Chocolate Flapjack Recipe (2024)

Do you love chocolate and flapjacks? If so, then our chocolate flapjack recipe is perfect for you!

This British classic is made with only five ingredients: butter, sugar, golden syrup, rolled oats and chocolate.

It's a super easy recipe to follow; no skills are required; just a little patience, and you will have incredibly delicious chocolate flapjacks.

After the success of our golden syrup flapjacks recipe, we decided to add a chocolate topping. Use white, milk or dark chocolate or a mixture swirled together. Or you may prefer a fruit flapjack.

History

First, let's start with the history of flapjack recipes in the United Kingdom.

They were created as a way to use up leftover porridge oats made with only four ingredients: butter, sugar, golden syrup and oats.

We add chocolate on top for an extra sweet treat recipe.

Ingredients for Chocolate Flapjacks

With only five ingredients, it's a quick recipe to make. You will need the following to make chocolate flapjacks.

Butter

We use unsalted butter for this recipe. You can add a little salt if you like? It doesn't need to be room temperature as the butter will melt in the pan.

Golden Syrup

Golden syrup is a classic British ingredient in flapjacks and adds to the flavour; you could substitute it with honey or agave.

Sugar

I like to use light brown sugar; golden caster sugar will also give a lovely caramel flavour.

Porridge Oats

Instant oats or quick oats will produce a more soft, tender texture, which is better for children.

Jumbo rolled oats (as used in this post) or old-fashioned oats will produce a chewy firmer flapjack.

Chocolate

I use Menier cooking milk chocolate for this recipe; you can use dark chocolate or white chocolate.

I find the kids prefer milk chocolate flapjacks and the adults like the dark.

You could even make a marble topping by mixing two different chocolates on top of the flapjacks.

Cooking chocolate melts better than standard chocolate bars as they have a lower cocoa butter content.

But if that's all you have, it will work; be sure to chop it into small pieces, work quickly with it and do not overheat.

Equipment

Not much is needed to create these chocolate flapjacks at home.

Baking Tin

I have used a loose-bottomed 8x8 inch baking tin (20x20cm) to bake my flapjacks.

I recommend using this size to create an absolutely delicious thick layer of oats and chocolate topping on your flapjacks.

Using a larger baking tin or a baking tray will result in a thinner flapjack, and you may need more chocolate topping.

Using a loose bottom tin also helps make them easier to remove from the baking tin.

Line the tin with parchment paper or baking paper. Pictures are shown here for how to line your tin quickly and efficiently, which helps make it easier to remove.

Use the loose bottom to measure and cut corners away.

Return the bottom to the pan, fold the sides to where you have cut, place the square into the tin and pull up the sides to hang over the edges.

Wilton Baking Strips (optional)

I also use Wilton baking strips which you wet down with cold water before poping around the outside of the tin. The strips can be seen in the pictures of the flapjacks in the oven.

They help keep the outside of the baking tray cooler, ensuring the flapjacks' edges don't cook quicker than the rest.

They are also my favourite things to help create even baked sponges, as seen in my chocolate victoria sponge cake.

So if you love baking, I highly recommend the investment.

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 180°c / 160°c fan/gas mark 4 / 350 °F.

In a large saucepan, melt the butter, sugar and golden syrup together over low to medium heat, and constantly mix with a spoon until the sugar has dissolved.

Remove from the heat and stir in the oats until they are evenly covered.

If using dried fruits, chocolate chips, or other extras, mix them in now too.

Transfer the oat mixture into the 8x8 inch / 20x20 cm prepared tin and spread the mixture evenly.

Cooking Time

Bake flapjacks in a preheated oven (180°C/160°C fan/gas mark 4/350 °F) for about 15 minutes. Keep an eye on the edges; you don't want them to overcook.

They will not look much different from when they went in the oven.

It is normal for them to be soft still, remember, butter won't turn solid until it cools!

Leave to cool slightly still in the tray for about 30 minutes before adding your chocolate topping.

How to Melt chocolate

There are two ways to melt the chocolate for topping flapjacks; my preferred method is using a bain-marie as it's foolproof and very gentle.

Microwave is the second option, but it's much easier to overheat and seize chocolate this way so take it slowly!

Bain-Marie / Double Boiler

If you have one, great! If not, no worry; you can make your own using a glass pyrex bowl or a metal mixing bowl with a saucepan.

The bowl and saucepan should be a close fit; you don't want a big gap between the bowl and the saucepan, nor do you want a bowl that is too big and tipping off the pan.

Add enough water to the saucepan to create steam. It doesn't need to be touching the mixing bowl.

Place chocolate in the bowl and heat over medium-low heat, stirring the chocolate until melted and smooth.

The chocolate melts in the top bowl from the gentle heat of the water's steam. Melting chocolate in this way prevents the chocolate from burning or seizing up.

Microwave

Another way is to melt the chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl at a low temperature in 30-second intervals, stirring between intervals until smooth. Be careful not to overheat the chocolate, as it will seize and ruin it.

Pour the melted chocolate over the cool-to-touch flapjacks and spread evenly using a spatula.

Tap the tray against the worktop a few times to remove air bubbles in the chocolate.

Setting Time

Place into the fridge and allow the chocolate flapjacks to set until rock hard in the refrigerator. It must cool completely before cutting.

The setting will take at least 40 minutes, but the longer, the better!

How to Cut Flapjack

Once your chocolate flapjacks have cooled, and the chocolate has set rock hard, you can cut them into even-sized squares or bars.

I cut mine to make 16 individual chocolate flapjacks; they are very sweet, so you could even cut them into smaller bite-sized squares.

📖 Step by Step Recipe

Storage

Chocolate flapjacks are best stored in an airtight container in the fridge, where they can be kept for up to one week.

Can you freeze flapjacks?

They can also freeze them for up to three months. Wrap each chocolate flapjack with cling film and store them in an airtight freezer container to prevent freezer burn. Defrost at room temperature.

Serving Suggestions

Chocolate flapjacks are best served at room temperature as they are softer and easier to chew.

So, remove them from the fridge a couple of hours before enjoying your chocolate flapjacks as a sweet snack or dessert; try adding a drizzle of our chocolate sauce.

Chocolate flapjacks also make an excellent gift for friends, family or teachers!

Optional Extras

This chocolate flapjack recipe is sweet enough, in my opinion, but you could also add any of the following either on top or in with the oat mix.

Nuts

You can add chopped almonds, hazelnuts or pecans; all work well.

Coconut

You can add a sprinkle of desiccated coconut for a lovely tropical twist.

Dried fruit

Try can add raisins, sultanas or even dried cranberries. I like to add a handful of chopped dates for an extra special treat.

Chocolate Chips

Add chocolate chips to the flapjack mixture or on top of the melted chocolate topping. White chocolate chips look great on top of a milk chocolate flapjack.

Salt

Add a pinch of salt to your flapjack mixture for a savoury edge. Or some salt flakes on top of the melted dark chocolate flapjack before setting.

More Chocolate Recipes

If you love this chocolate flapjacks recipe, check out some of our other chocolate recipes.

Chocolate Cornflake Cakes - Ridiculously easy with no baking involved!

Chocolate Chip Rock Buns - Another classic British baking recipe.

Milk Chocolate Truffles - We share how to make your own truffles.

Chocolate Chip Brownies - Delicious double chocolate brownies!

Let us know what your favourite chocolate recipe is?