These easy apple flapjacks are delicious, portable, chewy & just the ticket if you are after a homemade treat, lunchbox snack or bake sale offering. They're also a doddle to make so there is really no excuse not to!
I adore an easy traybake recipe and flapjacks are by far one of the quickest and easiest bakes to make.
The addition of grated apple in these scrumptious apple flapjacks contributes some of the moisture, a bit of subtle tartness against otherwise sweet treat but also some extra goodness.
Ok, I'm definitely not trying to cheat myself that these apple flapjacks are a health food. But with substantial amount of wholesome oats, apple and of course raisins, walnuts and cinnamon (if you wish to add these as well), they're definitely not too bad.
And perhaps most of all, unlike so many shop bought oat bars, they don't contain any flavourings, emulsifiers etc., only your regular, honest ingredients.
If flapjacks are your thing, you might like to check out my Healthy Banana Flapjacks and/or Chewy Cranberry Flapjacks next.
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✔️ Why you will love this recipe
- Simple to make and wonderfully portable.
- Super tasty and pretty wholesome.
- Perfect treat for lunchboxes, play dates, picnics, bake sales, after school/work snack or even for dessert (maybe with some ice cream or custard).
- Great recipe for getting kids involved in the kitchen.
- Easy to adapt for different diets, easily made dairy-free, gluten-free, nut-free and vegan.
- It will make your kitchen smell divine!
- Freezer friendly!
📝 Ingredients and substitutes
Here's what you will need to make my Apple Flapjacks:
Porridge Oats - Our main ingredient, the bulk of the bake.
I've tried these flapjacks with jumbo (old-fashioned) oats, mixture of jumbo and porridge oats and just porridge oats. The ones made with just porridge oats were the ones I liked the most texture wise and also because they held their shape best.
Feel free to experiment yourself but porridge oats or fine type of rolled oats (names differ depending on where you are in the world) on their own will definitely give you most consistent, yummy result and they will hold together too.
***Quick Tip*** If you need for these flapjacks to be gluten-free make sure to use gluten-free certified oats as not all of them are.
Apples - I used Bramley apples here as I was after that bit of tartness to counteract the sweetness. Feel free to use sweeter eating variety of apples here instead.
Golden Syrup - In the UK flapjacks are synonymous with golden syrup although feel free to substitute it with honey or agave syrup. I wouldn't use maple syrup due to its thinner consistency.
Brown Sugar - I use light brown sugar.
Butter or Plant Block Butter - I use Salted Flora Plant but feel free to use any butter you like salted or unsalted.
Ground Cinnamon - Perfect spice to accompany apples but you can leave it out if you prefer. Mixed spice could be an option too but I would only go for 1 tsp.
Walnuts & Raisins - These are extras which you can easily leave out but I like a bit of crunch and an odd raisin in my flapjacks plus they contribute to the goodness quota too.
***Quick Tip*** Don't be tempted to add more walnuts and raisins than stated in the recipe as too much will make these flapjacks fragile and prone to falling apart.
🔪 Instructions
Ingredient quantities & detailed instructions to be found in recipe card at the bottom of the post.
Preheat the oven to 170°C/340°F/Gas Mark 3.5 and line 20cm/8inch square baking tin with some baking paper overlapping on two sides for easy flapjacks removal later.
Put butter, sugar and golden syrup into a large saucepan and heat up gently on a low heat, stirring until they melt together and you get a uniform mixture. Set aside.
***Quick Tip*** Make sure you heat the mixture up gently and slowly and don't let it come to boil as this will result in hard flapjacks.
Grate the apple(s) (no need to peel) on the coarse side of the grater.
***Quick Tip*** Make sure to grate the apple(s) right before you're ready to use them as oxidation will make them go brown.
To the saucepan with melted butter/sugar/golden syrup mixture add all of the remaining ingredients including grated apple and give them all a good mix until incorporated.
Transfer the mixture into prepared baking tin and press down firmly and evenly either with the palm of your hand or back of the spoon.
Bake in preheated oven for 20-25 minutes until golden brown but still soft to the touch. Flapjacks will firm up more as they cool down.
Once out of the oven, you can very gently score flapjack portions for easier cutting once cool. Scoring should be only gentle and not all the way through.
Let apple flapjacks cool completely in a tin before taking out and slicing into portions to prevent them from falling apart.
Enjoy!
🥡 Storing
Store: Apple flapjacks will keep in the airtight container for 3-4 days.
If you'd like to store them for longer or if it's really hot in your kitchen I would store them in the fridge (for up to a week). It's mainly due to added apple which shortens shelf-life of these flapjacks especially when hot.
Freeze: They also freeze really well for up to 3 months.
I would suggest you freeze them in portions in freezer safe containers or bags, separated with some baking paper so that they don't stick together.
