flapjack

Meanings

1. 1nouncountableBritish

   In British use, a chewy baked bar made from rolled oats, butter and syrup, cut into squares.

   Grammar: In British English a flapjack is a baked snack, not a pancake.

   Patterns

   • a tray of flapjacks

   She packed a flapjack in her bag to eat on the hike.

   The café sells homemade flapjacks with raisins.

   We baked a tray of flapjacks for the school fair.

2. 2nouncountableAmericaninformal

   In American use, a flat round cake cooked on a griddle and eaten with syrup, usually for breakfast.

   Grammar: A plain word for pancake, somewhat old-fashioned or folksy.

   Patterns

   • a stack of flapjacks

   The diner served a stack of flapjacks with maple syrup.

   Dad made flapjacks every Sunday morning.

   He poured batter onto the griddle to cook the flapjacks.

Word forms

Common combinations

stack of flapjacks

A stack of flapjacks arrived, topped with butter.

oat flapjack

An oat flapjack gave him energy for the bike ride.

golden syrup flapjack

The golden syrup flapjack was sweet and sticky.

flip a flapjack

The cook flipped a flapjack high into the air.

bake flapjacks

We baked flapjacks for the picnic.

Synonyms and how they differ

pancake

Pancake is the standard American word for the griddle cake, though flapjack sounds homier or more rustic.

griddle cake

Griddle cake is an older term for the same breakfast food, and it highlights how it is cooked.

oat bar

Oat bar is a neutral way to describe the British baked flapjack, without the sticky syrup suggestion.

granola bar

A granola bar is a similar American snack bar, but it is usually drier and may contain nuts or chocolate.

Word family

flapjacks noun

the plural form

pancake noun

the usual word for the same food in much of the world

flap verb

to move up and down, as a pancake does when flipped

Commonly confused: flapjack or pancake?

Practice

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