Cranberry Sauce Flapjacks

I love flapjacks and I have very little self control when it comes to eating them so I try not to make them too often because I can't resist eating them. I bought loads of cranberries in December and filled the top shelf of my freezer with them. I still have 2 packets left so there will be more cranberry recipes later in the year.  I made these flapjacks a couple of weeks ago in a flash of inspiration. I thought jam would work quite nicely sandwiched into a flapjack. I had a go at making some cranberry jam last month but it didn't turn out very well, I managed to burn it slightly so I obviously need more jam making practice. Fortunately I only made enough to fill a 1lb jar and I did eat it so it wasn't a complete waste. So instead of risking another jam catastrophe, I decided to make cranberry sauce instead. There isn't a huge amount of sugar in the sauce as I still wanted to be able to taste the tartness of the cranberries and of course there is quite a lot of sugar in flapjacks.

Ingredients - makes 12 large or 16 small flapjacks

For the cranberry sauce:
300g fresh or frozen cranberries
125ml water
150g caster sugar
1 large cinnamon stick broken in half or 2 small sticks

For the flapjacks:
200g soft dark brown sugar
200g butter
2 tbsp golden syrup
350g porridge oats

1. First make the cranberry sauce, you can do this a couple of days in advance if you want and store it in the fridge. In a small saucepan add the cranberries, water, sugar and cinnamon stick and bring to a boil then reduce the heat and simmer until the berries have all popped and you have a fairly thick sauce. Set aside and leave to cool whilst you make the flapjacks. Remove the cinnamon stick once cool.
2. Preheat the oven to 180C and prepare a 22cm square tin. In a large saucepan add the butter, sugar and syrup and heat over a low-medium heat until everything is melted. Remove from the heat and then stir through the oats.
3. Spread half of the flapjack mixture over the base of the tin and press out so it is level. Spread over the cranberry sauce, if you made it in advance reheat it slightly so it is easier to spread. Add the rest of the flapjack mixture and spread evenly over the top so all the cranberry sauce is covered. Bake for 30-35 minutes until the flapjacks are golden brown. Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes before using a knife to cut into into portions. Leave to cool completely in the tin before serving.

 I'm entering these into Credit Crunch Munch run by Helen and Camilla (this month's host) as the cranberries were cheap and so were the oats. Also into the Breakfast Club challenge this month hosted by Janice. I know flapjacks are a bit naughty for breakfast but I did have a couple for breakfast during a busy week when I couldn't be bothered making my usual porridge.