I say it every year but autumn is my favourite season: chilly mornings, slow and low stews and woolly tights. These toffee apple flapjacks are the epitome of autumnal comfort food for me, ticking all the boxes of sweet, spiced and oaty.
Steven from the Speculaas Spice Company sent me a pouch of his speculaas spice mix to try* and I’ve been putting it to good use here. The mix of organic ginger, cinnamon, cloves and 6 other secret spices have a myriad of uses both sweet and savoury- I will be trying it with lamb on a Sunday roast in the near future. When cooked this spice has a definite aniseed note to it, so I am sure that is down to one of the secret spices in there.
Toffee apple has an obvious autumn connotation with its link to bonfire night on November 5th. The problem with toffee apples though is that they can be overly sweet or tooth cracking brittle so pack chunks of caramelised apple inside this oaty bar instead and everyone will be happy.
From apple to toffee apple
Pack your mixture in and make a tin foil wall if your tray is too big
All the flavours of autumn with sticky apple chunks and warming speculaas spice, these flapjacks will soon become your teatime favourite!
Ingredients
- Oats 275g
- Speculaas spice mix 1.5 tbsp
- Unsalted butter, cubed 200g
- Soft dark brown sugar 130g + 3 tbsp
- Golden syrup 70g
- Orange zest 1
- Eating apples 3
Instructions
- Heat oven to 175c. Line a brownie tray with baking paper
- Mix oats, speculaas spice mix and orange zest in a large bowl
- Peel and core apples. Cut into cubes approx. the size of a 10p piece
- In a large frying / saute pan, melt 25g butter and 3tbsp sugar over a medium heat. As they begin to melt down, add the apple chunks and stir to cover. Cook over a medium heat for approx. 10 minutes until the apple is soft and slightly caramelised
- In a second pan over a low heat, melt 175g butter, 130g sugar and golden syrup
- When the butter, sugar and syrup are all melted and mixed pour carefully into the oats and mix
- Add the apples and stir gently to combine into the oat mix
- Pour into your baking tray and pat it down tightly with the back of a spoon
- Cook for 25-30 minutes until golden on top
- Cool in the tray for 15 minutes then on a cooling rack until fully cold (if you can wait that long)
Notes
Pack your mixture in tight otherwise your flapjacks will fall apart. If your baking dish is too big, pack out the end with baking foil.
It took four batches to get the right ratios for these flapjacks and I think there are many more to come over the winter months! I would love to know what your favourite flavour combinations are for flapjacks- let me know in the comments below.
*Gifted item
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