Blueberry and Banana Oaty Bites: Dairy Free, Egg Free, Soya Free, Vegan

In the eternal quest for bakes the whole family will enjoy, that meet the needs of my CMPA, egg allergic baby, I came across a recipe for a Banana, oat and chocolate munchy bar on Jenny Eatwell's Rhubarb and ginger. Whilst that recipe looked very tasty it’s near impossible to get dairy and soya free chocolate, and what you can get is too expensive to use in cake (Booja Booja, I’m looking at you). I thought I’d adapt the original recipe to suit our needs allergy wise and make it a bit more suitable for a weaning treat.

This is a fabulously easy recipe that you could easily change up to suit your family’s tastes. It's much like an oaty version of a banana bread or a cakey version of a flapjack - not unlike my Porridge fingers for big people.

Blueberry and Banana Oaty Bites: Dairy Free, Egg Free, Soya Free, Vegan

Serves 12 (or 24 if all being used for babies)

2¼ cups Porridge Oats

½ tsp Bicarbonate of Soda

½ tsp Baking powder

¼ tsp Salt (just a pinch if using Kosher or sea salt)

1 tsp sweet mixed spice

3 overripe Bananas

1 pot Apple puree (the type for Babies) or ¼ cup of cooked down Bramleys

2 tsp Vanilla extract

¼ cup Maple syrup

½ cup Blueberries

Grease a 9”x9” Brownie pan, and line with a long strip, the width of the tin, and 3 times the length

Preheat the oven to 160ºC

Blitz the oats in a food processor until they are rough flour

Pour into a mixing bowl, add the Bicarb, Baking powder, Salt and sweet mixed spice. Give a quick mix to combine the dry ingredients.

Break the bananas into chunks and pop into the food processor, add the Maple Syrup, fruit pot and Vanilla. Blitz until smooth.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry, add the Blueberries, and stir to combine.

Pour this into the prepared tin, smooth out the top, and bake for 20 minutes at 160ºC (Check at 15 mins)

When the top is golden and the bake feels firm to the touch, remove and leave to cool in the tin.

When cool, use the strip of baking paper to easily remove from the tin.

Slice into bars, this makes 12.

Enjoy with a cup of Tea, or if you are little, half a bar with a sippy cup of Oat milk.

These freeze beautifully - I halve the bars, and much like I do for pancakes separate them with little square of greaseproof paper before popping in a freezer bag. Then it's just a case of defrosting at room temperature. 

Maple, apple and banana bites - dairy free treats for a CMPA baby (and mummy)

This dairy free bake came about from a hormonal 'need' for something sweet but equally the need for it to be healthy enough so that I could kid myself it was good for me. Dairy free bakes are not easy (or affordable) to come by in the shops - I've always baked at home, but since going dairy free for Harry, if I want sweet things then my baking cupboard is my first port of call.

I've read a lot of healthy blogs since Harry and I have gone dairy free - and more still since we started trialling egg free. What strikes me as odd is how people fill bakes or makes up with 400g dates, tablespoons upon tablespoons of maple syrup and declare how healthy it is. Well, yes it's not refined sugar, but surely fructose is still a sugar of sorts? Anyway, who am I to question - the thought just occurred to me as I was planning to buy more dates. I love dates. How did I not know this before now?

These maple, apple and banana bites were my first go at using pureed apple as an egg replacer - they were nowhere near as light as they would have been if I'd used eggs. Chewy and dense, they were more like a sweet bread than a cake. Hence rebranding them as a 'bite'. Harry loved them, and as a side to a strong coffee (the sort you need when the neighbour leaving for work at 4.45am wakes the baby up 6 days a week) they certainly hit the spot.

