This week, Value for Money compares five brands of flapjacks.
Marks and Spencer All Butter Fruity Flapjack Cookies
€2.79 for 250g, €11.18 per kg
Highs: More of a biscuit than a proper flapjack, these soft-textured treats are sweet and fruity and perfectly pleasant without being in any way special.
Lows: What on earth is it with the MS love of butter? It bangs on about its wholesome credentials and the fact that it has stripped all the hydrogenated fats and excess salt out of its products while simultaneously ladling mountains of butter into virtually everything it sells - we half expect to find its washing-up liquid and bin bags to come with added butter any day now. There are 105 calories and nearly a fifth of your saturated fat allowance per cookie - we had at least three of them (for review purposes only, of course).
Verdict: Too buttery
Star rating: **
Stable Diet Flapjacks
€1.70 for 80g, €21.25 per kg
Highs: The finest flapjacks Pricewatch ever tasted were made by Barry Curran's mother in the 1970s and while no store-bought product could touch them, these probably come closest. They are big and crumbly and have a home-made quality that is very impressive. There's a wonderful natural freshness to them and a nice oaty flavour, and the brown sugar used in the mix is easy to identify without being too overpowering.
Lows: The oats are loosely packed which makes them incredibly crumbly and we can't see how they can be eaten while retaining much of your dignity. We're not sure how widely available they are either - we bought this in a coffee shop which almost certainly added somewhat to its price.
Verdict: Top notch
Star rating: *****
Applejacks Oat Flapjack
€1.29 for 65g, €19.84 per kg
Highs: This is a very, very densely packed flapjack that manages simultaneously to be both thick-set and weirdly spongy. It's a nice size - not too big, not too small - and will leave you feeling satisfied without feeling piggish. We found it in our local Centra so it should be easy to track down and will certainly be better for you than a bar of chocolate.
Lows: At least we think it will, although we can't be absolutely sure because there was very little information about the nutritional make-up of this flapjack on the packaging. While the sponge-like texture might appeal to some, others might consider them to be just on the wrong side of soggy.
Verdict: A bit soggy
Star rating: ***
Dove's Farm Apple Sultana Flapjacks
€3.19 for 200g, €15.95 per kg
Highs: We get five individually wrapped, organic flapjacks in this box. They are wheat-free, suitable for vegans, and made without soya products or hydrogenated fats. These are not excessively sweet, with much of the sweetness coming from the substantial amounts of apple and sultanas to be found in the mix. They are not as heavy as much of the competition and the oats are fairly loosely packed in. They are low in salt and are fair trade.
Lows: They are pretty high in calories, mind you - a single 40g bar is 178 calories. They are also on the bland side and neither the oats or the fruit have much by way of flavour.
Verdict: Only okay
Star rating: ***
Granovita Organic Flapjack
€1.15 for 85g, €13.52 per kg
Highs: While the flapjacks from Dove's Farm might have hoped to be the most wholesome brand on the market, they are left in the ha'penny place by these nutty-flavoured, seed-heavy, er, treats. They are made with Linusprout, pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds (Linusprout is a trademarked sprouted flax powder that is high in Omega 3). They are more savoury than sweet, have a complexity of flavours that the other brands struggle to match and are surprisingly cheap.
Lows: Our hastily thrown together tasting panel was divided on these, with some describing them as horrible and others scoring them highly for their wholesomeness. While they are good, we are not really sure they are the kind of thing many people would actively look forward to eating.
Verdict: Excellent but not for everyone
Star rating: ****
