My Little Oaty Crumpets - wheat free, dairy free

I’ve decided to share another Easy Peasy Child Friendly recipe today seeing as we are still in the thick of school holidays and we have a bit more time in the mornings to enjoy our breakfasts.

However, this recipe is so quick and easy, and uses everyday pantry ingredients, that I have been known to whip these up on a school morning in no time, or even as an afternoon snack to cheer up my Little Buttercup after a hard day at playschool.(Confession time: I’ve even devoured these for supper one night on a slightly hormonal evening not too long ago - husband traveling, kids driving me mad, you understand, right?).

And yet I feel rather virtuous when I serve these (yes even for supper) because they really are healthy - no jokes!  It’s all fibre and hardly any sugar at all, in fact you can omit the sugar altogether, if you are so inclined.

And, (now we are really on a roll) you could even add some protein by topping with a sprinkle of flaked almonds, or even spreading with your favourite nut butter (num num), which equals a balanced meal. Perfection…

• I’ve added freshly ground flax seeds, to sneak in more essential fatty acids.
• Using Xylitol sugar ensures the glycemic load stays way low.
• It is ridiculously high in fibre (your intestines are thanking me as we speak)
• I find these very gentle on my digestion, as the oats is cooked so briefly and does not become glutinous as with cooked oats or porridge. I tend to get cramps after eating cooked oats porridge, but luckily not with these little pillows of delight. 
• I bought the sweetest shapes to cook them in, but only remembered I had these after they were cooked :-( but they are super for kids…

INGREDIENTS

175g        whole rolled oats (not instant) - processed in your food processor into flour

1 Tbsp     whole flax seed - finely ground into meal (best to use a coffee grinder) 

½ tsp       ground cinnamon

2 Tbsp    Xylitol sugar, or a few drops of Stevia (this can be omitted totally or replaced with any sugar/replacement to suite your taste and dietary requirements)

1               large free-range or organic egg, lightly beaten

1 Cup      dairy free milk of your choice

1tsp         good vanilla extract

4-5 Tbsp  water to loosen batter, as required

Cooking spray or coconut oil for frying

Optional toppings

Blueberries, baby raisins, choc chips, baby marshmallows, nibbed nuts, the list is endless…

 

Serving options; Top with:

Greek yoghurt (if allowed); 

Sliced banana and a few strawberries; 

Posh poached pear is beautiful; 

Blueberry compote (blueberries simmered in sugared water for +/- 5 minutes);

Good maple or agave syrup

METHOD

• Mix the dry ingredients together in a bowl. (I have to say that the cinnamon added here is more for the smell than anything else. It reminds me, again, of my Mum. I smell cinnamon and I’m home. Bliss) 

• Mix the egg, milk and vanilla (oh the smell of vanilla!) in a jug. 

• Add wet to dry ingredients all in one go and mix to combine. 

(You may wish to now use a stick/emersion blender to smoothen the batter if your oat flour was not ground enough - however I’m often too lazy or rushed and am still happy with a slightly more textured crumpet - either way is delish) 

• Ladle small scoops of batter into your hot, greased frying pan. 

• Sprinkle your toppings onto the cooking crumpets. Allow to cook for about a minute, flip it and cook for another 30 seconds. 

• Remove to a warm plate and repeat. Easy Peasy! 

Note: As your crumpet batter stands, the oats will absorb some of the liquids and start to thicken. Simply add a few tablespoons of water or non-dairy milk after each batch to loosen.

As you can see, my Little Pie Face asked to experiment on the last crumpet, make it a BIG one and throw everything on - and being the risk taker that I am, I did - all in the name of science, of course.

Virtuous dieters look away now… (it was so delicious, I cannot explain).

Of course if you chose to use blueberries, it would also be so delicious and totally good for you, but, hey, its winter here and I don’t even have dried blueberries in my pantry, let alone the fresh ones… so choc chips and baby marshmallows will have to do (oh the hardship).

Loveliness present in every bite!