Category: Oats

Fig & Cacao Granola with Banana & Coconut cream

I think these two complement each other really well – the creaminess of the banana and the hint of cacao in the granola match perfectly.  Of course I’ve also been eating the granola on it’s own straight from the jar and I may have sprinkled it on coconut ice cream last night.

Fig & Cacao Granola

fig-granola

  • 100g dried figs (cut into quarters – nice big chunks)
  • 50g Macadamia nuts – cut in half
  • 100g oats
  • 1 tablespoon raw cacao nibs
  • 1 tablespoon coconut palm sugar
  • 1 tablespoon cacao powder
  • 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
  • 2 tablespoons rapeseed oil
  • 2 tablespoons maple syrup
  • 30g goji berries

Method

  • Put the figs, oats, nuts, sugar, cacao nibs, powder and cardamom in a bowl. Mix the rapeseed oil with the maple syrup and pour onto the dry ingredients and mix well.
  • Lay the mixture on a baking sheet and cook for 12 minutes – 400f/200c/Gas 6.
  • After 12 minutes – add the goji berries and cook for a further 3 minutes.
  • Take out of the oven to cool and clump.

Banana and coconut cream

  • 1 frozen banana
  • 1 fresh banana
  • 2 tablespoons coconut yoghurt
  • 2 tablespoons almond milk
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Blend all the above together.  Lovely served with the granola.

granola-with-banana-cream

Cherry Oat Bake

In support of Veganuary all the brekkie recipes this month will be vegan.  To kick start here is a lovely baked oats recipe ideal for this frosty cold weather.  This is quick to make – you can mix it up the day before and cook it in the morning, or even cook it the day before and re-heat it.

I always have a bag of frozen cherries in the freezer, I love them. They defrost quickly and take on a softer texture that works really well in this recipe.  You can also microwave (or heat in a pan) a few extra to drizzle over the top before eating.

If you don’t have mini cake tins then just use any oven proof bowls and eat it straight from the bowl!

Cherry Oat Bake (makes two)

  • 120g oats
  • 130g frozen cherries (defrosted) – keep the juice, no need to drain
  • 150ml coconut milk
  • 25g melted coconut oil
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 2 teaspoons coconut palm sugar
  • A few flaked almonds for the topping

To serve – lovely with some warmed cherries and maple syrup. cherry-oat-bake

  • Grease a couple of mini cake tins (11cm/4.5″) with a little bit of coconut oil.
  • Warm the oven to 200c/400f/Gas 6
  • Mix all the ingredients together (apart from the flaked almonds).  Pour into the cake tins. Top with the flaked almonds.
  • Bake for 30 minutes.
  • Leave to cool for 5 minutes before taking them out of the tins.
  • Drizzle with maple syrup and extra cherries to serve.

 

 

Christmas Orange & Popcorn Granola

A few years ago I was browsing through a free magazine that had popped through the door and came across this lovely recipe from Café Boscanova in Bournemouth.  I thought what a fantastic idea to add popcorn to granola!   So I’ve been making it ever since. It’s a lovely granola with a hint of orange and spice and the popcorn really makes it feel festive and fun.

You can go to town on the popcorn, plain is best to add into the oats mix as it gets coated with the lovely flavours of the oil and spices, but you can add any flavour at the end. Why not try some of the amazing different flavours around at the moment. My current favourite is Joe and Seph’s mince pie flavour or the toffee apple and cinnamon, or the coconut and chia seed – the list goes on.  You can personalise each bowl depending on your families favourites!

Christmas orange and popcorn granola

popcorn-1

  • 300g rolled oats
  • 50g coconut flakes
  • 40g plain popcorn
  • 100g dates – chopped into quarters (you want to keep some big chunky bits)
  • Grated zest of one orange
  • 2 tablespoons mixed spice
  • 50g cashew nuts or other nuts (or leave out for a nut free version)
  • 3 tablespoons rapeseed or sunflower oil
  • 25g butter
  • 1 tablespoon maple syrup
  • 100g dark brown sugar
  • juice of one orange
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
  • 50g dried cranberries
  • Couple of handfuls of plain (or flavoured) popcorn

Method

  • Mix the oats, coconut, 40g popcorn, dates, nuts, spice and zest together.
  • In a small saucepan gently heat the oil, butter, sugar, orange juice, maple syrup and vanilla – until the sugar is dissolved. Then add this to the dry mix and stir it all well.
  • Spread the mixture onto a baking tray and bake 180c/350f/Gas 4 – for 15 minutes.
  • Take it out of the oven and add the cranberries.
  • Let it cool (it will harden as it cools) and then add a few handfuls of popcorn to the mix.

Crown Prince Granola

I’ve been trying out granola recipes and trying to incorporate some pumpkin or squash – I’ve had a few failures, mainly because the squash made the granola soggy and I prefer my granola clumpy and crispy.  But eventually I’ve found one that works. It is based on a Nigella recipe that used apple puree, and this gave me the idea of using squash puree.

I’ve been eating this all week – even hubby has been caught snacking straight from the jar.

