Oaty banana cake: dairy free, egg free recipe

Oaty banana cake - not the world's snappiest title for a bake I'll admit. But sometimes you just have to work with what you're given. And this is one of those times. Much like my Blueberry and Banana Oaty bites these could be described as a cross between a cake and a flapjack. The prompt for making these was as unpoetic as the name - we got to the end of the week, unusually with a hand of overripe bananas languishing in the fruit bowl. I'm not sure what we'd done, but clearly it didn't involve eating bananas.

Initially I'd planned to make a banana flapjack, but between one thing and another this is what happened. And we really liked it - sturdy enough to withstand the rigours of a lunchbox, yet not too heavy that it felt like old fashioned health food. Spiked with sweet mixed spice, the combination of apricots and sultanas makes for a chewy treat. what I particularly like about these is that you could absolutely tailor them to your likes or what you've got in the cupboard.  The second time I made these I was a bit short on apricots so I made up the weight with a handful of dairy free chocolate chips I had in the cupboard.



Oaty banana cake
Dairy free, Egg free, vegan
Serves 16

50g Dairy free spread - I used Pure Sunflower, but Vitalite, or Flora Freedom would work just as well.
2 Tbsp Almond butter
3tbsp Date syrup (Maple syrup would work well too)
2 overripe bananas, mashed
1 apple grated (I used a cooking apple as I had some that we'd picked, but an eating apple would work as well)
250g porridge oats
100g sultanas
85g dried apricots, quartered
35g chia seeds
50g linseeds
1 tsp sweet mixed spice

Preheat the oven to 140 degrees C
Grease and line an 8 inch square brownie tin
In a pan or the microwave melt together the dairy free spread, almond butter and date syrup
Mix this with the mashed bananas, grated apple, and porridge oats. Beat well until blended
Add in the sultanas, apricots, chia, linseeds and sweet mixed spice
Pour into the prepared tin and bake for 45 minutes
Leave to cook and cut into 16 squares

Serve with tea for a grown up and milk for a toddler.

For the ingredients in italics you can swap and change any of these for things you have in, or like more. This isn't the sort of recipe you should go out and buy things for - use what you have in the cupboards on a Sunday and pop the pieces in your lunchbox as you go through the week.

Why not save this recipe on Pinterest to make later

Chewy apple and sultana flapjacks: dairy free

I love flapjacks, but they have to be chewy, crispy ones are just wrong. They were one of the first things I baked with my Mum, I remember kneeling on a chair in our kitchen at the table and watching her weigh out the oats as we made them together. Because of that memory and pang of nostalgia I made these with Harry's help today. He stirred, stole the sultanas, and put spoonfuls of oats (almost) in the mixing bowl. A resounding success for his first attempt at baking I'd say.

This recipe is based on the one I used way back in the mists of time. Mum wrote it out for me while I was at University. I promptly made them, fell asleep and burnt them. I've since made them twice as the first time they came out crispy - please see above. Wrong. And the second time, with some adjustments and changes to the recipe and cooking times/ temperature they were perfect.

It's worth noting that oats are well regarded as lactogenic, so if you're a breastfeeding mama flapjacks are a legitimate health food. True story.

Apple and sultana flapjacks
Serves 12

8oz porridge oats
3oz caster sugar
4oz golden syrup
4oz Pure (or any other dairy free spread)
3 grown up handfuls of sultanas (or equivalent baby ones)
Half an eating apple grated

Preheat the oven to 130 degrees C
Mix the porridge oats, caster sugar and sultanas together in a mixing bowl
Add the grated apple and stir again so it's mixed through (if you're Harry, now is a good time to do a taste test!)
Melt the dairy free spread and golden syrup in a saucepan and pour over the dry ingredients
Stir to make sure it's all mixed in
Grease a 7.5 (or so) inch brownie pan - I used a pyrex dish and pop the mixture in
Level out the top as best as you can, there's absolutely no need for these to be perfect. I try to push the sultanas down into the flapjacks as I dislike burnt, bitter sultanas but that's personal taste.
Bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes
Leave to cool for 20 minutes, then slice into 12 bars

Leave to finish cooling, then enjoy with a coffee. Try to hide eating them from any babies you're around.

Lots of other lovely bloggers have flapjack recipes you might like, here are some of my favourites - remember you can always substitute butter for a dairy free spread. Pure and Vitalite are our favourites:

• Foodie Quine - a great way to use up any jars of marmalade you have languishing in the cupboard (just me then?) Marmalade flapjacks
• Tin and Thyme - some lovely looking raspberry and white chocolate flapjacks.
• Nosebagni - a recipe stuffed full of superfood like goji berries and sunflower seeds British flapjacks with mixed seeds and Goji berries
• Baking Queen 74 - some Pumpkin seed and Mango oat bars that astonishingly are made in the slow cooker! These use coconut oil so are already dairy free (Hurrah!)
• Planet Veggie - Quick and easy vegan flapjacks The name says it all. Although I'm slightly in awe of her unmarked brownie pan
• Celery and cupcakes - Salted Almond Butter flapjacks that I am lusting after already (at 9am on a Thursday morning. This does not bode well for next week's weigh in). Those of us who are soya and dairy free could chop up some Moo bars or Green and Blacks for the dark chocolate chips
• Veggie Desserts - Carrot, parsnip and coconut flapjacks What a great way to sneak some extra veggies into your family. Yes, M I'm thinking of you
• Tinned tomatoes - some lovely Fresh blueberry flapjacks that are vegan, and lower in sugar than mine so ideal for little ones. Harry loves blueberries so these are a definite try for us.

Next on my list are Raspberry and coconut flapjacks, inspired by a lovely lady on a Breastfeeding group I belong to who's little one is going through the same leap as Harry.

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.