OATY BREAKFAST BUNS - GF, LOW FODMAP

Oaty breakfast bun with pecan

I follow a low fodmap diet because I have fibromyalgia so eating out is tricky, but eating at home is manageable. I did The Happy Pear's Happy Gut online cookery course last year and got some great new low fodmap recipes from it. This is one of my favourites.

I normally make these with blueberries but substituted grated carrot today for a change. I eat one for breakfast with an Alpro Coconut 'yogurt' and a sprinkle of mixed seeds.

INGREDIENTS

1 TBLSP GROUND FLAX SEED

3 TBLSP WATER

90G PORRIDGE OATS

70G GROUND ALMONDS

½ TSP BAKING POWDER

½ TSP BREAD SODA

75 ML VEG OIL

75 ML MAPLE SYRUP

1 TSP VANILLA ESSENCE

100G RASPS OR BLUEBERRIES or 1 GRATED CARROT

PECANS FOR DECORATION (OPTIONAL)

METHOD

·         Pre heat oven to 180c

·         Line a bun tray (makes 9 small or 6 large)

·         Make up the flax egg with the water

·         Grate the carrot finely (if using)

·         Mix the dry ingredients together

·         Mix in the wet ingredients

·         Mix in the berries or carrots

·         Plop mixture into bun cases

·         Decorate with pecans (or flaked almonds)

·         Bake for 20 to 25 minutes

HEALTHY CHOC CHIP COOKIES

Juno, mixing

I have been dreaming about flapjacks but then got diverted by this simple recipe, which I have adapted. I added Stevia (hoping for some sweetness). Hmmm. I'm not sure that Stevia does what it's supposed to do. Anyway,the coconut and choc chips provide a little sweetness. 157 kcals per cookie.

Grating the apple

Before baking

Finished cookies

Ingredients:

·         1 cup porridge oats

·         1/3 cup dessicated coconut

·         1/3 cup dark choc chips

·         1 peeled eating apple grated

·         1/2 mashed banana OR 1 beaten egg

·         1 teaspoon natural vanilla essence

·         1 teaspoon Stevia

Method:

1.      Preheat oven to 200C, grease and line a baking tray with greaseproof

2.      Beat egg OR mash banana, in a bowl, add grated apple and vanilla essence and combine.

3.      Add  remaining ingredients: porridge oats, coconut, choc chips.

4.      Thoroughly mix together using a wooden spoon and then form into rounds with your hands and flatten onto the greaseproof.

5.      Bake for 12 to15 minutes until golden brown

6.      Cool on wire rack and enjoy!

OAT & SESAME BISCUITS

I have a funny little book called Porridge by Margaret Briggs which I am fond of - it's kind of eccentric in tone. Often, before baking, I read through the ingredients to see if I have what I need but when I read the method an extra ingredient magically appears. Today, I decided to make these oat and sesame biscuits, and step 4 said 'Add the beaten egg and stir well'. Huh, Margaret?! You never mentioned egg in the ingredients...

Anyway, I used one egg and crossed my fingers and they turned out lovely. If I am making them again, though, I would use less sugar as they are rather sweet.

Oat and Sesame Biscuits

INGREDIENTS

150g porridge oats
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
75g brown sugar (or 50g for a less sweet taste)
125ml vegetable oil (I used rapeseed oil)
1 egg, beaten

METHOD

1) Preheat the oven to 170C & grease two baking trays.
2) Roast the sesame seeds in a dry pan until golden.
3) Put the porridge oats, sesame seeds, sugar and oil in a bowl. Mix together and leave for one hour.
4) Add the beaten egg and mix well.
5) Put small spoonfuls of the mixture onto the greased baking trays.
6) Bake for 15 to 20 minutes.
7) Leave to cool a little before moving to a cooling rack.

My mix made 17 biscuits. 117 kcal per biscuit, 8 g of fat.

FIG & COCONUT CEREAL BARS

Fig and Coconut Ceral Bars before cutting

The quest for healthy homemade cereal bars continues! I have heavily adapted this recipe from this one at Smitten Kitchen. I have experimented with it, using different ingredients and I am happy now with this combination. The wonderful books The Guilt Free Gourmet and My Goodness have me experimenting with agave syrup and Xylitol (a healthier alternative to sugar).

This recipe makes 16 small square bars. Each one has 131 calories and 5g of fat. Not bad at all!