I used crown prince squash to make the puree – but pumpkin or butternut squash would work just as well.

Note – see my Spiced Squash Pancake recipe for how to make the puree.

Crown Prince Granola

pumpkin-granola

Dry ingredients

  • 225g oats
  • 60g pumpkin seeds
  • 60g sesame seeds
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon mixed spice
  • 50g coconut sugar (or any other brown sugar)
  • 100g whole almonds
  • 50g Pecans – broken in half
  • Pinch salt

Wet ingredients

  • 100g squash puree
  • 1 tablespoon rapeseed oil
  • 60g brown rice syrup
  • 2 tablespoons honey

Mix all the dry ingredients together in a bowl.  In another bowl mix all the wet ingredients until well combined.  Then pour the wet into the bowl of dry and coat everything really well.  Lay out the mixture onto a baking sheet.

Cook at 160c/320f/Gas 3 for around 40 – 45 minutes.  Ensure you move the mixture around on the baking sheet every 15 minutes to stop it browning unevenly. You want it to look golden and have a crunch to it.

Leave it to cool completely in the baking tray and then store in a container.  Keeps for a week or so.

 

Spiced Squash Pancakes

I was filling time looking at recipes last night and a pumpkin pancake one caught my eye. It was an American recipe using pumpkin puree, which seems to be hitting our shops in tins at the moment.  Yet it’s really easy to make up fresh and with my bumper squash harvest this year, I’ve got plenty to play with. Mixed with the right spices it becomes a delicious sweetly spiced puree that is crying out to be used in sweet recipes.

So here is my take on the pumpkin puree and pumpkin pancake craze.

The Puree

Pumpkins and squashes I think are pretty much interchangeable.  I’ve been using crown prince squash in place of pumpkin, and butternut squash can be used as well. To make a sweet puree I cut the squash into big chunks  (like big watermelon slices) take out the seeds but keep the skin on. Then put the chunks into a roasting tin, add some small dollops of coconut oil and roast for around 20-30 mins until really tender. The use of coconut oil keeps the sweet theme, you could use olive oil, but I would avoid vegetable oil or any other more savoury flavoured oil.

Once cool, slice the flesh off the skin and put into a food processor.  Blend for around 20 seconds into a soft puree.

You can add the spices here as well – roughly 1 teaspoon of mixed spice to every 100g of skinned squash – just blend it in for 1-2 seconds then the puree is ready spiced to use. The puree will keep in the fridge for a few days.

spiced-squash-pancakesSpiced Squash Pancakes (serves 2 – makes 4 -5 pancakes)

  • 60g spelt flour (or wholemeal)
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 40g oats
  • Pinch salt
  • 125ml milk
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tablespoon maple syrup (more for drizzling over the cooked pancakes)
  • 8g melted butter (more to grease the frying pan)
  • 100g squash puree with 1 teaspoon mixed spice

Method

  • Mix the flour, baking powder, oats and salt into a bowl.
  • In a separate bowl whisk the milk, egg, maple syrup, butter, puree and spice, until well combined. Add this mix to the flour mix and whisk to combine.
  • In a small frying pan, add a small knob of butter and melt this to coat the pan. Once melted add a ladle of the pancake mixture. Cook for around 2-3 minutes per side.

Enjoy with some raisins or sultanas, yoghurt and more maple syrup.

 

Pronto Pumpkin Pie Oats

I’ve harvested all my squashes from the allotment and now have the lovely task of finding different ways to eat them.  You can’t beat the taste of pumpkin pie, that gorgeous aroma of spices with the sweetness of maple syrup and I love the addition of pecans.

This is a quick way of getting that pumpkin pie taste for brekkie – takes about 15 minutes from start to finish.  The texture is softer than granola (I’m working on a granola version!) but with all the taste.  You can use pumpkins or squashes for this – I used Crown Prince Squash, butternut works well too.

Delicious on its own or with yoghurt.  If you can wait a few extra minutes before eating it, it starts to stick together and smell even better.  Still good the following day too.

Pronto Pumpkin Pie Oats (enough for two portions)

pronto-pumpkin-pie-oats

  • 100g fresh pumpkin or squash peeled and diced into small cubes
  • 3 teaspoons coconut oil
  • 60g oats
  • 1 teaspoon mixed spice
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 2 tablespoons maple syrup
  • 30g pecan  nuts roughly chopped

Heat 2 teaspoons coconut oil in a frying pan, add the cubed pumpkin and stir fry for 8-10 minutes, you want the cubes to get really soft but not falling apart.  Keep tossing it to ensure none of the pieces brown too much.  Tip out of the pan and keep to one side.

Add another teaspoon of coconut oil to the pan and add the oats stir fry for 4-5 minutes. Then add in the spices and the cooked pumpkin and toss well together over the heat for another minute.  Turn off the heat and add the maple syrup and mix everything together. Finally add the pecans.  Ready!

Wait a few minutes or eat warm – or keep for later if you can.

 

 

 

 

Oaty Coaty Strawberries

Strawberries always remind me of the heat of summer and for some reason I rarely fancy them once the weather turns. But this morning I found a punnet in the fridge and didn’t fancy them cold so made this very quick oaty brekkie to give a bit of warmth.