Defrost: Take them out of the freezer and defrost on the kitchen counter (they won't take long, about an hour) or overnight in the fridge.
💭 Pro Tips
For chewy flapjacks that don't fall apart use finer, porridge style oats.
Make sure to line your baking tin even if it's super non-stick. You will make your life so much easier when it comes to removing your flapjacks plus you can be certain they won't indeed stick.
Don't overbake your apple flapjacks (unless you prefer them crunchy).
Even though I suggest you score the warm flapjacks gently to make it easier to cut them later, DO NOT attempt to remove them from the tin and cut them fully when warm as they will fall apart. Wait for them to cool completely before you do that.
If you are really, REALLY impatient, you can always put them in the fridge to speed up the process.
❓ FAQ
There are few possible reasons:
1. Perhaps you cut them too soon and when they were still warm?
2. Did you use suggested type of oats e.g. porridge oats? Bigger, less processed oats will make flapjacks more fragile.
2. Your butter/sugar/syrup mixture wasn't properly melted.
3. You didn't press the mixture down in the tin firm enough and have left some air pockets.
The reason might be as simple as you baked them for too long or you allowed the sugar/butter mixture come to boil which led to caramelisation and hard flapjacks.
You can try giving it a few second in a microwave to soften it a bit or try a method of storing them in a container with a piece of bread to draw out the moisture out of bread and into your flapjacks.
Have you tried my Easy Apple Flapjacks recipe?
Please consider giving it ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating in recipe card below and share your views or tips in the comments.
😋 More apple recipes
Polish Apple Pancakes (racuchy z jabłkami)
Creamy Apple & Cinnamon Porridge
📋 Recipe
Easy Apple Flapjacks
Ingredients
- 300 g porridge oats or finer type rolled oats
- 179 g butter or plant block butter (salted or unsalted) I use Salted Flora Plant
- 150 g light brown sugar
- 50 g golden syrup see notes
- 300 g Bramley apple(s) skin on
- 1-2 teaspoon ground cinnamon adjust the amount to your liking, I love it and used 2 tsp
- 50 g walnut pieces (optional) roughly chopped
- 50 g raisins or sultanas (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 170°C/340°F/Gas Mark 3.5 and line 20cm/8inch square baking tin with some baking paper overlapping on two sides for easy flapjacks removal later.
- Put butter, sugar and golden syrup into a large saucepan and heat up gently on a low heat, stirring until they melt together and you get a uniform mixture. Set aside.***Quick Tip*** Make sure you heat the mixture up gently and slowly and don't let it come to boil as this will result in hard flapjacks.179 g butter or plant block butter (salted or unsalted), 150 g light brown sugar, 50 g golden syrup
- Grate the apple(s) (no need to peel) on the coarse side of the grater. ***Quick Tip*** Make sure to grate the apple right before you're ready to use it as oxidation will make it go brown.300 g Bramley apple(s)
- To the saucepan with melted butter/sugar/golden syrup mixture add all of the remaining ingredients including grated apple and give it all a good mix until incorporated.300 g porridge oats, 1-2 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 50 g walnut pieces (optional), 50 g raisins or sultanas (optional)
- Transfer the mixture into prepared baking tin and press down firmly and evenly either with the palm of your hand or back of the spoon.
- Bake in preheated oven for 20-25 minutes until golden brown but still soft to the touch as flapjacks will firm up more as they cool down.
- Once out of the oven, you can very gently score flapjack portions for easier cutting once cool. Scoring should be only gentle and not all the way through. Let apple flapjacks cool completely in a tin before taking out and slicing into portions to prevent them from falling apart. Enjoy!
Notes
- Nutritional information is approximate, per serving based on 16 servings and should be treated as a rough guideline only.
- I like to weigh my golden syrup for greater accuracy. If you don't have it, feel free to use honey or agave syrup as they have similar consistency. I find maple syrup a bit too liquid.
- Refer to Ingredients section in the blog post for details on other ingredients and substitutions.
- Keep in the airtight container for 3-4 days or in the fridge for up to a week. Freezer friendly.
SAN. says
Will make them today.
Thank u for your advice on the oven temp.l bought a thermometer and what a difference.The bread was light,well baked and enjoyed by all my visitors.Your bread recipe is the best.l had to write out the recipe for my friends.Can I make it with using just white flour.
joskitchenlarder says
Hi San, So pleased the oven thermometer did the trick. Yes, you can make the no-knead bread using all plain flour. Enjoy the flapjacks! 😊
Sue George says
Hi Jo
Can I use pear instead of apples in this recipe ?
joskitchenlarder says
Hello Sue, I haven't tried it but think it should work as long as pear is ripe but not too ripe and still holding its shape. I would also suggest peeling it. Hope that helps. 😊