COOKBOOKS GALORE

These came about because of yet another 'use by' date on some bran in my baking cupboard. My grandson is a Nutella fanatic, so we decided to make some bars using the bran, some oats and Nutella. The base is a flapjack with bran and oats. Easy for K to make. You need: 200g oats, 75g bran, 150g butter, 50g light demerara sugar, 4 tbspn honey, 5 tbspn chopped unsalted roasted peanuts and some Nutella. Preheat oven 190C/gas 5 Melt the butter, sugar and honey in a pan over a low heat. remove from heat and add the oats and bran and mix well. Spoon the mix into a brownie tin and flatten with a spoon. Bake for 20 mins. Mark into 10 bars in the tin. Cool. When cold, melt some Nutella, enough to give a good layer on the bars, then sprinkle over the chopped peanuts. Leave to cool then keep in a sealed box. Very rustic to look at, but very tasty. The hazelnut and cinnamon sticks were added by my grandson! Nice oaty base, the soft Nutella and then the crunch of the peanuts.

Flapjacks are one of my family's favourite things to eat and a Bakewell tart is another, so a combination of both is a marriage made in heaven! I've been having a good sort out of my baking files lately - you know the ones, with cut out bits from newspapers, magazines, recipe cards you've picked up in supermarkets, handwritten recipes on scrappy bits of paper ...... and I came across a recipe for these flapjacks. I've changed it a bit to suit our tastes. Preheat oven 180C/gas4                 Grease a medium baking tin Put 150g oats, 75g ground almonds, 45g plain flour and 45g caster sugar in a bowl and mix together. Add 150g melted butter, 3 tbspn golden syrup and 3 tbspn milk and mix well. Put half of the mixture into your tin and press it down; spoon over 2 tbspn raspberry jam and sprinkle over 15g flaked almonds. put the rest of the mixture on top and smooth over. Sprinkle a few more flaked almonds over the top. Bake for 10-15 mins till goldenish. Cool in t

I love making loaf cakes and this is one of my favourites. It's a recipe from my Mum's old notebook, which I haven't looked at for ages. As is often the case, using up some ripe fruit was the reason for making it. It's such an easy one to make - an almost all-in-together type of cake. Preheat oven 180C/gas4                       Grease a 900g loaf tin. For the cake you need; 3 ripe bananas, mashed, 110g butter, 8 tbspn runny honey, 110g brown sugar, 1/2 tspn vanilla essence, 2 eggs, 1/4 tspn bicarb., 1 tspn baking powder, 1/2 tspn cinnamon. pinch salt, 180g plain flour, 45g oats and 150g chopped walnuts. In a large bowl put the bananas, butter, honey, brown sugar, vanilla, eggs, bicarb, baking powder, cinnamon and salt and mix together till combined thoroughly - you may have a few banana lumps, but that's ok. Add the flour and oats and mix with a wooden spoon, but don't over mix. Add about 3/4 of the walnuts and stir in gently. Pour the batter i

I made a couple of batches of cookies recently, so thought I'd post the recipes here. They're both very easy and quick to make. The first one is for Chocolate-chip and Oats cookies, and the second one is for Ginger and Chocolate cookies. For the Choc-chip and Oats ones  - Preheat oven 180C/gas4  Mixture makes enough cookies to cover 3 baking sheets, but I did it in 2 batches, as I only have 2 baking sheets. Beat together 125g butter, 100g soft brown sugar, 110g caster sugar and 1/2 tspn vanilla extract till pale and thick, using an electric hand beater, then beat in 1 egg. Fold in 110g oats [not the jumbo ones]. sieve 150g plain flour with 1/2 tspn baking powder and 1/2 tspn bicarb. together and fold into mixture. Finally fold in 175g dark chocolate which has been chopped [not too small] and 150g peeled and chopped hazelnuts [you could toast them first]. Using a tablespoon or an ice cream scoop, put balls of dough onto the baking sheets, leaving a space between each