I’ve been frying up my oats a lot recently, it’s such a quick and easy way to have some hot oats when you don’t fancy porridge.

Oaty Coaty Strawberries (serves one)

oaty-coaty-strawberries

  • 1 teaspoon coconut oil
  • 1 teaspoon of honey
  • Handful of oats (around 30g)
  • Handful of strawberries – sliced in half
  • 1/2 teaspoon cardamom or cinnamon

Heat the coconut oil in a small pan, add the oats and fry for 2-3 minutes.  Add the honey, spice of choice and strawberries and fry for another couple of minutes. Toss to coat the strawberries with the oats.

Lovely served on top of yoghurt.

Zoats

It’s taken me a while to try this, I was intrigued with the thought of adding courgette to porridge.  The term Zoats comes from the alternative name of Zucchini (I guess calling it Coats doesn’t really work)

I have no excuse for not trying it sooner, it’s not like I’ve been short of courgettes. Now I wish I hadn’t waited so long because it’s another great way to incorporate veg into breakfast.

Grating the courgettes is key, it means they nicely soften and blend with the oats without really adding any taste, to be honest I couldn’t taste that I had courgettes in my porridge, I could just see them!

I added pumpkin seeds and flaked almonds and sweetened the porridge with maple syrup but there are loads of different combinations to play with, I’m hooked.

Zoats

zoats

  • 40g Oats
  • 200ml Almond Milk
  • 100g grated courgette (skin on)
  • 1 tablespoon flaked almonds
  • 1 tablespoon pumpkin seeds
  • 1 tablespoon maple syrup

Put the oats, courgette and milk in a pan, bring to the boil and simmer for a 3 – 4 minutes (you may want to adjust the milk depending on how you like your porridge).

Stir through the seeds and almonds and then drizzle over the maple syrup.

Quick Pear Crunch

I’ve been staring at my bowl of pears all week and they are still as solid as a rock, despite being moved next to the bananas. So instead of prodding them in hopeful anticipation each morning, I decided this morning to take control and soften them by heat.

It was lovely, soft pear that still held it’s shape and was coated in lovely oaty bits.  So if you have some pears that are waiting to ripen, don’t wait – do this!

quick-pear-crunch-1

Quick Pear Crunch (serves one)

  • 1 unripe pear – cored and diced (keep the skin on)
  • 1 teaspoon coconut oil
  • 2 tablespoons of oats
  • 1 tablespoon of dried cranberries
  • 1 tablespoon of flaked almonds
  • 1 tablespoon of maple syrup

Method

  • Heat the oil in a small frying pan and then add the diced pear.  Cook gently for 3-4 minutes until the pear feels softer.
  • Add the oats and toss well to coat the pears.  Keep cooking and tossing for another 3 minutes or so, until the oats start to brown.
  • Add the cranberries and almonds and toss a couple of times. Then turn the heat off.
  • Add the maple syrup and toss everything together.
  • Leave it to cool.  I prefer mine quite cool, it gives the oats and syrup time to stick everything together a little bit. But I did nibble some bits whilst it was still hot and it was lovely.

Nice served with yoghurt and even a little more maple syrup if you’re feeling decadent.

quick-pear-crunch-2

Mini Oat Baskets

mini cups nut butteredI’ve been eating these all week and made another batch yesterday so I could enjoy them again today after my Sunday run which means I can eat a few extra ones!  These are so versatile you can fill them with whatever you fancy – fruit, nuts, yoghurt, nut butters or a combination.  My current favourite way is with stewed fruit and nut butter, although to be honest I have been know to omit the fruit and fill with just the nut butter.

The versatility means you can replace the stewed apple with stewed rhubarb (both are delicious) and play around with the spices.  I like cinnamon with the apple and ground ginger with the rhubarb.

You don’t want the stewed fruit to be too runny, so drain over a sieve after stewing to remove any excess water.  I stew my fruit in a pan on the hob. Chop the fruit (add a dash of water if you think it’s sticking which it does sometimes at the beginning) and some sugar (I omit the sugar with the apple and just add a tiny bit with the rhubarb), then heat and stir until slushy.  I have tried stewing eating apples but find the cooking apples are so much better.

Mini Oat Baskets

Makes about 16 baskets if using a mini muffin tin.

  • 200g stewed bramley apples or rhubarb. (NB – this is the weight once stewed – around 3 bramley apples or 3-4 stalks of rhubarb, but it does vary)
  • 200g oats
  • 15ml (1 tablespoon) coconut oil melted
  • 2 teaspoons cinnamon or ground ginger

Mix all ingredients together. Very lightly grease a mini muffin tin with coconut oil.  Then take spoonfuls of the mixture and press into the muffin tins. Make an indent in the middle to make the basket.

Cook for 15 minutes – 160c/320f/Gas 4.  Cool on a wire rack

mini cups pre cookmini cups post cook

Enjoy with your filling of choice.  They keep in the fridge for a couple of days unfilled and also freeze well (freeze unfilled).

mini cups rhubarb