Salted Caramel Flapjacks

This weekend was all about a quick bake that would be easy to transport, as the result is going overseas this week as a gift for my German family. 

If I bake for this side of my family, I always want to make something that is not found in German baking, and is therefore unusual to their tastes. What is familiar for us in the UK then becomes something special for them.

I decided upon flapjacks because I've not made them for a while, and they would fulfil my brief. This is not my usual recipe, but one I rediscovered while spending a happy hour recently leafing through my huge file of recipes torn out of magazines over the years. This particular one is from a Sunday magazine from 3 years ago.

I was drawn to this recipe really by the presence of two words: salt, and caramel. I don't know anyone who can resist this combination of flavours. I know I can't. They would be more special than the usual plain variant, and therefore, a bit of a treat.

I cut these flapjacks smaller than I would usually because they are very rich, quite sweet (though not too salty, despite the name) and a little sticky. Cut them larger and you might find that there can be too much of a good thing!

Give these a try, and let me know what you think.

240g salted butter, diced
180g light muscovado sugar

225g tinned caramel, or dulce de leche

Small pinch of salt

350g rolled oats

50g dark chocolate, broken into pieces

You will also need a 23 cm square tin, greased and base lined with baking paper

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/Gas 4.

2. Put the butter, sugar, caramel and the pinch of salt in a saucepan over a low heat and stir occasionally until the butter has melted and the sugar dissolved.

3. Take the pan off the heat, add the oats and mix together.

4. Tip the mixture into the prepared tin and level the surface using the back of a metal spoon.

5. Bake for 20 minutes until lightly browned, take out of the oven and leave to cool in the tin. Loosen the sides of the flapjack with a palette knife (or an ordinary knife if you don't have one) while it is still warm so that it doesn't stick to the sides when you turn it out.

6. When it is cold and firm, remove from the tin.

7. To decorate, melt the chocolate in a bowl set over a saucepan with a little simmering water.

8. Drizzle over the top of the flapjack with a teaspoon in a random fashion, or, (for aesthetic
purposes), pipe diagonal lines in a criss-cross pattern, as I did.

9. Leave the chocolate to set for a few hours before cutting into approximately 25 squares.