Strawberry Oat Bakes with Chocolate - Recipe

Hey there,

It's been a long time. Most of my days now are spent running our vegan streetfood business - The Vegan Grindhouse. If you don't know who we are, click on the link and go and find out! We travel the UK selling handmade vegan burgers at markets, festivals, concerts, weddings, parties, events and more. We are available to hire as well.

Well today, I had a very rare day off, due to an event being cancelled and so I thought I'd do a new recipe for the blog as it has been too long.

A few days ago, I was sent a hamper of Free From items from the lovely people at Sainsbury's to try out and let them know what I thought, so I decided the best way to use them would be bake something, as baking is one of my favourite things to do!

Here are the items Sainsbury's sent me to try:

All of the items were clearly labelled vegan which was great and the almond milk is fortified with calcium and vitamin D. I decided to make a strawberry oat bake with chocolate and have a slice with a glass of the milk. Perfect afternoon treat. This item is gluten free also.

Here is my recipe (Makes 6-8 slices):

50g light brown soft sugar

125g gluten free plain flour (I used Dove's Farm plain flour)

1/2 teaspoon bicarb of soda

100g gluten free oats (I used Deliciously Free From Pure Oats by Sainsbury's)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon golden syrup

125g vegan butter alternative (I used Pure)

1/2 jar jam (I used Sainsbury's Taste the Difference Strawberry Conserve)

100g vegan chocolate (I used Deliciously Free From Choc Bar by Sainsbury's)

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180C/160C (Fan)/Gas Mark 4

Grease and line a 20cm square cake tin

In a mixing bowl stir together the sugar, flour, bicarb, and oats until combined.

Then add the vanilla extract and golden syrup and stir through the dry mixture.

Rub the butter alternative into the dry mixture with your finger tips until the mixture resembles crumble.

Pour three quarters of the crumble mix into your prepared tin and press down into the tin with the back of a metal spoon.

Spoon the jam onto the base and spread all over with a pallet knife.

Sprinkle the remaining crumble on top of the jam and press in lightly.

Bake in the centre of a preheated oven for 40 minutes until golden brown.

Remove from the oven and leave in the tin on a wire rack for an hour to completely cool.

Next, break the chocolate into pieces and place into a glass bowl over a saucepan of just boiled water. Stir until the chocolate has melted. 

Drizzle the melted chocolate over the top of the strawberry bake and pop in the fridge for 20 minutes until set.

Slice the bake into 6-8 slices and enjoy with an ice cold glass of almond milk.

Put your feet up and relax, you've earned it!

VVx

Vegan Vox Reviews...Meridian Nut Butters

Recently, I was lucky enough to be sent some delicious jars of Meridian nut butters to sample for my blog and I couldn't wait to share them with you. I love the range Meridian have, they do not use any palm oil in their nut and seed butters, they only contain natural ingredients and they have an organic range available as well. I was sent a jar of their Smooth Cashew Butter, Smooth Peanut Butter and Smooth Almond Butter. 

My favourite was the almond butter, it was delicious spread on crackers, bagels and as an ingredient in my homemade almond and oat cookies. It uses roasted almonds and this really brings out the flavour of the nuts.

The peanut butter was salty and smooth, just right for toast and I used some a in stir fry sauce with tahini, soy sauce, chilli and ginger.

And finally the cashew butter, which I used in some flapjacks, on bagels, and in some protein balls. It was lovely. Mild taste and a lovely natural sweetness. Goes really well with coconut flavours in baking.

Meridian's butters only use nuts and seeds and contain no added ingredients, they are high in protein and they never use palm oil. They are suitable for vegans, vegetarians and are gluten-free, soya-free and GMO-free. They come in smooth and crunchy varieties and are perfect on their own or as an ingredient in vegan recipes, savoury and sweet. Meridian nut and seed butters are available at selected Sainsbury's, Ocado, Holland and Barrett, Tesco, Morrisons and independent health food shops and start at around £2.30 a jar. There is a link to stockists on their website.

Have you tried any of the Meridian Foods Nut and Seed Butters? What are your favourites? What recipes do you use them in? Let me know in the comments below.

Big Vegan Love,

VVx

Vegan Recipe of the Week - Coconut, Maple & Cherry Flapjacks

Flapjacks are a great quick bake when you fancy something sweet, and you usually have all of the ingredients in your store cupboard anyway. If not, the great thing about flapjacks is that you can chop and change the ingredients to taste. If you don't like cherries, swap for another fruit or nuts.

You will need:

115g Vegan Butter

115g Brown Sugar

220g Rolled Oats

3 Tbsp Golden Syrup - Maple Flavour (or use Maple syrup but this is runnier and doesn't hold together as well)

60g Dried Cherries or Glace Cherries (make sure they are vegan-friendly as some contain E120)

35g Desicated Coconut

Frylight

Greaseproof paper

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180C/160C Fan.

Spray two shallow cake tins or baking tins with Frylight. You can use melted butter instead of Frylight, if you prefer.

Melt the butter, golden syrup and sugar together in a saucepan over a low heat and stir until combined.

In a mixing bowl place the oats, cherries and coconut and stir together. Form a well in the dry ingredients and pour in your melted butter mixture. Stir well until all of the dry ingredients have been coated in the butter mixture.

Spoon the combined mixture into the tins equally and level out with a pallet knife or the back of a spoon.

Bake in the centre of the oven for around 18 minutes until golden brown on top.

Remove from the oven, cut straight away into slices and leave to cool in the tins.

Store in an airtight container for up to a week.

Eat and Enjoy!

If you enjoyed this recipe, click here to see more of my vegan recipes.

Big Vegan Love,

VVx