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.

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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

1. Preheat the oven to 180C and line a large baking tray with non stick paper. We use this ikea one which is 34x24 cm.

2. 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.

3. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix it all together.

4. Transfer to the prepared tray and and bake for 25-35 minutes until fairly firm and lightly browned.

5. Remove from the oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool down before cutting. Cut into fingers and serve cold.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Everyone loves cookies, and these ones really are a treat.

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Chocolate Chip Cookies

20 minutes prep, 12 minutes baking, makes 12 cookies

Wet ingredients

• 100g dark brown sugar

• 50g white sugar

• 120g vegetable oil

• 50ml milk

• 1 tbsp tapioca flour

• 1 tbsp vanilla essence

Dry ingredients

• 200g plain flour

• 1/2 tsp baking soda

• 1/2 tbsp salt

• vegan choc chips

Method

Preheat the oven to 180C. Get two oven trays out and line them with baking paper.

Put all the wet ingredients into a small bowl and whizz it together with an electric whisk until its nice and smooth.

In a bigger bowl mix your dry ingredients together. Mix the wet with the dry.

Spoon dollops of mixture into your hand and roll them into a ball. Place 6 balls on each baking tray evenly spaced out in a grid. Squish the balls down a little with your fist.

Bake them in the oven for about 12 minutes.

Let them cool for at least 10 minutes (if you can bear it) before you gobble them down!

Ultimate Brownies

I’ve spent a long time trying and failing to make a good vegan brownie. All of my attempts basically turned out like brown oily goo (totally still ate them though). I’m not sure if my standards are high or if I’m just holding onto the memory of a brownie experience I had a long time ago, back in Manchester. When I was a student, I worked part time at a magical place called Nexus Art Cafe. It was such an important community place, where I met some of my best friends, learnt how to cook, and really sorted my life out. Nexus means so much to so many people in Manchester, so I was very sad to see that they have been unable to survive the pandemic and are closing. Their departing gift was Hannah & Davids Brownie recipe. I wondered if this was the base recipe I could veganise into the brownies I had been dreaming of, and you know what, it is! I’ll stop myself there, as I can see this has already tuned into a rambling food blogger overly earnest recipe introduction. Damn. Anyway, here is the recipe. Thank you Nexus.

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Ultimate Brownies

15 minutes prep, 40 minutes baking, makes 16 brownies

• 350g silken tofu

• 550g sugar

• 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar

• 2 tbsp vanilla essence

• 3 tbsp ground flax seed

• 315g margarine

• 200g dark chocolate

• 100g cocoa powder

• 120g flour

First of all get the oven on to 180 and line a large cake tin. I use a 30cm rectangular one.

Tip your flax seed into a large bowl and mix with 1/3 of a cup of boiling water. Add the silken tofu, apple cider vinegar, vanilla essence and sugar and then blend everything together with a hand blender until it is lovely and smooth.

Next melt the chocolate and margarine together, and then mix this into the wet mixture too.

Fold in 100g cocoa powder and 120g of flour, and maybe a pinch of salt.

Bake for between 35-40 minutes. Leave to cool before shovelling into mouth.