Allergy friendly porridge fingers
Since my son, Fred, was 6 months old we have been making weekly batches of oaty porridge bars. They’re really healthy, economic, save time, are good on the go and he loves them! We usually have some in fridge as back up food for fussy or hectic days. We like to make a big batch and then pop most of them into little bags in the freezer so they last quite a while!
If you are the parent of a child with milk or egg allergies or if your family follow a vegan or vegetarian lifestyle these bars are perfect, they’re packed full of nutrient rich ingredients and can be customised according to preference, we like to add vitamin c rich dried apricots to ours as it’s a great way to get more iron into Fred’s diet. We have even made savoury versions with beetroot and spinach in them.
This recipe was adapted from a recipe I found in the Baby-led Weaning Cookbook to make it egg and dairy free.
Allergy friendly porridge fingers
15 mins prep, 35 minutes baking, makes 20 bars.
Ingredients
2 bananas
3 tbsp flax seed
630ml milk of your choice (we like soy)
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
300g porridge oats
100g plain flour
200g chopped up mixed died fruit such as apricots, raisins, or cranberries.
Method
Preheat the oven to 180C and line a large baking tray with non stick paper. We use this ikea one which is 34x24 cm.
Put the flax seed into a large mixing bowl and mix with 3 tbsp boiling water, add the banana, and the milk and mash it up together. I actually like to use a handblender here to get a nice smooth consistency.
Add the rest of the ingredients and mix it all together.
Transfer to the prepared tray and and bake for 25-35 minutes until fairly firm and lightly browned.
Remove from the oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool down before cutting. Cut into fingers and serve cold.