Maple, apple and banana bites - makes 10 little or 4 little and 4 big

1 dessert apple, peeled, cored and stewed in a little water (no need to add any sugar) - you want this to cook down to a mush
3 tablespoons maple syrup
1 ripe banana
120g ground almonds
1 tablespoon chia seeds
175g plain flour
25g custard powder
1/2 tsp sweet mixed spice
Handful of sultanas
60 - 100ml almond milk (or your dairy substitute)
Oil to grease your tins

Muffin tin/ individual pie tins

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees
Using a stick blender - whizz up the stewed apples, maple syrup and banana (resist the urge to eat this with a spoon)
Sift in the flour and custard powder
Stir in the almonds, chia seeds, mixed spice and sultanas.
You want this to be slightly thicker than a dropping consistency so add almond milk and stir to loosen if necessary
Grease your muffin tin/ pie tins with oil - I used coconut
Add about 2 - 3 tablespoons of mix to each muffin space. This is a dense bite so you don't want them to be too thick

Bake for about 30-40 minutes - the top should be lightly browned and should bounce back gently if you press it, and a skewer/ knife needs to come out clean

I found the little muffin sized portions were ideal for Harry - and as it set nicely it worked well as a baby led weaning pudding. I preferred the ones in the individual pie tins.

 

Oaty Bars: The activity plan

	For reference, Guides are aged 10 – 14 Break the girls up into Patrols/ groups of 6-8
Oaty Bars
Equipment: Sturdy saucepan (biggish) Wooden spoon Scales Greaseproof paper Brownie tin/ cake tin/ roasting tin Sharp knife Grater Clean hands
Ingredients (per patrol): 65g butter (Sainsbury’s economy butter is the best and cheap) 75g light, soft brown sugar 65g crunchy peanut butter - a no sugar one if you can find it, I'm using a Whole Earth 35g of honey (or golden syrup) and 2 teaspoons to drizzle over at the end Zest of a lemon 100g porridge oats 75g of dried fruit 75g of mixed seeds This makes about 12 Energy bars, so ideal for a Patrol of 6-8 girls	If doing this with Guides it is an ideal Patrol cooking activity and links into the On Your Marks resource: Energy Boost (page 18) I would also count this towards clause 9 of the Cook badge as the girls need to chop the fruit, grate the zest of the lemons, use the cooker safely and cut up the oaty bars at the end. If you’ve not got digital scales – go with rough quantities. But if you’re rounding one up by 5g do the same all the way through to maintain ratios of ingredients Why not get the girls to taste and choose some different dried fruits – each patrol could make a different batch up
Instructions: Wash your hands Measure out the butter, sugar, peanut butter and honey and put into a big saucepan Grate the zest of the lemon into the pan too Melt these ingredients over a low heat, when they’re all combined, stir in the oats, dried fruit and seeds Press into either a greased and lined brownie pan (about 20cm square) or if you prefer flatter bars a roasting tin Cook at 160 degrees for 35-40 minutes Take out of the oven and leave in the tin to cool completely Using a sharp knife cut into squares or bars and store in an airtight tin for up to a week. These are ideal for a pre-camp cooking activity and will make a fantastic snack once you’ve pitched your tents! I checked on the prices on www.mysupermarket.com and Asda came out the cheapest, working out at £0.45 per head for a unit of 24 girls.	Safety notes: Please make sure that the girls are well supervised – especially when melting the ingredients. This recipe has huge allergy alerts – Peanuts and seeds, so please check your Joining forms/ Go reports for any allergens you need to be aware of. The peanut butter can be replaced by a couple of mashed up bananas. Alterations for Brownies/ younger Guides Weigh out the ingredients yourselves and put into little bowls Get the girls to put them in the pan, but let a leader melt them A sturdy pan is best, I didn’t bother about using a non stick one though Keep your heat low. Usual kitchen safety rules/ washing up apply.

Banana Shpeel

Sorry, it's a completely off-centre reference to a Cirque du Soleil show, but I wanted to maintain my good track record of musical references in post titles *is a girly swot*

I was searching through my previous posts and was astounded to find a lack of reference to Nigella's banana bread from Domestic Goddess. In my copy of DG this is one of those pages that's covered in sticky fingerprints, flour and quite possibly bits of banana. In my defence I never claimed to be the cleanest cook.

