Well, it seems that I am finally feeling more festive (not that I've got things sorted or organised - far from it but hey!) and anyway how could you resist such a name for this lovely treat? Why are they Rudolph's flapjacks? Well, because the contain carrot of course! Don't worry, this isn't an unwelcome intrusion - just think of carrot cake (and we all know how delicious that is!) and you'll be working on the right lines.
I came across the recipe when I was browsing on the BBC Good Food website, you can find it here. I would never have spotted it in the actual magazine - it's hidden away as a tiny little list of instructions on a page containing five other ideas for quick bakes for the holiday season. It really caught my attention though, because I had all the ingredients in and haven't made flapjack for a while now. I'm a big fan of carrot cake and these are all the flavours of carrot cake in an easy-to-make flapjack form. Sometimes you just see a recipe and know it's going to be right - this was one of those times.
I made only minor changes - the zest of two clementines instead of one orange, a tsp of mixed spice instesad of the specified cinnamon, because I prefer the more rounded flavour of mixed spice over cinnamon, and I left out the seeds because I'm not keen on them. I also soaked my apricots (which were very dry) in the juice of one of the clementines, about 40ml, for about 20 minutes whilst I did other things. I grated my carrots finely as I didn't want them to be too prominent. I also wanted flapjacks that weren't as deep, so I decided to use an 8"/20cm tin, rather than the specified 18cm tin.
Edited to add: as Suelle points out in her comment, 2 carrots is a bit vague. I forgot to weigh the ones I actually used, but finding two similar ones, they weighed 100g before peeling. I hope that's more helpful if you're planning on making these (and do, it's really worth it!).
I baked mine for at least 45 minutes in spite of using a larger tin. I just kept checking them until they were a light brown on the top. Even so, they're very fragile so be careful turning them out - I wasn't careful enough and my flapjack broke in half.
Oh so delicious - so moist in a really good way and the combination of flavours from the dried apricot, orange zest, spice and oats is just divine. You can't taste the carrot, but I'm certain it adds to the moistness of the flapjack. As I suspected, these fell apart a little on eating, but actually, this is no bad thing. I will definitely be making these again, they were so easy to put together, feel so festive and are the perfect sustaining snack for the busy times leading up to Christmas but when you don't want yet another mince pie or chocolate from the tin (yes, I believe it actually is possible to have too many mince pies and chocolates!!!) I think my colleagues must have agreed because these disappeared with record speed!
I'm submitting these for the December Teatime Treats challenge, hosted by Karen of Lavender and Lovage and Kate of What Kate Baked, two lovely ladies with lovely blogs! This month's host is Kate and she has rather appropriately chosen Christmas as the theme.
I think this is a great bake for Christmas, and perfect for the children to leave out either for Father Christmas or Rudolph - after all they both have a busy night on the 24th December, delivering all those presents (and I'll be tracking Santa here), so a good sustaining piece of flapjack would be very welcome and make a change from all the mince pies and carrots they usually get :-)
16 comments:
I think Rudolph will be very happy - they look lovely!
Healthy, delicious and so moist too. Do send these to lets cook for christmas red/green event @simply.food.
Love the sound of your Rudolph flapjacks, nice festive colours and a lovely combination of flavours. What I like about flapjacks, is that despite the sugar, they are a sort of healthy snack!!! I've bookmarked this recipe.
This looks an interesting recipe, but I really like to have a better idea of how much carrot to use in these sort of recipes. Two could vary in weight from 50 - 200g, and would make a lot of difference to how long the flapjack takes to bake and how wet or crumbly it is!
MissCakeBaker - thankyou! I like to think Rudolph sometimes needs a bit more energy than a carrot can give ;-)
Simply.food - thanks. I will try and stop by and check out your event.
Choclette - indeed. The false illusion of health created by oats!!! I think these would do very well indeed with the addition of some chocolate!
Suelle - good point. I thought to myself that it was a rubbish instruction in the recipe, but then forgot to weigh the carrots I used. I've just been and located two similar size ones to the ones I used, and I think approximately 100g before peeling would be what I used. Will update the blog at some point. I think the coarseness of grating must also make a difference. Mine were very fine, but because my grater is pretty new and sharp, not excessively wet. Hope that's helpful!
They sound really good and a bit different to the usual festive offerings!
I like the sound of these - I am very keen on flapjacks but rarely make them. They will go on next year's list of goodies to bake for tea, thanks C !
Never thought of adding carrot to flapjack but can imagine them working really well. Where are the days going? Its nearly Christmas I can't beleive. So much festive baking still to do
I love this sort of museli bar/flapjack recipe! And the inclusion of carrot for rudolph is fabulous!
I had hoped they would be flapjacks with red noses but apricot and carrot are just fine with me - sounds delicious and love your little rudolph
And I forgot to say merry christmas - hope you have a lovely one
If I was Rudolph I'd be just like your colleagues C- not a crumb would be left! Brilliant recipe- and thank you very much for entering into Tea Time Treats!
Anna - being a little different was what attracted me to them. But they taste just as delicious as more traditional treats!
Jo - I'd love to hear how you get on with them. I thought the balance of the flavours with the oats was good.
Katie - indeed - Christmas has definitely crept up on me this year. So much blogging to do, so little time!
Brittany - you must try them then!
Johanna - Thank you for the festive wishes. I guess cherry flapjacks with glace cherries would also be great for Rudolph! I'm glad you like him, I think he's sweet!
Kate - thanks! They were surprisingly popular, but no-one asked why they were Rudolph's and I didn't promote the fact that they contained carrot!
I am very pleased to hear no Rudolph's were harmed in the making of these flapjacks lol. The look positively lush but with carrot in them I could convince myself they are good for my waist line ;0)
Chele - thankfully no Rudolph in here lol! I'm sure you could convince yourself they're good for you!
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