Posts Tagged ‘Oats’

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Nutella Day Smoothie

February 5th, 2013

I managed not to miss Nutella Day this year! I’m so very proud of myself – I even managed to get some Nutella into my belly for breakfast, rather than suddenly remembering at nine o’clock at night. Well done, me.

This may not be the healthiest of breakfast smoothies, but it’s mighty tasty and kept me full right up to lunch.

Nutella Day smoothie

1/2 cup old-fashioned oats
1 big spoonful of Nutella (1 tbsp or more)
1 very ripe banana
1 1/2 cups almond or skim milk

Blitz everything in the blender until smooth.
Serve and smile.  :)

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Posted in Breakfast, Drinks

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Irish Oat Rolls

March 17th, 2012

Irish oat rolls

Ever since I picked up a copy of Nigella Lawson’s Kitchen cookbook, I’ve been meaning to try her Irish oaten rolls.  After a few adventures with a cooking scale, I’ve pulled together a Canadian version of her recipe, with volume measurements instead of weights.  In this form, it’s a very speedy recipe that leaves you with a dozen steaming oat rolls – a perfect accompaniment to a bowl of hot beef stew.

2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup white flour
1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
1 1/4 cups stout (not quite a full bottle)
1/2 cup milk
1 tbsp lemon juice
4 tbsp canola oil
4 tbsp liquid honey

In a large bowl, mix together the first five dry ingredients.
In a big measuring jug, measure out and stir together the remaining, wet ingredients.  The milk will likely curdle because of the beer – don’t even worry about it.
Dump the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and gently stir together.
Spoon large dollops of the dough onto two cookie sheets lined with parchment paper.  You should end up with 10-12 rolls.
Top each roll with a pinch of extra oats.
Bake for 15 minutes at 350° or until the rolls sound hollow when tapped on the bottom.
Set aside on a wire rack to cool before serving.

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Posted in Breads, Side Dishes

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Harvest Granola

October 4th, 2010

Harvest granola

Mornings are always better when they come with a bowl of granola.  My usual granola recipe is from Yummy Supper – chunky and chewy, with lots of cranberries and almonds.  My mom uses Nigella Lawson’s recipe from Feast which uses applesauce as one of the sweeteners.

When I was out in Vancouver, my sister’s friend had a bag of homemade granola her parents had sent from home.  It was full of pretty green pumpkin seeds and golden flax.  I used this as the starting point for the recipe below.

1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup cane syrup
1/4 cup canola oil
1 cup pumpkin seeds
1/2 cup golden flax
1/2 cup sesame seeds
4 cups oats
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup dried cranberries

In a large bowl, stir all the ingredients (except the cranberries) together until everything is evenly distributed.
Dump the granola out into a very large cake pan or a deep broiling pan and spread out in an even layer.
Roast at 325ºF for 45-60 minutes, stirring gently at 15 minute intervals.  The granola should be evenly browned when it’s done.
Once the granola is out of the oven, stir through the cranberries.
Cool completely before storing in an air-tight container.

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Posted in Breakfast

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Cape Breton Oatcakes

March 17th, 2010

Oatcakes

I love oatcakes.  There’s just something so comforting about their chewy, grainy, buttery goodness.  While searching online for a recipe that would give me a biscuit close to the ones I ate out in Halifax, I came across a recipe from Natalie MacMaster, the Cape Breton fiddler.  It’s close enough to my grandma’s recipe, but these come out thicker and chewier.

I’ve made a few adjustments to Natalie’s ingredients, because I was trying to make them as dense and oaty as possible.  Next time (and there will be many next times) I’ll try using some brown sugar to make them even more moist.  With the size I’ve made my biscuits (about 3 inches across), this recipe makes about a dozen.

1/2 cup margarine (room temperature)
1/2 cup butter (room temperature)
1/2 cup white sugar
3 tbsp boiling water
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 cups flour
1/2 cup steel cut oats
1 1/2 cups rolled oats
1/2 tsp salt

Cream together the margarine, butter and sugar using a mixmaster.
In a small bowl, stir the baking soda into the boiling water until it dissolves.
Mix the water into the creamed mixture.
Slowly stir in the flour, oats and salt.
Continue to stir until a soft ball forms – this may take a bit of kneading by hand.
Roll the dough to 1/2 inch thinkness, then cut out rounds with a crinkled biscuit cutter.
Arrange oatcakes on a cookie sheet and bake for 6-8 minutes at 375 °F.
Once they’re baked, let the cookies cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet before moving them to a cookie rack to cool completely.

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Posted in Cookies, Desserts

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Cranberry-Apple Crisp

October 26th, 2006

I’m really looking forward to taking part in my very first Canadian Blogging By Post.  I missed out on the first one because I was in Europe at the time, so I’ve been waiting for a second installment ever since then.  I still haven’t finalized what I’ll be putting in my care package; I need to talk to someone at Canada Post about one of the items before it gets thrown into the box.  I do, however, have my recipe contribution all finished.

 

My Mom makes a lot of apple crisps.  Our neighbours have an apple tree that hangs over our patio, so we get about a third of a tree-worth of apples every year.  I remember peeling and freezing bushels of them a few years back, and most of those made their way into either pies or crisps.  Since moving out to Halifax, I’ve been bombarded by fresh apples and cranberries, so I thought I’d make a combination dessert.  This comes together really quickly, and can be dressed up by baking it in individual dishes, like I did for the picture.

3/4 cup rolled oats
1/4 cup flour
1/3 cup butter, cut into small chunks
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp grated nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

2 cups chopped apple
1 cup fresh cranberries
3/4 cup white sugar
zest of 1 orange

Butter an 8×8 pan.
In a smallish bowl, mix together the first set of ingredients with your fingers, grinding the butter into the dry ingredients until it is pea-sized.
Mix together the apple, cranberries, sugar and orange zest, then dump into the baking pan.
Pour the oat topping over the fruit.
Bake at 350ºF for at least 30 minutes, or until fruit is bubbly.

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Posted in Challenges, Desserts

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