Banana and Chocolate Oat Cookies

After Easter the abundance of Easter eggs in my house was just getting too much, so I had to find a way to use up all the chocolate. 

What did I do? 

I found a very simple egg-free, wheat-free and banana-full recipe which is so quick it hardly requires any weighing.

Here it is:

3 ripe bananas

100g melted butter

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 large handfuls of porridge oats

handful almonds, ground or chopped

2 handfuls of dried fruit

a pinch of cinnamon

100g chocolate, chopped into little bits

Makes about 25

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees, and line a baking sheet with greaseproof paper.

2. In a mixing bowl mash the bananas, add the melted butter and the vanilla, giving everything a good mix.

3. Fold in the rest of the ingredients.

4. Space out the cookies on the baking sheet so there is enough space for them to expand. Roughly the size should be about 2 tsp each. 

5. Bake for 30 minutes, until golden. 

They are best enjoyed when warm!

xxx

Review | Graze Boxes + FREE box for you!

...just arrived

A few weeks ago I got given a voucher for one of these great snack boxes, and I just fell in love with them! For the people that don't know about graze, they are a company that send healthy snacks to you in the post. All the boxes are nutritionally balanced, with different types to choose from to suit your needs. The boxes are also 100% recyclable and each one fits through the letter box. If you want to try it out and get your 1st, 5th and 10th one free click on this link, there is no commitment and you can cancel any time!

As soon as you sign up you get asked to rate the snacks and get sent four of them, plus a booklet detailing its nutritional information. Favourites from my first box must be the Honeycomb Crunch which had coated milk chocolate, raisins and almonds and also the Cookies and Cream with mini chocolate cookies, roasted hazels, white chocolate buttons and sunflower seeds.

From my second box I loved the Garden of England dried fruits and the Fruity Mango Chutney! 

Overall these boxes have been a great hit in my family, especially with my parents, which, food-wise are very hard to please. They offer a great alternative to snacking on crisps and cookies, making a satisfying snack on-the-go. I await every box with excitement as I am just too curious to taste all the snacks they have.

Remember to click on the link here to get your free boxes!

xxx

Peanut Butter and Rolo Oat Cookies

Being a massive How I Met Your Mother fan, ever since the beginning of this last season of the show I have had an obsession for finding the perfect peanut butter cookies. They were named the 'sumbitches' and had a combination of peanut butter, caramel and chocolate, managing to calm Lily down as she made her way through them.

Partly inspired by Lorraine Pascale's recipe in 'A lighter way to bake' I think I have found the one. Soft and chewy with delicious melt-in-the-mouth caramel bits, they are not to be consumed everyday. However this recipe does try to make them lighter and healthier with oats, and and a minimal amount of added sugar. These might not posses the seemingly magical properties the 'sumbitches' had, but nonetheless are a delight to munch through.

What you need:
175g crunchy peanut butter
50g caster sugar
1 large egg
50g self-rasing flour
50g oats
50g rolos
Splash of milk

Makes 12 cookies

1)Preheat oven to 170 C.
2) Grab a bowl and mix the peanut butter, sugar and egg with a fork or spoon, until a mixture is formed.
3) Gradually fold in the flour, oats and rolos, adding a splash of milk to make the mixing easier.
4) With a spoon or using your hands, divide the mixture into 12 equal parts, placing these on a baking tray lined with paper parchment. Bake for 10 minutes.

 xxx