Skip to main content

The search for new food and Oaty Energy Cookies recipe

Last week's article by Polly Williams in the Guardian's Family section, entitled The Munch Bunch, explained the reason for the £12,000 extra that a boy costs to raise than a girl - appetite. Polly states "a magic porridge pot would be the perfect solution" and she lists two omelettes, Weetabix and toast as her teenage son's breakfast.

This was exactly what I'd been thinking. Well not exactly, as my boy is 7, but man, can he eat? Polly's friend states a boy needs 4 meals a day. That's my boy too. Breakfast - 3 Weetabix. Either a packed lunch (with 6-7 items) plus snack bar, or a cooked lunch and a snack bar, snacks after school, dinner, topped off with Weetabix for supper. And he can eat in between this too. My mother-in-law told me that there will come a time when you can't get enough bread or cereals down them. And there's nothing to him, not one ounce of fat. It all gets burnt off.

I'm always on the look-out for home-made solutions. I tried flapjacks. Many, many times. They always break up. I know you probably have the fool-proof recipe for me, but I've probably already tried it. Brownies - now mine are fab - but they are quite expensive to cook and do you really expect us to keep loads leftover for your packed lunches and snacks? No. Buns go down, well they just go down the hatch. They're not favourites.

So today I looked through my recipe file under Baking (here I just put absolute favourites that I know work) and found Oaty Energy Cookies. I think they came from a BBC Good Food magazine, and they are definitely in the Cooking With Kids section. Great, easy for me, can whip them out in no time.

Well I was right, it was a very easy recipe, with all but one being store cupboard staples. The condensed milk in a squeezy bottle is the only thing you might not have. It honestly took about 5 mins to prep, 10 mins to put together and 20-25 minutes in the oven.

Here goes!

Oaty energy cookies

50g apricots snipped small with scissors
50g soft butter
50g light brown sugar
2tbsp condensed milk (I buy it in squeezy bottles and it keeps for ages in the fridge)
50g rolled oats
85g self-raising flour

1. Preheat oven to 150 degrees C.
2. Cream butter and sugar.
3. Add condensed milk, beat well, then add oats and apricots.
4. Add flour and mix until it starts to disappear (you can use your hands too).
5. Bring the dough together and break into 6 equal lumps.
6. Make 6 balls, then squash each one slightly onto a baking tray covered with baking parchment.
7. Cook for 20-25 minutes until golden on the edges. Leave to cool on the tray.

You can make 9 smaller ones, or double up the recipe and make 12. I'm going to add chocolate chips next time instead of apricots. Racy! I'm also going to see how to cut down on the sugar. I have lots of that agave stuff in the cupboard - I'll investigate.

Best thing? My son liked them and he is fussy. I liked them. I gave one to a friend for her birthday tonight... haven't heard if she's still alive! I could knock these out once a week, have enough for packed lunches and one each for a treat. Go me!

Popular posts from this blog

A walk from Portchester Castle to Salt Cafe

Well we just had to choose the worst day of the year to walk. The date had been set weeks before - who knew there would be the worst winds of the decade almost on this very day? But we didn't want to be beaten. We will walk to the cafe. At least it wasn't raining! Parking is free next the castle and obviously, it wasn't busy this day! We set off around the outside of this medieval monument. The sea wall affords views across to Portsmouth and Gosport, and Portsdown Hill if you look behind. You can see the Spinnaker Tower in my photos, but you'd have to zoom in. The sea wall leads to a walk along a path, switching between grass (a much more sheltered area) beside a playpark, and the beach. It is an easy, flat walk, made slightly harder in the wind. After 1.75 miles, you reach the Salt Cafe (@saltcafe66). This took us one hour - that wind did slow us down! I've had a breakfast bap there before and remember it being delicious, but slightly expensive. But today, we

Would I Lie To You board family game review

Would I Lie To You? "The game of believable lies and unbelievable lies ", linked into the TV show of the same name. Purchased:  December 2017 in Waterstones, for around £20 In a nutshell: These TV show-affiliated games usually show themselves up (Never Mind The Buzzcocks, Top Gear) but this game is fun and easy to play (if a little modified) as a family. You don't really need specialist knowledge to play, just the ability to lie! Every year for Christmas, I like to buy a board game to play, even though no games better either Ludo (in which my dad is the reigning cheater-champion, and argues to high heaven over the rules about doubling up or how to place your counters in "Home") or Rummikub (which we can now play with two packs of cards lest we forget the game). This year, Would I Lie To You caught my eye in Waterstones (other emporiums - emporia? - for book lovers are [locally] unavailable). It's a game, it says, for 2-8 players; however we dec

Ms Humdrum reviews: B Afternoon Tea Bus Tour around London

Family and friends, tasty tea, cute cakes, succulent sarnies, scrumptious scones… what more could you ask for? Some sightseeing around Central London please. Oh, and on a vintage red double decker bus, if you don’t mind. What I’ve described is exactly what you get from the B Afternoon Tea Bus Tour. Priced at around what I paid for the Ritz afternoon tea some five years ago, you rock up at Victoria bus station and check-in to board the bus. The waiting staff guide you on and you find your booth. I manged to get a photo before anyone arrived.  The tea is set up for you and is sort of stuck down on the table with a little bit of material! Note the nice touches of the flowers adorning the sides of the bus and the tables with natty bus and shopper images. You settle in and order your first (of many) drinks. I had in my head that I’d be supping loose tea using a strainer out of a bone china cup and saucer. However that just isn’t going to work on a bus, I realise. So you are given