I've been trying to find a way to get more oats into my diet without the milk. For reasons best known to itself, my stomach objects to milk in any form other than hot chocolate and baked goods. Yes, yes, I know... that sounds so convenient... Especially to the Samson family, I'm sure! The thing is, I love porridge, and am really quite sad that I can't eat it right now. But, enough rambling. Let's get on to my latest experiment!
I've tried replacing some of the flour in Banana Bread with oats before. I found that it tastes good, but is just a little dry. I've been Googling ways to make it moister and needless to say, there are a million ideas out there. Also needless to say, being unable to simply follow someone else's suggestion, I had to do a bit of experimentation!
One suggestion was to partly cook the oats before adding them to the batter. I did this, but I didn't cook them in water! I had some blackberry syrup left over and used this to cook the oats. (I must say that it tasted so nice as it was that I'm seriously considering it as an alternative to porridge another time!) I didn't, however, take into account that the quantity of oats would almost double in volume... so that my 3/4 cup became 1 1/2 cups.
"Never mind," I thought "The advantage of baking for one is that I don't need to impress anyone else!" As long as it tastes reasonably good, I know I'll eat it, so even if it doesn't turn out as planned, that's okay.
On to the banana bread batter. (I'll post the recipe when I've fine-tuned it.) Of course, as was to be expected the batter was much more liquid than it was supposed to be. The cooked oats meant that the tin was almost full to the brim. Which pretty much meant that I had to spend the first 20 minutes or so of baking time anxiously peering into the oven, feeling like a contestant on the Great British Bake-Off! (Have you noticed how much peering into ovens seems to go on there?)
Finally... 45 minutes later, it was done. The very liquid batter meant that the top was really brown by the time the middle was baked. Fortunately, that's just how I like it. But, as they say, the proof of the pudding's in the eating (or as some would have it: The proof is in the pudding! No, don't ask me what sense that makes; I don't know.)
A little while to cool down, and time to slice into it! Hmm... not exactly what I was hoping for... Apparently it thought that it was in fact supposed to be a pudding. (Speaking of which, why is it that I seem to be making pudding-y cakes and things of late?) Oh well, as long as it is cooked through, which it is. And it does smell good... I'd meant this for breakfast, but surely I can have some as dessert? Mmmm... it does taste good. I love the hint of blackberry I'm getting from the syrup. And the soft texture is actually offset by the walnuts, so I'm really enjoying this! Right — this calls for a cup of hot choc.!
I've tried replacing some of the flour in Banana Bread with oats before. I found that it tastes good, but is just a little dry. I've been Googling ways to make it moister and needless to say, there are a million ideas out there. Also needless to say, being unable to simply follow someone else's suggestion, I had to do a bit of experimentation!
One suggestion was to partly cook the oats before adding them to the batter. I did this, but I didn't cook them in water! I had some blackberry syrup left over and used this to cook the oats. (I must say that it tasted so nice as it was that I'm seriously considering it as an alternative to porridge another time!) I didn't, however, take into account that the quantity of oats would almost double in volume... so that my 3/4 cup became 1 1/2 cups."Never mind," I thought "The advantage of baking for one is that I don't need to impress anyone else!" As long as it tastes reasonably good, I know I'll eat it, so even if it doesn't turn out as planned, that's okay.On to the banana bread batter. (I'll post the recipe when I've fine-tuned it.) Of course, as was to be expected the batter was much more liquid than it was supposed to be. The cooked oats meant that the tin was almost full to the brim. Which pretty much meant that I had to spend the first 20 minutes or so of baking time anxiously peering into the oven, feeling like a contestant on the Great British Bake-Off! (Have you noticed how much peering into ovens seems to go on there?)Finally... 45 minutes later, it was done. The very liquid batter meant that the top was really brown by the time the middle was baked. Fortunately, that's just how I like it. But, as they say, the proof of the pudding's in the eating (or as some would have it: The proof is in the pudding! No, don't ask me what sense that makes; I don't know.)A little while to cool down, and time to slice into it! Hmm... not exactly what I was hoping for... Apparently it thought that it was in fact supposed to be a pudding. (Speaking of which, why is it that I seem to be making pudding-y cakes and things of late?) Oh well, as long as it is cooked through, which it is. And it does smell good... I'd meant this for breakfast, but surely I can have some as dessert? Mmmm... it does taste good. I love the hint of blackberry I'm getting from the syrup. And the soft texture is actually offset by the walnuts, so I'm really enjoying this! Right — this calls for a cup of hot choc.!
