But it's better to do it this way round than overcook it and chip a tooth.

Cutting flapjack so it doesn't crumble is wizardry. I use a small, serrated knife that's sharp enough to rival Pullman's Subtle Knife. This is the best knife I've found for the job but if you have any suggestions, do let me know. Otherwise, making lots of crumbs while cutting just means you get to eat them all to tidy it up...right?

I love trail snacks so please share tips/suggestions/secret ingredients in the comments below!