Neighbourhood Reflections

Daydreaming from my desk at the reflections from the building across the way.  It looks as if the sunshine is playing a game of not-noughts and crosses.

Banella Oatcakes

I love yoghurt with granola and a spoonful of one of my jams for breakfast.  I used to have a box of granola bars to stick in my handbag I should need to be "up and out" super early.  Unfortunately they are not satisfying, relatively expensive and quite sugary.  Now I always have a batch of oatcakes handy to take with me so if I want a mobile breakfast, or a snack, I have something that's homemade, hearty, inexpensive and super easy to make.  

There isn't really a recipe but for these banella oatcakes I took a jar of banella jam which is a spread made of bananas, dark chocolate and Courvosier XO then added two bananas and oats. 

 

I mixed and mashed these together until the mixture was bound together.  Then I spread in on a sheet of backing paper to a thickness of about 2cm and then use a cutter to cut out the oatcakes. If they aren't holding well together you can remix with a bit of golden syrup if the mixture is too dry and more oats if seems too wet.  The drier the mixture the more crunchy they will be and the wetter will produce a chewy oatcake.  Once they've been cut I sprinkle a tiny bit of demerara sugar on them and bake them in an oven preheated to 180°C for about 20-30 minutes.  They also make a great snack and I have also used them as a pudding base for individual crumbles.

Mr and Ms Food Face Plates

I really, really, really want these in my life!

(via fred & friends)