In the early weeks of learning to feed my twins, I was breastfeeding them both every 2 hours, including overnight, as well as giving top-up bottles, and expressing, every 3-4 hours.
Each night felt like a surreal marathon running parallel with the time when I should have been being rejuvenated. By 6am each day I would already be a wreck. These flapjacks helped. A lot.
Ingredients:
- 450g oats
- 300g margarine (or butter if richer & greasier is appealing)
- 80g demarera sugar
- 120g golden syrup
- 60g treacle
- 100g chopped almonds
- 100g sultanas
- 50g golden linseed (“flaxseed”)
A note on ingredients: oats, almonds and linseed are all supposedly good for stimulating milk supply. Anecdotally I would agree but there is no published evidence for their efficacy. However they were definitely good for sustaining my blood sugar and sanity during otherwise dark and hangry times.
If you know someone who is in the early stages of learning to cope with a new baby, these would make an EXCELLENT gift.
Method:
- Melt the margarine, sugar & syrups in a big pan.
- Turn off the heat.
- Stir in the nuts, raisins & seeds.
- Stir in the oats (slowly but surely the mixture will come together)
Get a standard-sized baking tray. Line it with baking paper. Scoop the mixture into the tray and press down.
Bake at 180’C for 20 minutes; longer if you want it crispier, however the longer you cook it the more the sultanas will be scorched.
The kitchen should smell great by the time it’s cooked.
I scour it into columns and rows with a knife whilst it’s still hot and soft, then leave in the tin for at least half an hour (realistically: until I next get 2 minutes off from baby-wrangling).
Once cool, I lift out the whole slab on its baking paper and break it into squares. Bits that fall off get eaten first. The rest goes in a tin that goes on the kitchen counter by the kettle… or on the bedside table.
When Lightning Strikes Twice 