South African Crunchies

Submitted by Emjay99

"This is a popular after school or lunch bag treat for all South African kids. Most South African baking is done using self-rising flour - and I highly recommend using it! The kind we get here in Canada is Brodie's."

 

• Ready In: 40mins
• Ingredients: 7
• Serves: 24

ingredients

• 1 cup margarine
• 3 tablespoons golden syrup
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups self-rising flour, DO NOT SUBSTITUTE
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 cups quick oats, not instant
• 1 cup unsweetened coconut, medium

directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 or 350.
2. Melt margarine on low heat. Add the golden syrup and stir well. Stir in vanilla extract and set aside.
3. In a large mixing bowl sift in the flour.
4. Add the sugar, oats and coconut stir well until evenly mixed.
5. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and add the margarine/syrup mixture. Use an electric mixer to make sure all is incorporated evenly.
6. Press mixture into a sprayed 9 x 13 inch baking pan. Dough will be about a half inch thick.
7. Bake 20 to 30 minutes until golden brown and depending on your oven so watch carefully. Edges may burn.
8. Remove from oven and using a pizza cutter cut into 24 bars. Gently remove and place on a wire rack until cooled. Store in an airtight container. Freeze well.

Reviews

[Karman H.]

Great recipes...although I found them to be a little dry. Be careful not to measure your dry ingredients in metric as it only give you ml... and not grams. Thanks for sharing your recipe. I've added a photo "South African Crunchies "

 

[Neville R.]

I follow this exactly, and my crunchies come out perfectly every time. I especially like how I can use the tool to change the batch size. I also use a kitchenaid mixer, that made them even better. I measure the thickness in the baking pan too. I use organic products where possible. They last over a week in a ziplock, and my friends always ask for some when I bake them. I also have the added bonus of thinking of my Grandmother back on the farm in South Africa every time I bake them. Hers were still the best crunchies ever.

 

[kbruce82]

The size of the pan is the real secret to getting crunchies right. You use the smaller of the two standard sizes, so that the crunchies come out thicker and don't dry out in the oven. Also, as a South African, I've always made my crunchies with baking soda. You mix the baking soda into the syrup and marg, so that it bubbles up and you pour that over the dry ingredients. That's what gives the recipe its proper honeycomb flavour. I've never used self-raising flour for any baking.

 

[Maxine in Auckland]

Not sure where I went wrong. Carefully measured ingredients but had enough to make at least 48 crunchies. After baking crunchies were crunbly and dry. So sorry but not at all a good recipe. Is it possible that the sugar should be dissolved in with the butter first?