Honey flapjacks are soft, chewy flapjacks made using honey instead of golden syrup, are packed with dried fruits, seeds and nuts and are quick and easy to make.
They are perfect served as a dessert or with a cup of tea or coffee. They are also great for kids' lunchboxes, bake sales and picnics.
You can make them using common kitchen ingredients and they can be prepared and baked in around 30 minutes.
Similar to my recipe for brandy snaps, I have used honey as a substitute for golden syrup to replace some of the refined sugar with natural sugar. I also think they taste better too!
You may also like to try this recipe for banana flapjacks which are made without refined sugar, without butter and are dairy free.
If you like baking with oats, seeds and dried fruits you may also like to try date and oat slices, crunchy oat biscuits, cranberry and apple crumble bars or sesame seed biscuits.
Take a look at some other British baking recipes including vanilla slices, iced Bakewell tarts, Eccles cakes and lemon drizzle cake.
The quantities in this easy flapjack recipe are sufficient for a 28cm by 18cm (11" by 7") tin which can be cut into around 18 portions.
Flapjack ingredients
- 120g butter - use either salted or unsalted butter. You could substitute a margarine which is suitable for cooking and baking if you prefer.
- 75g Demerara sugar - alternatively you could use light muscovado sugar, granulated or caster sugar but any white sugar would result in a different flavour.
- 120g honey - in this flapjack recipe I use honey in place of golden syrup both for taste and to reduce the amount of refined sugar. Use a good quality honey for maximum flavour. You could substitute maple syrup or golden syrup if you prefer.
- 175g oats - rolled oats (porridge oats) are perfect for this recipe.
- 50g sunflower seeds - you could swap all or part for other types of seeds such as pumpkin seeds.
- 20g flax seeds - these combine with the liquid ingredients to help to bind the dry ingredients together. They also add flavour and texture.
- 75g raisins - raisins add flavour, texture and natural sugars to the flapjack. You could substitute sultanas or currants.
- 20g dried cranberries - these will add a tangy, fruity flavour and sweetness to the flapjacks. Chop before adding to the other ingredients. You could substitute dried blueberries, chopped dried apricots or chopped dates.
- 25g chopped almonds - you could use other chopped nuts such as pistachios, hazelnuts or Brazil nuts.
How to make British flapjacks with honey
Place all the dry ingredients into a bowl.
Mix.
Measure the butter, sugar and honey (the wet ingredients) into a pan.
Heat gently until the butter has melted and the sugar has dissolved, stirring regularly.
Pour the wet ingredients onto the dry ingredients.
Mix well.
Pack the mixture into the lined baking tin and press into place using the back of a spoon.
How to bake flapjack
Bake at 160oC, 325oF, gas mark 3 until slightly golden. This is likely to take around 15 minutes but check after 10 minutes. The flapjack will still be soft in the middle when it is ready but will set as it cools down.
Leave in the tin to cool.
Use a sharp knife to cut into squares or rectangles when it is completely cold.
How to store flapjacks
- Store your homemade flapjacks in an airtight container where they will stay as fresh as the day they were baked for several days.
- The flapjacks can also be frozen. Freeze the pieces separately then transfer to an airtight container. Defrost individual pieces at room temperature.
Variations
- If you don't wish to use honey you can substitute either maple syrup or golden syrup.
- You can substitute other dried fruits, seeds and nuts depending on your preference and what you have in your kitchen.
- You could make plain oat flapjacks by leaving out the dried fruit, nuts and seeds. For plain oat flapjacks you will use fewer dry ingredients so you won't need as much liquid to bind the oats. Reduce the butter to 100g and reduce the honey to 100g.
- You could make chocolate flapjacks by topping with a layer of melted chocolate after they have cooled.
Tips
- Heat the spoon before placing in the jar of honey so that the honey slides easily off the spoon.
- In this recipe for flapjacks with honey, if you add substantially more dried ingredients you may need to add a little extra melted butter and honey to bind the mixture. Similarly, if you substantially reduce the dried ingredients such as to make a plain flapjack (without dried fruit, seeds or nuts) use slightly less butter and honey.
- Don't remove from the tin until it has cooled or it might fall apart.
- Wait until the flapjack has cooled completely before cutting.
FAQs
Flapjacks are a popular British snack typically made using oats, butter, golden syrup and sugar. They are baked in a tin and cut into squares or rectangles. Other ingredients can be added such as dried fruit, seeds, chopped nuts or chocolate chips. This easy flapjack recipe uses honey as a substitute for golden syrup for an improved flavour an to reduce the amount of refined sugar.
