Give your family a healthy oats break with Simran Dhanju’s flavoursome, make-ahead recipes
Cranberry Oats Bars
Ingredients:
- 2 cups, rolled oats (small)
- ½ cup self-rising flour
- ½ cup dried cranberries
- 1/3 cup dried apricots, chopped
- ¾ cup butter, melted
- ¼ cup raw sugar
- ¼ cup sunflower seeds
- ½ cup unsalted pistachios
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ cup water
- 2tbsp honey/maple syrup (optional)
Method:
- Preheat the oven to 170˚ C. Grease 9”x 6” baking pan with butter.
- Mix all the above ingredients in a bowl and pour in prepared pan, press it down with a spatula to flatten it. Bake in pre-heated oven for 30 minutes.
- Remove from oven, while still hot, put cuts with a serrated knife to divide them into 14 rectangular bars. Let cool in the pan and store them in an airtight container.
Oat Bran Peanut Butter Cookies
Ingredients:
- 1 cup oat bran
- 1 cup plain flour
- ¾ cup crunchy peanut butter
- 50g salted butter
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ½ cup raw sugar
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
Method:
- In a mixer bowl, cream together butter, peanut butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time to the mixer and beat well for 2 minutes.
- In a separate bowl, mix all dry ingredients (oat bran, plain flour, salt and baking soda); add them to the wet ingredients and blend together until well combined and formed a dough.
- Now, divide the dough into equal portions and form 20 balls of it. Place them 2” apart on a cookie sheet or lined baking tray, press gently with your palm and put impression with the back of a fork.
- Bake in a pre-heated oven at 180˚C for 20 minutes. Leave to cool on the tray.
- Store for weeks in an airtight jar.
Simran is a celebrated chef and a winner of multi cooking competitions; she creates visual delights artfully by merging traditional flavours