Cranks Flapjack with Molasses

"Three o'clock is always too late or too early for anything you want to do".  John-Paul Sartre (1905-1980). La Nausee, Vendredi.

My son went crazy a while back over some flapjack squares from an M&S bucket that were on offer at the music group we go to.  They were incredibly sweet.  It had me thinking that I could make this at home and adjust the sweet content  It can't be that difficult. After consulting a few recipe books, I was shocked at the amount of butter and sugar that goes into these things.  But of course!  How else would you make oats so delicious?

First, I tried a Prue Leith recipe produces some nice bars, but they set so hard that they'd risk breaking a tooth.   My Mum makes several 'healthy' flapjack variations with dates and oranges which I will try next but I wanted something that just used oats at this stage.  Co-incidentally it was at her house I was thumbing through a copy of the Cranks Recipe Book (Canter, Canter & Swann, 1982).  I remember a beautiful Armemian soup from here many years ago at a friends house.  I also used to meet my brother for lunch at their Covent Garden restaurant in the early 1990's when we were students.  Sensing Mum was a little reluctant to loan me her paperback (knowing how many of her other cookery books are on loan to my shelves), I decided to buy a copy online. However,  I didn't want a modern reprint, only an original dogeared paperback would do.  I found one for 99p (minus postage and packaging) and it arrived home before me.

The Cranks flapjack is a triumph.  It contains raw brown sugar and molasses.  The molasses gives it a depth and second flavour.  But most of all, it stays perfectly moist out the tin, three days after I made it.  Son and husband love it and it was perfect to make at 3pm in the afternoon and then bung in the oven later with supper (apologies to Sartre).

Also, I have finally found an outlet for the jar of molasses.  It hasn't so far proved popular on any previous outings in my household, even in tiny amounts, on breakfast porridge.  It may contain health-giving minerals, but it looks like tar.

I see Cranks now have a restaurant at the Dartington Cider Press - I've lunched here twice in recent years, why has this completely passed me by?  I'll make sure I find them on our Devon trip, this summer.