British Air Fryer Flapjacks (Soft, Chewy and Fussy-Kid Approved)

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I love making bread and sweet treats, and my favourite tool for it has to be my air fryer. The reality is my children are super fussy, so we're slowly building a family list of recipes they'll actually eat, and today my daughter and I made British flapjacks in the air fryer.

This one is inspired by my old school cookbook and my Mom, who always made flapjacks for us when we were younger... just not in the air fryer!

An honest note: we didn't have every ingredient on the list this time, so we improvised and baked ours in a round 8-inch tin cut into wedges. They still came out golden and chewy. We'll make them again after a trip to the store and I'll update this post.

They travel well, which makes them a good one for school lunches and picnics.

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Ingredients (makes 16 squares)

• Butter: 225 g (US: 1 cup / 2 sticks)

• Demerara sugar: 100 g (US: ½ cup)

• Light brown sugar, packed: 100 g (US: ½ cup)

• Golden syrup: 5 tbsp (I use Lyle's Golden Syrup)

• Rolled porridge oats: 360 g (US: about 4½ cups)

• Vanilla extract: 1 tsp

Tools you'll need

• Air fryer: mine is the Cosori TurboBlaze 6 Qt (see it on Amazon)

• Mixing bowl: I use my Pyrex Colors bowls with lids (see them on Amazon)

• A 20 cm / 8-inch tin that fits your air fryer, lined with baking parchment

• A small saucepan for melting

Method

1. Preheat the air fryer to 160°C / 320°F. Grease and line a 20 cm / 8-inch tin that fits your air fryer.

2. Gently melt the butter, both sugars and golden syrup over low heat, stirring. Don't let it boil, or the flapjacks can turn out hard.

3. Stir in the vanilla, then the oats, until every oat is coated.

4. Press firmly into the tin, right into the corners. Air fry for 16 to 20 minutes: 16 for softer bars, 18 for chewy centres and golden edges, 20 for firmer bars. Start checking at 15.

5. Cool in the tin for at least 2 hours, ideally overnight, then cut into 16 squares.

Kitchen notes: weigh the oats if you can, because cup measurements vary by brand. A silicone tin may need a few minutes longer. Honey works instead of golden syrup, but it changes the flavour.

What I used (and why I love it)

Cosori TurboBlaze 6 Qt air fryer: my favourite kitchen tool. It gets super hot, which is amazing for jacket potatoes, and now we're using it for baking too. I'd honestly rather have two of these than a double-drawer air fryer; I've had zero luck with double drawers heating up equally. → Shop the Cosori on Amazon

Pyrex Colors mixing bowls with lids: my best mixing bowls. They double as salad bowls, the lids make them perfect for make-ahead food, and they're great for bread making. → Shop the Pyrex bowls on Amazon

Lyle's Golden Syrup: the one I use, and what gives flapjacks their proper British flavour. → Shop Lyle's on Amazon

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Inspired by my old school cookbook and my Mom. Air fryer timings adapted from Beth Sachs at Effortless Foodie.