In this flapjack recipe the flapjacks are bound together by honey and flax seeds. Traditional flapjacks are bound together by golden syrup.
Yes, your traybake of flapjack will still be soft when it is ready to take out of the oven but will set as it cools down.
Other recipes using oats
- Date and oat slices1 Hours
- Crunchy oat biscuits (homemade hobnobs)1 Hours
- Cranberry and apple crumble bars1 Hours 15 Minutes
- Chocolate chip and oat cookies (choc chip cookies)50 Minutes
Honey flapjacks with fruit and nuts
Ingredients
- 120 g butter
- 75 g Demerara sugar
- 120 g honey
- 175 g oats
- 50 g sunflower seeds
- 20 g flax seeds
- 75 g raisins
- 20 g dried cranberries
- 25 g chopped almonds
Instructions
Before starting this recipe
- Line a 28cm by 18cm (11" by 7" approximately) baking tin with baking parchment.
- Preheat the oven to 160oC, 325oF, gas mark 3.
To prepare the flapjacks
- Place all the dry ingredients into a bowl and mix.
- Measure the butter, sugar and honey (the wet ingredients) into a pan and heat gently until the butter has melted and the sugar has dissolved, stirring regularly.
- Pour the wet ingredients onto the dry ingredients and mix well.
- Pack the mixture into the lined baking tin and press into place using the back of a spoon.
To bake
- Bake at 160oC, 325oF, gas mark 3 until slightly golden. This is likely to take around 15 minutes but check after 10 minutes. The flapjack will still be soft in the middle when it is ready but will set as it cools down.
- Leave to cool in the tin. Remove from the tin when cold and cut into squares or rectangles using a sharp knife.
Notes
- Store the flapjacks in an airtight container where they will stay as fresh as the day they were baked for several days.
- The flapjacks can also be frozen. Freeze the pieces separately to avoid them freezing together and then transfer to an airtight container. Defrost individual pieces at room temperature.
- If you don't wish to use honey you can substitute either maple syrup or golden syrup.
- You can substitute other dried fruits, seeds an nuts depending on your preference and what you have in your kitchen.
- You could make a plain flapjack by leaving out the dried fruit, nuts and seeds. For a plain flapjack you will use fewer dry ingredients so you won't need as much liquid to bind the oats. Reduce the butter to 100g and reduce the honey to 100g.
- You could make chocolate flapjacks by topping with a layer of melted chocolate after they have cooled.
- Heat the spoon before placing in the jar of honey so that the honey slides easily off the spoon.
- If you add substantially more dried ingredients you may need to add a little extra melted butter and honey to bind the mixture. Similarly, if you substantially reduce the dried ingredients such as to make a plain flapjack (without dried fruit, seeds or nuts) use slightly less butter and honey.
- Don't remove from the tin until it has cooled or it might fall apart.
- Wait until the flapjack has cooled completely before cutting.
Sue Digby
Hey Judith,
Firstly, thank you for offering these recipes. Much appreciated by a very amateur baker, who loves flapjacks and really wanted to make her own. Who doesn't follow rules and is all in for easy instructions and little washing up 😉
I did swap out some of the dry ingredients. I used dark muscavado sugar instead of Demerara, pecans instead of almonds, lowered the gms of sunflower seeds and replaced with chocolate nibs, used mixed dried fruit instead of raisins and cranberries. The end result is going to struggle to stay in the freezer, they're delicious! One question for you. Is it an error where you ask for the sugar to be melted in the pan with the butter and honey as wet ingredients? Because it's a dry ingredient I'd already mixed it in the bowl with the other dry ingredients.
I then made (to your recipe) your banana and date flapjacks. Again, absolutely delicious.
Despite seeing there was a listing regarding calories, mine contain zero because they're home baked 😉
Thank you again for your generosity.
Judith
Hi Sue. That you for taking the time to try these recipes and give me your feedback. One thing I like about this flapjack recipe is that it is easy to swap ingredients, as you have done. Your combination of pecans, muscovado, mixed dried fruit and chocolate chips sounds good 🙂. I usually melt the butter in the pan with the sugar and honey before adding to the oats, seeds, nuts, etc, but it sounds as though your flapjacks turned out well!
Thank you for trying both the honey flapjacks and banana flapjacks. I like your comment about calories! It is very rewarding to read your review 🙂