Last time I made this, I tried the variation and made a chocolate banana bread. I have a confession to make: I didn't like it anywhere near as much as the regular one. So this week I went back to my reliable tried and tested recipe.

INGREDIENTS

100g sultanas
75ml bourbon or dark rum
175g plain flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
125g unsalted butter, melted
150g sugar
2 large eggs
4 small, very ripe bananas (about 300g weighed without skin), mashed
60g chopped walnuts
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
23 x 13 x 7cm loaf tin, buttered and floured or with a paper insert

METHOD


1. Put the sultanas and rum or bourbon in a smallish saucepan and bring to the boil.
2. Remove from the heat, cover and leave for an hour if you can, or until the sultanas have absorbed most of the liquid, then drain.
3. Preheat the oven to 170ºC/gas mark 3 and get started on the rest. Put the flour, baking powder, bicarb and salt in a medium-sized bowl and, using your hands or
4. a wooden spoon, combine well. In a large bowl, mix the melted butter and sugar and beat until blended. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then the mashed bananas. Then, with your wooden spoon, stir in the walnuts, drained sultanas and vanilla extract. Add the flour mixture, a third at a time, stirring well after each bit. Scrape into the loaf tin and bake in the middle of the oven for 1–11/4 hours. When it’s ready, an inserted toothpick or fine skewer should come out cleanish. Leave in the tin on a rack to cool, and eat thickly or thinly sliced, as you prefer.

Variation

Replace 25g of the flour with good cocoa powder and add 100g of dark chocolate, cut up into smallish chunks.

This is such an easy cake to make, and it goes down a treat with everyone I've ever offered it to. Honestly, I can now make it in about 20 minutes and then once it's in the oven you can do what you like. It always bakes with quite a dark top, but it's just the colour it goes. Great for elevenses with a cup of tea.

Brief Blogging Break

See, I even manage to get alliteration into a title like that! Yes, I'm obsessed and considering seeking help.

Due to an unforseen change in circumstances I'm currently in the process of moving house. My precious food processor and breadmaker have been consigned to their boxes, which in turn will be consigned to a (fingers crossed) secure storage unit somewhere in North London (sounding all mysterious there, not because I'm channelling James Bond, or in the least security minded, but because I haven't organised it yet *adds something else to ever-growing list of 'Things Pen MUST do before Friday'*) Anyway, where was I? Oh yes, moving house. Well most of my life is in boxes that I hope will withstand the weight of various gadgets (less than I imagined) crockery (does anyone need this much) and bakeware *looks longingly at all her painstakingly saved up for Nigella, now packed away* and also pray that I've wrapped up well enough to survive any bumps and bangs it may encounter en route.

As some of you may remember I'm off to New York with a good friend next week, so flathunting has had to take a backseat until I return from there. Tickets, hotel and transport are all booked and in the moments I'm not despairing of my impending homelessness and wailing about how I'm living Rent... seriously, aside from not being a lesbian or a drug addict I could practically be Mimi or Maureen (I'm holding out for Maureen although I feel I would fail on the leather trousers front, but give me a cowbell and I'm all set). Apologies. I'm rambling again... In the moments I'm not despairing of impending homelessness, I am skittish with excitement, although anyone with a hotline to a Higher Power - after you've dealt with the impending homelessness could you please organise for sunshine? There's plenty of wet in London.

For the uninitiated; Idina Menzel, Maureen in the OBC Rent cast.
To quote Seth... "Ahmaaaaaaaaaaaahzing..."

So until I'm back from New York, and have found and moved into a new place, there will be a small break in foody bloggage. I will do an "Isn't Broadway wonderful? And look at all these hot men!" post on return from NY but you're excused if you would rather poke your eyes out pointy objects than read about musical theatre. Oh and a play. Yes, I'm not just going to see shows. I'm also going to see a play. Get me, I'm cultured! Oh and I will take pictures of the food this time... Brownie's honour!

And just to keep this foody orientated; oatmeal, chocolate and banana muffins from the Waitrose website - well it would be silly to pack brown bananas and half a packet of dark chocolate when I could use them up... Right?