When my menfolk are responsible for getting themselves up and the littlest of the two on the school bus, breakfast tends to be forgotten until they are in the car which means someone special goes hungry.  So I have been experimenting with a healthier version of a flapjack or similar.  I know that it is much healthier to have something like eggs or a low sugar smoothie or porridge but that is just not a realistic option.  So I made something palatable and easy to grab and go.  So I don’t eat them, these cookies are individually wrapped and frozen. The night before they are taken out and placed on the side ready to be enjoyed the next day.

I have tried to create a sugar free home but this is my concession to our busy lifestyles. I adapted my recipe from the Oat and Raisin Biscuit recipe in ‘The Great British Bake Off How To Bake’.  I replaced the butter with coconut butter * and the sugar with coconut palm sugar.  I am going to try using less sugar next time as these were very sweet.  I also switched wholemeal flour with some baking powder for the self-raising flour in Mary Berry’s recipe.  I didn’t have enough raisins and Harvey wanted to use some butterscotch chips so I added those.  I also added nuts and seeds for protein.  So actually my recipe bore little resemblance to the original!

* coconut butter is different to oil as it is the blended flesh of the coconut rather than the oil.

Oat and Nut Biscuits

Ingredients (makes 30)

• 125 g coconut butter
• 150 g coconut palm sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 tbsp milk (I used soya milk but any would do)
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 100 g wholemeal flour + 1 level tsp baking powder
• 75 g raisins
• 150 g porridge oats
  1 cup of mixed nuts and seeds, chopped (optional)

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180 C
2. Put the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl and beat until pale and fluffy with either a wooden spoon or electric mixer
3. In another bowl beat the egg with the milk and vanilla until just combined and then beat in to the butter and sugar mixture
4. Add the flour, raisins, oats and nuts
5. Put heaped teaspoonfuls of the mixture on to greased baking sheets, spaced well apart
6. Bake for 12-15 minutes until lightly browned round the edges
7. Remove from the oven, leave to stand for 2-3 minutes then transfer to a wire rack and allow to cool completely

I tried but failed to resist these.  They are soft and a little bit chewy with crunchy edges and nutty bits.  I was very pleased with these as was the Little Fella.To save me from myself and some cookies for the boy, they are now wrapped up and in the freezer, ready to be enjoyed for breakfast.  Yes, they contain sugar but they also contain healthy fats from the coconut, nuts and seeds, protein and slow release carbs from the Jumbo oats.  He only has this 2 or 3 times a week so on balance, I think this is acceptable.

Apart from 2 3 cookies today, I did quite well.  A very modest sized bowl of porridge with half a banana and 1 tbsp peanut butter for breakfast.

A very large salad for lunch with half an avocado and 100 g ham (no added sugar).Roast chicken with butternut squash, carrots and tenderstem broccoli for supper.  No gravy and I didn’t eat the skin on the chicken.

So apart from the cookies, a good and healthy day of eating but no walking today as I was busy during the day.  I should have made time and that will be a focus for me next week.