Overnight oats cookies!

Simplicity at it’s best!  

It's always good to simplify everything in life where possible...this hugely popular post was a testament to how amazing simplicity can be! 

Simplicity is most definitely where it's at. Starting with these...

I love oats, I love cookies, I love oatmeal....I want it all!  BUT I often don’t want to spend any time at all prepping things in the morning.  Particularly as of late with all the new developments that have been taking place.

It’s needs to be good to go in one quick swoop!

I think I may have an ingenious solution to that demand. The concept of 'overnight oats' saves you time in the morning (and is super healthy) so what if I made up a thick overnight oat mix, infused with chia seed to help thicken, bind and healthify things even more. Then come morning just throw it in the oven? Hmm, what would happen?

Well, I can report that you do indeed get cookies! 

To elaborate a little further I tried two version one with and one without oil, those with the oil were slightly lighter and had a crispness to the outside, though both were soft cookies and both tasted good! I would advise either eating them freshly from the oven or warming again slightly if consuming at a later time. The double bake effect also help crisp up the non-oil cookies. They were softer and a tad rubbery if eaten cold after a period of time (though I still ate them so that’s not to say they are at all bad!)

Add any mix-ins you fancy just before you dollop the cookie mix and pop them in the oven- throw in a handful or this or that. Raisins were a particular favourite for me- sweet and squashy,  I also tried choc chips and pumpkin seeds.  I kept the cookie mix only slightly sweetened for breakfast, but feel free to add a little extra sweetness to taste if desired.

Recipe: Overnight oats cookie

Makes approx 12 cookies

Ingredients:

1 ½ cup oats

1 ½ cups non dairy milk of choice

3 tbs maple syrup (or sweetener of choice)

¼ cup flax or chia

½ tsp cinnamon

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¼ cup melted coconut oil (optional)

½ cup mix ins- raisins, chocolate chips, nuts, seeds etc

Method:

Mix the top 5 ingredients together well in a medium bowl. Allow to sit over night (or for a few hours) the mixture should be very thick and gloopy.

Heat the oven to 180C and mix the coconut oil through the mixture along with any desired mixins. Taste the mixture and add a little extra sweetener if needed.

Dollop balls and flatten on a lined baking sheet. Bake for 10-15 mins until golden. The cookies will only crisp up a little.

Note: these are soft breakfast cookies but the addition of the oil will make a slightly slighter cookie with crisper edges (I also had success with ‘double baking’ the no oil version).  To achieve a crisper cookie you may try 2-3 tbs of unrefined granulated sugar instead of the syrup- note I have not tried this.

For more oaty goodness check out these recipes!

For further guidance on making gluten free choices please see this post.

For tips and info on recipe measurement conversions, ingredients, substitutions and the methods behind how I do things.... check out my 'baking tips' tab at the top of the page.

Persimmon scone

This little delicacy is really a scone-cake. It has the lovely light and crumbly texture of a scone in a cake form. My scone was a little hard to handle since the chunks of fruit were fairly large, I’d suggest cutting the fruit into chunks less than 1cm and also ‘scoring’ the scone into 6 pieces before cooking it to make slicing it easier (I forgot that part too!)

This recipe was two ‘firsts’ for me…the first time I’d ever eaten persimmon and the first time I have tried cooking the scone by this super speedy microwave/grill method. It wa sa a success on both counts. The persimmon has a very delicate flavour.

There are plenty of options with this recipe…you could double it up and cut scone shapes with a cookie cutter if you preferred, you can also bake the scoene on the oven in a more traditional manner or you can go down my route and use a combination of 2 mins in the microwave and then 2-3 mins under the grill to give a crips crust. This shaves off about 10 mins of oven cooking time.

I had a persimmon to try out and it worked nicely in this recipe but you could substitute it for apple, apricot  or plum…or any fairly firm fleshed fruit. Just take care if you use anything that has a very high water content or no firmness as it might alter the nature of the scone, use a little less soy milk if necessary.

