Chocolate-Orange Flapjacks.

Many apologies for the lack of blog posting recently. A lot has happened in the last week... Mainly me quitting the week day job for good... Due to bullying, eczema and just a general feeling of "I'm better than this! I should not be scrubbing toilets for a living!" So... I'm currently job searching, have got an interview at one place and a trial day at another so it's looking up. I mean, I woke up this morning feeling sick with worry about the bills and rent but I have to stay positive.

Anyway, I realised I should do other posts than my outfits. And one thing I do time and time again is bake cakes. So I'm going to be sharing my favourite recipes and to start us off, here's a recipe for...

Chocolate-Orange Flapjacks.

Ingredients.

9oz unsalted butter;

9oz caster sugar;

6oz golden syrup;

Finely grated zest of 2 large oranges;

15oz porridge oats;

4oz sultanas;

4oz dried apricots, roughly chopped;

2 tbsp sunflower seeds;

2oz chocolate chips (milk or dark)

2 1/2oz melted chocolate (milk or dark).

Method.

Takes 40-45 minutes, plus cooling and setting. Makes 14.

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees centigrade/Gas Mark 4/fan oven 160 degrees centigrade. Lightly oil and base-line a shallow 12inchx8inch cake tin.

2. In a large pan over a low heat, melt the butter, sugar and syrup with the orange zest, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat and stir in the oats, sultanas, dried apricots and sunflower seeds. Cool slightly, then stir in the chocolate chips and spoon into the tin. Level the surface and bake for 20-25 minutes until golden. Leave in the tin until almost cold, then turn out on to a board.

3. Remove the lining paper and cut into 14 bars. Spoon the melted chocolate into a piping bag and drizzle over the bars (or just drizzle the chocolate from a teaspoon). Leave the chocolate to set before serving.