FLAPJACKS are definitely uncool.

Unlike the glamorous tiffins and rocky roads, they smack of battered tins of Family Circle, wet walks, and muddy match teas.

This presumably goes some way to explain how they've developed a peculiarly wholesome reputation, despite being a cheerful riot of butter and sugars, with a few oats chucked in as a sop to nutrition.

Still, I'm not complaining, life cannot be all fancy macaroons and lemon drizzle cakes.

It's good to have a few things in your repertoire robust enough to service being hoisted up a hill to the Bronte Waterfall in an anorak pocket.

This very portability has been the flapack’s downfall I feel in recent times, however.

It’s the cellophane-wrapped flapjacks sold on the stalwart railway buffet trolley that travels down to London, that’s going to everyone’s head, with the modern incarnations being so heavy that you have trouble getting out of your seat at Kings Cross station.

You see, there are two principal schools when making flapjacks: the chewy, and the crunchy. I'm firmly in the latter camp on this one, but prepared to concede the heartier sort.

Now according to the lovely Lyle's Golden Syrup people all you need to do to turn a flapjack into a tooth-breaker is choose a shallow baking tray and pump up the oven, although I find this method a little dry and sandy.

Cheap rolled porridge oats – “now we're talking” – work best in a flapjack recipe. They are finer than the ''pure large oats'', resulting in a cake-like bake that is very fragile to handle once cut up.

Also while I'm talking tips, another good one from me is to press the mixture firmly down before baking the flapjack and always allow your flapjacks to cool down completely in the tin before lifting out, as this helps keep them from becoming tomorrow night’s crumble topping.

I'm never one to rest on my laurels when baking the perfect recipe and this flapjack recipe should be celebrated with the basic flavours of butter and Golden Syrup.

However a few handfuls of seeds or dried fruits will lower the tone, but golly it’s great fun down there in the baking tin.

On a final note; flapjacks are the perfect snack any time of day - and there's nothing more the kids like to see in their lunch boxes to boost their energy and keep them going till the bell at home time.

• Our flapjacks should not be confused with those in America and Canada. Over the Atlantic a flapjack is another name for a pancake, hotcake or griddlecake, and these are usually served at breakfast in a stack of two or three.

The topping is real or artificial maple syrup and butter, and there may be sides such as bacon, toast, eggs or sausage, or even jam, peanut butter, nuts, whipped cream or molasses.

The thick batter contains eggs, flour, milk, and a raising agent such as baking powder, which may be added buttermilk, blueberries, strawberries, chocolate chips, cheese or sugar.