Do you have a savoury flapjacks recipe?

I was on the hunt for a savoury flapjacks recipe today. I Googled, as you do, and absolutely every single recipe I found had cheese in it, and carrots. By the tenth recipe, I was thinking s#d this, I’m going to do one without cheese or carrots. So there!

I sort of knew what I wanted to put in it, what I was trying to find out was how to keep the cooled flapjacks soft and chewy, rather than sort of crispy. A flapjack without the sugar and syrup (which keeps it soft) is just fat and oats. Not very delicious sounding.

So I had to start from first principle. First step was melting some butter. I didn’t want to use oil as I thought the cooled flapjacks might be oily to the touch, which didn’t seem nice.

Measured out some oats. Now, what else can I put in it. Rummaging in the cupboard produced some whole almonds that need using before they go rancid, so I chop chop chopped those up, and added to the oats. I wanted the flavour of rosemary so did the same to some sprigs from the garden.

Now, what can I add for more flavour and to keep them soft and chewy.  I started off with a tube of tomato purée, but didn’t use that in the end. I spied some Pataks hot mango chutney, (since changed to Asda mango chutney when repriced)  in went a spoon of that to the melted butter, (also changed in the reprice as butter has increased in price SO much) then a spoon of caramelised onion chutney, one of onion chutney and two of sweet chilli sauce.  Mixed everything together.

Stuck head in bowl and inhaled – oooh. Tasted a bit – mmmm. Pressed it all in a tin and baked. Oooh, yum, yum, YUM.

Savoury flapjacks

priced at Asda using mySupermarket in January 2019

100g brilliantly buttery, melted, 1kg/£1.44, 14p
180g oats, value 75p/1kg, 13p
80g almonds, chopped pretty small, Asda 200g/£2, 80p
2 tblsps sweet chilli sauce, 228ml/£1.58, 21p
1 tblsp caramelised onion chutney, £1.35/310g, 6p
1 tblsp Asda mango chutney, Asda 240g/£1, 6p
2 tblsps chopped rosemary, Asda, half a pack, 27p
Total cost £1.67, 12 pieces = 14p each

Melt the butter, add the sauces and stir all together. This is so that when you add these to the dry ingredients, everything is evenly distributed.

Chop the rosemary finely, discarding any woody bits. I’m not sure how big the Asda packs are, so I’ve guessed that 2 tblsps is half a pack. With any luck, you or a neighbour will have some in the garden that you can use, so it would be free.

Chop the almonds into small pieces, about the size of a big  lentil.

Mix everything together. Press the mix into a tin, I used one with an inside measurement of 27cm x 17cm/10 3/4 x 7 inches.

Bake for 25 minutes at 180C fan/ 200C non fan / 400F / gas mark 6 until golden brown. Leave to cool in the tin, then cut into slices and store in an airtight container. I cut mine into 12

12 pieces, each piece 184 calories, 14g carbs, 13g fat, 3g protein, 3g fibre

What are savoury flapjacks like?

The sweet chilli sauce gave a distinctive flavour, which is lovely, but next time I’m going to try them without that. I think they would work well with just caramelised onion. They are deeply savoury, very delicious and could be used as breakfast, with or for lunch or as an anytime snack. They would be very good with a soup

Variations for savoury flapjacks

• The almonds could be swapped for cheaper nuts, perhaps salted peanuts or cashews, or just leave them out.
• I think the butter may keep the flapjacks soft, so everything else is flavour. Can’t particularly taste that it’s butter so margarine would be fine.
• Coconut cream is a something I’d like to try
• Sage or thyme
• Home made chutney
• Stuffing mix, would need to make sure it’s not too crunchy with that, perhaps soak it a bit first
• That tomato purée
• And of course curry spices, powders and pastes
• Maybe even some grated parmesan or miso paste for an umami hit

 

This recipe is already vegetarian, use a vegan margarine, and it’s vegan too

So there we have it, savoury flapjacks, another yummy base recipe. Do let me know if you try it and what flavours you add, I’d love to know

Want More Oaty Things?

If you like oaty things, you might like these oaty biscuits, often known as Twinks Hobnobs

Why Twinks Hobnobs? This came about when Cheap Family Recipes was being built and all kinds of recipes were being tried, frugalised and tested, lots of them many times. Twink was (is?) the nom de plume of a contributer to the boards on MSE, and wrote the hobnobs recipe. Hence, Twinks Hobnobs!

Oaty Biscuits. Delicious, very versatile and totally irresistible!

Or try these vegan oat bars. A flapjack with a jammy layer, or a savoury layer of caramelised onions, chutney or curry

Jammy Flapjack. This vegan oat bar can be savoury too