Oatcakes

I made my own oatcakes. They were so simple to make and taste delightful with cheese on. I was amazed at how simple they were to make; I am never going to buy another oatcake again they keep for ages in an airtight container and are such a good snack to munch on during the late afternoon.
All you need is:
225g/8oz oats (plus a few more for sprinkling)
75g/3oz plain flour
1.5ml bicarbonate soda
5ml/ 1tsp salt
25g/2tbsp lard
25g/2 tbsp butter
A little boiling water
Preheat the oven to 220c/425f/gas mark 7. Place the oatmeal, flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt into a large bowl and mix together. Melt the lard and the butter together in a small pan over a low heat. Once it has melted add it the dry ingrediants and use a little boiling water to make a dough. Sprinkle some more oats over your chopping board or work surface and roll out the dough thinly. Cut into circles and place on an ungreased baking tray for 15 minutes. Finished!

Blackberry crumble squares

Have you been watching the Hairy Bikers/Bakers on TV? Last night they created wedding cakes! It was a 4 part series and each week they baked something different. They covered bread, pies, cakes/bakes and celebration cakes! I really enjoyed it; they are so funny to watch!

Anyway, here is my latest bake - blackberry crumble squares! The actual recipe was called 'Blackcurrant Squares' but I didn't have any blackcurrants so made it with blackberries. I think it would work just as well with any kind of berries especially raspberries and blueberries! Yum.

You will need:
115g/4 oz butter, softened
175g/6 oz caster sugar
1 egg
280g/10 oz self-raising flour
125ml/4fl oz milk
200g blackberries

And for the crumble topping:
115g/4 oz caster sugar
85g/3 oz plain flour
finely grated rind of 1 lemon
50g/2 oz butter

Preheat the oven to 180c/gas mark 4. Butter an oblong cake tin or I think a square one would work just as well.

Beat together the sugar and butter in a bowl using an electric whisk until pale and fluffy. Whisk in the egg, then carefully fold in the flour and milk until all the mixture is combined. Spoon into the buttered tin and sprinkle the blackberries over the top.

To make the crumble, mix the sugar, flour and lemon rind together. Rub in the butter until the mixture feels crumbly and then sprinkle this onto of the blackberries.

Bake for 45 mins until the blackberries start bursting through the golden crumble. Once cool, cut into squares and serve. Be warned though, it needs eating fairly quickly as the crumble topping doesn't stay crumbly for long! This recipe was adapted from Goodfood magazine book!

Banana Muffins

I ran the Nike Human 10k Race last Sunday. It was amazing fun! A million people from 25 different countries took part all on the same day. The race in London started at Wembley Stadium and it poured down with rain! I couldn't believe it! I managed to run the whole 10k in 1h3:55 which I think was quite good considering the weather conditions. It felt so good at the end to have finished; everybody received a t-shirt saying 'Today I raced the world' which I thought was pretty cool! For weeks beforehand I was storing up on my carbs - pasta, bread and of course, the ultimate energy food - bananas! I thought making banana muffins would be a great idea. Bananas give slow releasing energy but sometimes I struggle to eat bananas especially ones that are going off so what better way then to bake them into muffins!

You will need:
200g (7oz) plain flour
3 tsp baking powder
1.5 tsp ground cinnamon
pinch of ground nutmeg
50g (2oz) ground almonds
50g (2oz) sugar
2-3 bananas
2 eggs
2 tbs vegetable oil
125ml (4 fl oz) milk
3 tablespoons of honey

They are extremely easy to make. First make sure your oven is preheated to 190c/375f/gas mark 5 and place the muffin cases into the tin. This recipe makes 10.

Mix the flour, baking powder and cinnamon in a bowl. Stir in the nutmeg, almonds and sugar.

Mash the bananas together using a fork and mix in the eggs, oil, milk and honey to make a sloppy paste. Add this to the dry ingrediants in the bowl and mix all together.

Spoon the mixture into the paper cases and bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes!

The perfect energy food! Delicious!