I need emergency nosh as I'm going to be staying two nights at a hotel in a small town in Scotland at the end of the week for a wedding, and I don't know how much they may mess up the vegan/low-fat diet thing. Here's the recipe in question, which I haven't made for years but which I remember being a good solid favourite.
Apple flapjacks
6oz/175g porridge oats
2oz/50g margarine
2oz/50g sultanas, chopped
1oz/25g demerara sugar
2 rounded tbsp golden syrup
8oz/225g cooking apple, peeled, cored and grated [about 1 apple]
½oz/15g stem ginger, finely chopped [about 1 piece]
[optionl: add a touch of spice, cinnamon for instance]
1. Heat the margarine, sugar and golden syrup gently in a saucepan until melted.
2. Remove from the heat and stir in the rest of the ingredients.
3. Mix thoroughly and spoon the mixture into a lined and greased 7”/18cm square flan tin. Press down firmly and evenly with the back of a spoon.
4. Bake in a preheated oven at 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4 for about 30-35 min until golden.
5. Leave in the tin for 15 min, then cut into bars [she suggests 8, I think I make at least 12] and put them onto a wire rack to cool completely.
From Vegan Baking by Linda Majzlik
The fat content is already pretty low, judging by the recipes I've been seeing online. Any suggestions for how to reduce the sugar content? I was thinking of using ready-to-eat dates, possibly chopped and boiled up, and taking out the sultanas and stem ginger.
If you're going to suggest new ingredients, please bear in mind that I am in the UK and vegan. I don't use artificial sweeteners such as Splenda, but I do have agave syrup and the like.
Lastly, does anyone have tips on how to store the leftovers? Some people freeze flapjacks, it seems, though I don't know how well it would work with the moister, fruit-based ones, especially when cut into much smaller pieces. Thawing them in the toaster seems popular but I'm dubious as to how well it would work.