Hot Cross Bun Flapjacks (or pancakes if you’re in other parts of the world) are the best Easter breakfast you never knew you needed!
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What we (in South Africa) call ‘flapjacks’, others (in Britain) call ‘crumpets’ or ‘pancakes’ (America), but in New Zealand ‘flapjacks’ are what we call ‘crunchies‘. It’s all rather confusing! But no matter what we call them, we can all agree that they are seriously good piled into a stack and loaded with syrup. When I think of flapjacks I have this wonderful memory of sitting on the kitchen counter ‘helping’ my mom whip up (her) and devour (me) a batch. We’d both have syrup dripping down our elbows because we were too impatient to wait for them to cool before putting the syrup on!
So when Angie over at Lucky Pony, challenged me to Easterify (totally a word) her favourite flapjack recipe using Royal Baking Powder, I was super excited. When a Hot Cross bun loves a flapjack very much, they have cute little Hot Cross Bun Flapjack babies which we can devour for Easter breakfast and all live happily ever after! My secret to the fluffiest flapjacks/pancakes/whatchamacallit is to put a lid on top of the pan when you spoon in the batter. This creates a little oven that lets the Royal Baking Powder work its magic and rise extra high!
What I love about these hot cross bun flapjacks, is that even if you’re not a skilled baker, anyone can make them. It’s a simple recipe that you can make with your kids and gives you that warm fuzzy feeling of making something from just a handful of ingredients. Baking from scratch is so therapeutic – there have been so many studies about it. It increases happiness, decreases stress, gets our creative juices going and gives us a huge feeling of satisfaction – especially when we bake for others (my favourite part).
I’d love to know what YOUR favourite childhood baking memory is – tell me in the comments below and you could win an R1000 Royal Baking Powder hamper (South African residents only, sorry!).
- 30g (¼ cup) cake flour
- 45ml (3 tbsp) water
- 175g cake flour
- 15ml (1 tbsp) Royal Baking Powder
- 55g soft brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 250ml milk
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 40g salted butter, melted
- 1 tsp mixed spice
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 15ml (1 tbsp) mixed peel
- 15ml (1 tbsp) raisins and sultanas (or chocolate chips)
- Honey, maple syrup or chocolate sauce, to serve
- In a small bowl, combine the flour and water together, whisking all the lumps out. Pour mix into a disposable piping bag and set aside.
- Combine the flour and baking powder in a large bowl and whisk to combine.
- Make a well in the centre.
- In a separate bowl whisk together the milk, egg, vanilla and melted butter.
- Add the wet ingredients into the centre of the well and whisk to make a smooth batter.
- Add the sugar, spices, mixed peel and raisins (or chocolate chips) to the remaining batter.
- Heat a non-stick frying pan and a little butter to the pan.
- Pipe a cross into the pan and carefully drop ¼ cupfuls of the batter on top of the cross. (I have a small 10cm pan which is perfect for this!). Pipe another cross on top of this, if desired.
- Place a plate or lid on top of the pan and cook for 2 minutes over low heat until puffed.
- Flip the flapjack over and cook for 1-2 minutes.
- Stack on top of each other and serve with more butter, honey, maple syrup or chocolate sauce.
- TIP My secret for the fluffiest flapjacks? Cover the pan while they’re cooking!
This looks amazing.
My favourite childhood memory is baking buttermilk scones with my mom and sisters.
We would then smother them with butter, jam and cream.
Oh how I miss those days 🙂
My sisters and I helping my mom bake her famous pink and white marble Victorian sponge cake.
We also couldn’t wait to devour it and would ask my mom to slice into it while it was warm.
I remember sitting on the kitchen counter, little legs covered in flour and swinging in anticipation, while my mom rolled out pastry for the apple pies she made by the hundreds. I loved sticking my fingers into the apples as they marinated in brown sugar, lemon juice and raisins. And I especially loved licking the bowl out afterwards. I think these are my very first memories ever and baking has been my love language ever since.
The first rain of the season was always pancake time! And now I do this with my kids!
Thanks so much for sharing this. They look delish and would go so well with mascarpone and maple syrup. 😋
I absolutely loved paging through my mom and gran’s recipe books. Sometimes I’d actually be allowed to try my hand at some of them- unaided. 😬 I always look back fondly to the day I decided to bake pies when I was about 10 years old. Yes, the pies with the pastry and the mince in them. 🙂 those triangle ones with the pinched edges. I gave it my best shot and followed the instructions to what I thought was the T. And… although they didnt taste amazing (the pastry was hard and very unpastry-like), they looked just like they did in the recipe book and Iiiii made them which was enough for me to feel super proud of myself. I wish I had the courage to still be that little girl. After so many failed baking attempts, I’ve somewhat lost my confidence in the kitchen. 🙈
My favorite childhood baking memory was when on those cold winter nights, my mum would bake queencakes. My sister and I loved to watch her bake as she told us stories of our grandmother who had passed on. I often crave for queencakes on cold winter nights now, I think it’s those comforting memories of being safe and loved.