Two of my favourite bakes are Bakewell Tart and Flapjacks of any kind, so I decided to combine the two and try and make some Bakewell flapjacks. I was very pleased with the result, as were my children who ate some then took the rest back with them! I just managed to get a photo before they all disappeared!  I didn't make any pastry as you would with a tart, but used the flavours of a Bakewell and the ingredients of a flapjack. Preheat oven 190C/gas5       Grease and line a 20cm square cake tin. Melt 150g butter, 50g caster sugar and 4 tbspn golden syrup in a pan. Then add 200g oats, 50g ground almonds and 1 tspn almond extract. Mix together. Spoon half of this mixture into the tin and flatten till smooth. Spread 3 tbspn jam [ I use blueberry, but you could use, strawberry or raspberry] over the mixture leaving a frame round the edge. Spoon rest of mixture on top and spread so it covers the jam. Sprinkle over a handful of flaked almonds. Bake for 15-20 mins till the edges s

I bought some plums from a local market. They were very ripe and needed using, so decided to make a plum cake of some sort. I found this recipe in my late mil's notebook, so not sure where it originates. It's a sponge cake with plums on top, then a sort of streusel layer, some of which sank into the cake and made it taste a bit like flapjacks - hence my recipe title! Grease and line a 20cm springform tin. Preheat oven 180C/gas4 It's an easy cake to make: Put 175g soft butter or marg in the bowl of an electric mixer; add 175g soft brown sugar, 2 beaten eggs, 175g sr flour, 1/2 tspn baking powder and 1 tspn cinnamon, and beat together till nice and creamy. You need 450g plums, halved and stoned. [ If they're not really ripe, put them in a dish in the oven sprinkled with 2 tbspn granulated sugar and bake them for about 20 mins till they've softened.] Put the plums, cut side up, on top of the cake batter and make the topping. Melt 50g of butter, add 50g sr

I wanted to make something quick and easy for my grandsons' visit this afternoon. This slice must come under the 'easy to make and good for you' banner, as it has oats, muesli, honey, apricots, nuts ...  and surprisingly, all three boys will eat it!. I guess it's a posh flapjack! It's one of my friend Ann's family recipes, and we love it. 30g oats 80g dried apricots 60g muesli 40g dessicated coconut 30g almonds chopped into pieces 70g plain flour 70g demerara sugar 2 tbspn honey 2 medium eggs 140g butter Grease a deep 20cm square cake tin. Preheat oven 180C/gas4 Cut the apricots into smallish pieces. In a bowl beat 140g of the softened butter with the sugar and honey. Add the eggs one at a time. Fold in the flour, oats, muesli, almonds, apricot pieces and the coconut. Mix it all together and spoon into the tin; smooth the surface and cook for 30 mins. Leave it to go cold in the tin then cut into squares. It's very filling, so I cut it int

Seem to have had a lot of very ripe bananas lately. Am a bit fed up with banana loaves and cakes, but was given a recipe booklet recently about Fairtrade bananas, made up with recipes given by some of our church members. We love flapjacks, so banana ones seemed a great idea. I made them in a swiss roll tin, as we like them thin, but if you prefer thicker ones, use a square cake tin instead. 125g butter 85g light brown sugar 2 tbspn syrup 350g oats 1/2tspn baking powder 1 tspn cinnamon 2 medium ripe bananas Preheat oven 180C/gas4 Grease a Swiss roll tin  23 x 33cm or a 20cm square cake tin Melt butter, sugar and syrup in microwave or on hob. Add oats, baking powder and cinnamon then add mashed bananas. Spoon in tin and smooth top with back of a spoon. Bake 20-25 mins till golden and firm. Cut into bars while hot then cool in tin. I made 15 bars. We really liked the added texture of the banana, but they are a soft flapjack, not a crisp one. I'll certainly ma

My husband loves biscuits, so as it was pouring with rain and I felt like baking something, I decided to make some for him. What to make? I had half a tin of Carnation caramel in the fridge left over from a cake recipe my daughter tried, so thought I'd use some of this - not much, as it's so sweet. I like a biscuit with a crunchy outside but a soft centre, so decided to use oats and some plain chocolate to get the sort of biscuit I wanted. A couple of tablespoons of caramel would give it extra flavour, and add to the softish centre. I found plenty of oat biscuit recipes on the net, but couldn't find just what I wanted, so I used a basic oat recipe and added my own tweaks to it. I made 15 chocolate oaties from this recipe. Preheat oven 180C/gas4 100g butter, 100g soft brown sugar and 2 tbspns of Carnation caramel - spoon these into a pan and melt gently till all the sugar and butter have dissolved. 100g sr flour, 100g oats and 1/2 tspn of bicarbonate of soda - put t

