Nostalgia-Inducing Sweets

I'm sorry for the lack of posts lately. I've been fighting off a cold for almost two weeks now, and any time that has not been taken up by sleep has been taken up by studying and classes. Because of that, I have not made much food and I also haven't had anytime to write. I'm starting to feel a little better though, so I thought I'd write a short post.

For easter, I was given a cookbook that I had recently fallen in love with--Miss Dahl's Voluptuous Delights. This cookbook is organized by seasons, with breakfast, lunch and dinner recipes for each. The photography is beautiful and the dishes are simple but inspired. This is an extremely easy recipe but it makes for a perfect snack. Sophia Dahl says that these british snacks remind her of her childhood and encourage her to cuddle up to a book, "sticky-fingered", while enjoying these little bites of heaven.

Flapjacks
Adapted from Miss Dahl's Voluptuous Delights

Makes 12 squares

Ingredients:
Butter for greasing
1/4 Cup honey
1/2 Tablespoon molasses
3/4 Stick butter
3/4 Cups rolled oats
1/2 Teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease an 8x8 pan.
In a saucepan, heat the honey, molasses and butter on low heat, until the butter has melted. Remove from the heat and add the oats, and vanilla.
Press the mixture into the pan and bake for 25-30 minutes, until golden. Let cool. While it cools, the liquid will stiffen so that the flapjacks become solid. Once they are solid, cut the squares and enjoy them while they're still warm! Store the leftovers in an airtight container.

As a child I could not eat processed sugars, for health reasons, so all of the sweets my mom and I would make used honey and molasses for their sweetener. Smelling the liquid mixture heating up took me back to those childhood days. To me, molasses and honey will always smell sweeter than any sort processed sugar. Dahl was right, I just wanted to curl up in a blanket and read my favorite books while munching on these warm treats.