Dazed and confused...

I can state with certainty that celebrating holidays and feast days is a very taxing occupation. Like an ageing journeyman boxer, I dutifully get up each morning for another round, ready to take more punishment from a superior opponent, Old Father Time. This year he has attached weights to my legs, in the form of a bloody awful cough and cold, to add a bit more spice to an already uneven contest. Cooking has come to halt for the moment as I truly can’t be bothered. Luckily there are still some leftovers, including pieces of these sexy flapjacks that I made from a Nigel Slater recipe. I was missing a few of the ingredients like sour cherries and pumpkin seeds. Just use your imagination and replace them with something similar, or leave them out.

Ingredients

• 50g/2oz walnuts
• 4 dried figs
• 30g/1oz sour cherries
• 30g/1oz cranberries
• 30g/1oz pumpkin seeds
• 1 tbsp ground almonds
• 50g/2oz  butter
• 100g/3½oz golden caster sugar
• 2 tbsp golden syrup – English brand of sugar syrup
• 100g/3½oz porridge oats
• 100g/3½oz rolled oats
• 100g/3½oz dark chocolate

Preparation method

1. Turn the oven on to 180C/350F/Gas 4.
2. Roughly chop the walnuts and figs then add to a food processor along with the sour cherries, the cranberries and half the pumpkin seeds. Add a spoonful of ground almonds and blitz together – but not for long – leaving nice sizable chunks of the nuts and fruit. Tip into a large mixing bowl along with the rest of the whole pumpkin seeds.
3. In a pan melt the butter with the sugar and golden syrup, trying not to stir it too much and allowing it to melt together gradually.
4. Once melted mix in the oats and the fruit and nuts and spread the mixture out evenly in an oven tray then bake for 25 minutes.
5. Melt the chocolate in a bowl over simmering water. When the flapjacks are baked, cut them into small rectangles and dip them as far as you dare into the melted chocolate.
6. Allow to chill for 20 minutes in the fridge and then serve.