If I had to tell you one of my favourite traybakes to both make and eat, it would be flapjack. It’s so easy to put together; it’s just the waiting for it to bake and cool that’s the hard bit! Other than eating the end product, scraping out the syrupy pan is my second favourite part. And don’t forget the smell. Oh who am I kidding – I love it all.

Give me any flavour of flapjack, and I’ll eat it. Plain flapjack, full of fruit. No topping, and thick topping. I don’t care. Just give it to me. This version is packed full of dried fruit; you can use anything that you have in your cupboard really. I find it a great recipe to use up those few bits and pieces left at the bottom of the packet. The thick layer of chocolate on the top makes it more indulgent.

Ingredients (makes 16)

• 160g butter
• 115g brown sugar (muscovado or demerara is fine)
• 1tbsp golden syrup
• 240g porridge oats
• 130g dried fruit/nuts (for this version, I used sultanas, cranberries and desiccated coconut)
• 400g milk chocolate, melted

Method

• • Preheat oven to gas 4/350f/180c.
  • Grease and line a 7-8 inch square baking tin. (You could also use a silicone tray).
  • Put the butter, sugar and syrup in a large pan, and place over a low heat, stirring until the sugar has dissolved.
  • Remove from the heat and add your fruit, nuts and oats to the pan and mix well. A wooden spoon and strong arm comes in handy here as the mixture will be quite stiff!
  • Tip the mixture into the prepared tin and flatten down with the back of a spoon.

• Bake for 20 minutes then remove from the oven. Don’t worry if the top is still soft as it will harden as it cools.
• Leave to cool completely then pour the melted chocolate over the top. You may need to tip the tin slightly to get it into all four corners.
• Put in the fridge until the chocolate has set, then cut it into pieces with the best knives for kitchen use.
• Enjoy!