We love plums, but despite this being a bumper year for fruit, I've only managed to find 3 lots of British plums. Victoria's are my favourite and I wish we had the room for a tree in our small garden. I succumbed to a BOGOF offer in the supermarket and bought some Italian plums. I decided to make a cake, one with a crumbly topping and use them as a layer in the cake. The idea for the recipe came from this  recipe on the Good Food site, but I used bits from several recipes in my folder to make the final cake. If the plums aren't very ripe, I like to roast them first to add to their flavour. Put 450g of plums cut side up in a tin, sprinkle with 2 tsbps of granulated sugar and bake them in oven 180C/gas4 for about 20 mins till they've become soft. Take out, but leave the oven on. You need a 20cm springform tin lined with baking paper. It's an all in one cake, so put 175g soft brown sugar. 175g butter or margarine, 175g sr flour, 2 eggs, 1/2 tspn baking powder

I've posted muffin recipes several times, adapting my favourite recipe. I made a rhubarb tart yesterday, and had enough rhubarb left to make some muffins. I wanted to make something different, but having looked online and not been inspired, I decided to adapt my old faithful recipe  We love rhubarb crumble, so muffins with rhubarb and crumble sound ideal. I usually make the crumble with half oats and half flour, and I use oil instead of butter in the muffins. A healthier option! I used soft light brown sugar instead of my usual caster. For the crumble topping: 50g butter, 50g plain flour 25g porridge oats 50g demerara sugar 1 tsp ground cinnamon For the muffins: 225g self-raising flour 100g soft light brown sugar 1 medium egg, beaten 250ml milk 120ml sunflower or rapeseed oil 200g rhubarb, sliced lengthways and chopped 2 tbspn cold water 50g caster sugar icing sugar [opt] Preheat oven to 200C/gas mark 6. Line a 12-hole muffin tin with paper cases.   Crumb

Is it just me, or do bananas ripen more quickly nowadays? I always seen to have a few overripe ones in the fruit bowl. Then, what do do with them? Have made banana muffins before, but not with oats and walnuts. They're not as 'cakey' tasting as my normal muffin recipe,but are substantial and great with a cuppa! They'd be good for breakfast too. The recipes makes 12 muffins . 100g oats 200g plain flour 11/2 tspn baking powder cinnamon to taste [opt] 1 tson bicarb. of soda little salt 100g light brown sugar 4 ripe bananas 1 large beaten egg 60g melted butter or oil [I used rapeseed] 75g chopped walnuts Preheat oven 180C/gas4 Grease a 12 hole muffin tin, or line with paper cases. Put the flour, oats, baking powder, bicarb., salt and sugar in a bowl and mix together. I then mixed in a tbspn of cinnamon as I love it! Mash up the bananas in another bowl and add the egg, butter or oil and the walnuts. Mix this together and add to the dry ingredients. Mix together gently - do

I haven't made flapjacks for ages. Each time, I change my original recipe and add new things; today it's cranberries and sunflower seeds. 125 gr butter 75g caster sugar 1 tbspn golden syrup 300g rolled oats 50g sunflower seeds 75g chocolate chips or chopped dark chocolate 50g dried cranberries Preheat oven 180C/350F/gas4 Grease a 20cm square cake tin. Put the butter, sugar and syrup in a pan and melt over a low heat. Mix well. Take off the heat and add the oats and sunflower seeds. Stir until well mixed, then add the chocolate chips and cranberries. Spoon into the cake tin and press it down well with the back of a spoon. Bake for 25 mins. Let it cool in the tin for a bit, then mark into 12 squares.

My Mum used to make these for my children when they were little. Found the recipe the other day, so thought I'd make some for the biscuit tin. She used to make 15 biscuits out of the mixture, I only made 12! 125g sr flour 125g butter [softened] 125g caster sugar 1 tbspn cocoa 90g oats 2 tbspns coffee essence [like Camp] Preheat oven 180C/350F/gas 4 Put the flour, cocoa and sugar in a bowl, then rub in the butter. Add the oats and the coffee essence and mix it all together into a ball. Make small balls of the dough and put them on a greased baking tray. I use a silicone sheet. Flatten the balls a bit then bake them for 15 mins. Sometimes Mum used to roll them in extra oats, but I prefer them like this.