Recipe: Persimmon scone cake

Serves 2-3

Ingredients

1 persimmon- chopped into small pieces

½ tsp vanilla extract

½ tsp cinnamon

1 cup ‘flour’ (I use an equal mix of quick oats and wholemeal spelt but you could also use GF flours)

1 tsp ground chia or flax

1 tsp baking powder

¼ tsp baking soda

2 tbs rapadura

Pinch salt

2 tbs coconut oil

Up to ¼ cup soy milk (or other)

Method

Cut the persimmon into small 1cm chunks ( a little smaller than I have for a scone that is easier to handle), mix with the vanilla and cinnamon and allow to sit whilst preparing the remaining ingredients.

Combine the flours, baking powder, baking soda, rapadura and salt in a small bowl, add the coconut oil (this should be solid not runny) and mix through with fingers to achieve a crumbly mixture. Add the soy milk a little add a time to achieve a soft dough that holds together without being sticky.

You can either mix the persimmon chunks through the dough and then flatten altogether, or you can divde the dough into two halves, flatten one half into a circle approx. 15cm diameter, press half the persimmon onto the surface , flatten the other half firmly over the top making a ‘sandwich’ and then press the remaining fruit into the top. Dust with a little cinnamon and sugar as desired.

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You can either bake for approx. 15 minutes at 180C, or for a super speedy scone, microwave for 2 minutes and then grill the top for 3-5 minutes to get a lovely crisp crust. I used the microwave method as I was keen to experiment this way and it worked perfectly!

Note: if using the microwave method be sure to use a baking liner that can be used for both the microwave and grill to avoid having to fuss around with transferring the part cooked scone.

For further guidance on making gluten free choices please see this post.

For tips and info on recipe measurement conversions, ingredients, substitutions and the methods behind how I do things.... check out my 'baking tips' tab at the top of the page.

lentil lunch

This is isn’t even a recipe really, it’s more of a principle. So many people I know still get scared about the idea of vegan cooking….

“It will be boring”

“It will just taste of vegetables”

Or simply…

“I just wouldn’t know what to cook!”

We my point is it’s really none of the above…ok I admit at first it takes a little effort to get into the swing of things whether you are fully fledged vegan or simply trying to swap a in few healthy meals each week. It requires effort only because it’s different to how we’ve been brought up to perceive food, different to what we’re used to doing on auto-pilot…we need to break out of the cycle and yes that does require some effort until you get into the zone.

I personally enjoy the challenge, and when I first started the transition I loved the fact it forced me to think outside the box and come up with new quirky ways to enjoy these foods and flavours. However I fully understand that for the others that side of things just holds no interest, food is functional and the creativity is not sparked…but that’s ok too ya know!

So, here’s where we strip it back, keep it simple…but tasty.

As I said, this is not so much a recipe but a principle. A quick and easy light lunch (as it was here) or bump it up for a hearty dinner. Combine as many colours and textures as you can with some beans of lentils for protein, all wrapped up with some tasty seasoning and you are pretty much there, and we all know the general principle…the more colourful a meal the more nutritious it is. Good to remember!

I have provided the ‘recipe’ below but it felt a little silly since the whole point is to mix it up with whatever you have to hand. This lunch came off the back of my ‘freezer prep session’ a week or so ago, when I cooked batches of beans and lentils (and much more) and bagged them up in potions for the freezer.  I used these lentils as my main source of protein, lovely green lentil as they hold their shape and texture so well once cooked, I also used grated courgette for cooking speed along with a lot of chunky chopped tomato as I had a surplus of those too and not much else in the fridge at the time! A sprinkling of cashews  gave a satisfying finish…perfect!   You could easily increase the portion size or add some toasted pitta bread or flatbread with a dollop of humus at the side for some extra carbs.

Recipe: Lentil lunch

Serves 1 for a light lunch

Ingredients

1 tsp curry paste (I used madras)

½ cup cooked green lentils (see this post)

½ medium courgette grated

3 tomatoes cut into chunks

Handful of cashews

(note: you could add or substitute chickpeas, grated carrot, cauliflower, peppers, spinach…or so many more vegetables if you wished)

Method:

In a medium frying add the curry paste and grated courgette and stir fry for a couple of minutes. Add the cooked lentils (or pre-cook in a separate saucepan) along with the chopped tomatoes and continue to stir to warm through and allow the tomatoes to soften down and create a flavoursome sauce. Once fully cooked through, serve with a sprinkling of cashews.

For tips and info on recipe measurement conversions, ingredients, substitutions and the methods behind how I do things.... check out my 'baking tips' tab at the top of the page.