Crunchy or Smooth? Plain or Milk? Fruit or Straight?

The really important questions that should be answered on anyone's online dating profile? Obviously yes. I mean why do they even make smooth peanut butter? Chocolate? Ok you got me. Plain for me, but you wouldn't have to twist my arm much to get me to eat a few chunks of Cadburys Dairy Milk. 

Fruit or straight? Now we're getting personal. But before you spit your tea out over your laptop, I am talking flapjack. My favourite pre-marathon snack - especially those runs that start early and involve a 2 hour drive away from home, when I struggle to get out of bed for 5am and get my stuff together on time for the drive. I can at least be having some wholesome full fat, oaty, syruppy carbful brekky on the road. 

So fruit or straight? Fruit - and then some. Preserved peel, sultanas, orange juice, layered with apricot jam and finished off with chocolate ganache. 

You need to be a bit careful how many chunks* of this you consume per hour. It goes something like: 

1 = 'at's miyshe! (stop talking with your mouth full!) 
2 = Ooooh, that will probably get me through the first 10 miles. 
3 = I think my heart is getting palpitations now. 
4 = Hello, Mr Boese? Can you tell me where you are? 

This is just before the ganache goes on. Lovely chewy jammy bits bubbled up at the edges.

Recipe: 
Sultanas/mixed peel - couple of handfuls 
Enough orange juice to cover the fruit in a pan, warm this for 10 mins. 
300g butter goes in the pan with the fruit to melt 
Add 6tbsp golden syrup and 150g brown sugar. 

Mix 350-400g cheap oats and 150g pain flour in a big bowl 
Chuck all the wet stuff in and mix it all up. 
Spoon half the mix into a deep lined baking tray so it's 1/2 inch thick. 
Warm up some of your favourite jam and spread over the mix, make it fruity. 
Spread the rest of the mix over with a fork 
160degC oven for 25 mins or so till it's nice and brown. 

Take out to cool 
Add ganache if you like 

* a chunk is a decent sized gobful, not a dainty nibble.