Caramel & sour cherry flapjack - or what M&S don't want you to know

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It comes to something, doesn't it, when you're ripping your own recipes out of magazines. 

That makes me sound terribly grand but the truth is, I write a recipe column for our local parish mag (circulation, a whopping 734) and a couple of months ago, I treated them to this flapjack recipe that I made on a whim, having some left over tinned caramel and not wanting to eat it there and then with a teaspoon from the tin. I didn't blog it and then realised that I had thrown away my notes. The relevant issue of the parish mag was the only place it was recorded.

I had to rootle through the various piles around the house to dig the recipe out again (required eating for the weekend's camping trip) - no luck, and then - horrors - as I was emptying out the recycling I realised that my copy of the relevant issue was in there to be chucked out. I ripped out the relevant section, and decided that I'd better blog it and record it, otherwise what had been a happy accident would take me several failed attempts and many tins of caramel to recreate.

The thing that I love so much about these is the similarity to one of my guilty pleasures - those soft flapjacks sold in small bitesize squares in tubs by high end supermarkets. Bitesize, of course means that I always eat far more of them than necessary, and to be honest, I never buy them - but the Husband occasionally produces a half-finished barrel that's been at work. They never last long, and the tubs are great for freezing things in.

For me these are the best flapjacks I have ever made. After many attempts using different methods and ingredients, I may never try another recipe again....

Caramel & Sour Cherry Flapjacks

200g tinned caramel
220g unsalted butter
100g soft brown sugar
320g oats
75g dried sour cherries

Line a 20cm square tin & pre-heat the oven to 180C/160C fan.

Melt together the caramel, butter and sugar over a gentle heat, stirring occasionally. Add in the oats and dried fruit, stir together and press into the tin with a fork.

Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes, till golden brown. Simples.

I have also made this and then melted 65g dark chocolate and drizzled it over the top. 

Just saying.

R&J or M&S?