INGREDIENTS

150g porridge oats

125g Xylitol

50g rice flour

half teaspoon salt

125g dried figs (topped, tailed and chopped small)

25g pumpkin seeds

40g dessicated coconut

1 tsp vanilla extract

6 tablespoons melted butter or marg (I used Vitalite dairy free)

60ml agave syrup

2 tablespoons honey

1 tablespoon water

METHOD

• Preheat the oven to 180°C
• Line an 8″ x 8″ x 2″ tin in one direction with baking paper, allowing it to go up the opposing sides. Lightly grease the paper and the exposed pan
• Stir together all the dry ingredients, including the fruit and seeds
• In a separate bowl, whisk together the vanilla, melted marg, liquid sweeteners and water
• Toss the wet ingredients with the dry until evenly crumbly
• Spread in the prepared pan, pressing firmly with a spoon
• Bake for 35 minutes, until golden brown
• They’ll still seem soft when you press
• Cool the bars in their tin completely on a cooling rack
• Once cool, use a serrated knife to cut the bars into squares. If bars seem crumbly, chill further in the fridge for 30 minutes to set them, then cut cold

MUESLI ENERGY BARS

Muesli Energy Bars

It's very hard to get decent cereal bars in the supermarket, though Kelkin, Nak'd and Jordans do a great job with their bars and lots of places stock them. Still, they are expensive. So, frustrated in both Aldi and Tesco today with the generally rubbishy cereal bars on offer (high sugar, coated in yogurt/chocolate), I decided to make my own. I found a couple of good recipes on the RTÉ website and I have adapted one of them, basically to use what was in my press. These came out quite crumbly but are totally delicious. (They might have stayed together better if I hadn't prised them out of the tin for testing before they were cold...)

Muesli Energy Bar 

Ingredients

• 50g butter or marg.
• 50ml rapeseed oil
• 1 large egg
• 50g light brown sugar
• 150g porridge oats
• 25g mixed nuts (chopped)     
• 25g dessicated coconut
• 50g dates (chopped)
• 25g pumpkin seeds
• 25g ground almonds
• 25 g raisins
• 1 tsp vanilla essence (or any other flavour you like)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 160°C
2. Line a shallow baking tin with baking paper
3. Put butter, sugar and oil into a biggish pot, over a low heat, and stir until butter melts
4. Remove from heat and stir in all the dry ingredients
5. Whisk egg in a cup with vanilla essence and add to other ingredients
6. Spread evenly into the tin using a spatula to flatten
7. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes
8. Remove from the oven and allow to cool before cutting into bar shapes.
9. Leave until completely cold before removing from the tin.

VEGAN OAT BISCUITS

I had friends popping around unexpectedly on Friday morning and there was nothing to give them, so I needed a quick, tasty, gluten free biscuit that I could have done and cooling by the time they arrived. I went to my trusty Porridge book and of course good old Margaret Briggs had this recipe for School Dinner Oat Cookies. In a school she worked in years ago they served these with blancmange. How very Enid Blyton! These make a crisp, sweet, chewy biscuit. Impossible to eat just one.

Recipe:

125g porridge oats
125g butter or marg
125g caster sugar (I used half caster/half brown)
125g plain flour (I used wholemeal spelt flour)
2 tsps baking powder
pinch bread soda
2 tblsps + 1 tsp golden syrup

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180C
Grease two flat tins
Cream the sugar and marg
Add the porridge and the rest of the dry ingredients and mix
Mix in the golden syrup
Make into small balls (1 inch round) - this recipe makes about 18 - 20
Place on greased tins, leaving space - they spread!
Bake for 15 to 20 minutes

VEGAN FLAPJACKS

Flapjacks are the easiest thing to make. OK, they are not super healthy except for the porridge oats but they are yummy. The recipe is a veganised version of one from a book called Porridge by Margaret Briggs which is full of no-frills, good recipes.

125g vegan marg

75g brown sugar

3 tblsps golden syrup

250g porridge oats

• Preheat oven to 180C

• Lightly grease a shallow baking tray
• Melt the sugar, marg and syrup together in a pot

• Mix in the porridge oats

• Flatten out on the baking tray with a wooden spoon

• Bake for 25-30 minutes

• Mark into squares or bars

• Leave to cool in the tin, then remove