Oatmeal and Buttermilk Gingerbread

This is so scrummy!!! Dead easy too. I have had this recipe for an age although have no idea now where it came from!

You will need a 8 inch square shallow tin, greased and line the base. I carried the parchment on up over the long sides to help lift it out. Pre heat your fan oven to 160C, although this time I made half as much again in a 13” x 9” tin.

2 oz butter

1 lb plain flour

4 oz medium oatmeal

2 oz dark muscovado sugar [or soft dark brown]

1 teaspoonful ground ginger

¼ teaspoonful bicarbonate of soda

2 oz finely chopped crystallised ginger

1 tablespoonful golden syrup

2 tablespoonfuls treacle

1 large egg

a tub of buttermilk to mix, plus a little extra if the mixture is still stiff and/or some of the stem ginger syrup. [I used half half extra]

In a medium mixing bowl, rub the butter into the flour and add the other dry ingredients.

In a small pan warm the treacle and syrup and then beat in the egg. Add to the flour mix along with enough buttermilk to make a soft dropping consistency. I used a tub plus extra milk, although as mentioned, I was making a larger amount. 

Tip into your prepared baking tin, roughly level off and bake for about 1 hour, maybe a tad longer, turning down to 150 after about 40 mins.

Allow to cool before cutting into squares and tucking in. I covered with a simple icing [using the ginger syrup] and some more yummy stem ginger, chopped. You can never have enough ginger. A great keeper in an airtight box. In fact it will improve!