Oat Slice

This slice has become my go to afternoon snack. Over the Easter break we disappeared into the Australian outback to Carnarvon Gorge for a wonderful week of trekking and camping.  The smell of the trees and the fresh air and the colours in the gorge right on sunrise and sunset….the words to describe the kind of "beautiful" that exists in Australia….I seriously can't even deal. I get the most intense feeling of calm when I'm surrounded by all that nothing. Maybe one day I can just give it all up and escape to the bush……with my baking pans, mixer and carefully labelled ingredient containers….

Back to reality, this slice was the essential reenergising snack over my 30km walk through bush, rocks and dirt. I've made it an essential part of my afternoon, probably not so much for the reenergising factor but for the memories.

Oat Slice
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup desiccated coconut
1/3 cup brown sugar (or less depending on how sweet your fillings are)
1/4 cup canola oil
2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons golden syrup
1 teaspoon baking soda

Combine the oats, flour, coconut and sugar in a large bowl.

In a microwave safe bowl add the oil, water and golden syrup. Microwave on high for about 30 seconds. Remove from microwave and mix/whisk in baking soda. The mixture will fizz up.

Pour syrup mixture into dry ingredients and mix through any fillings. Spread into an baking tray and bake until golden brown on top.


Fillings
1/4 cup each of sultanas, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds
6 dried figs diced & 1/8 cup sliced pecans
6 dates diced, 1 teaspoon ginger, 1/4 cup sliced walnuts
1/8 cup dark chocolate chips, 1/8 cup sliced peanuts

Banana Oat Slice

I'm so in love with oats and bananas. This is delicious and freezes well for a midweek breakfast treat.

So lets talk about sugar. Are you aware of the extremist anti-sugar regime? Do you have an opinion about sugar? Apparently everything is loaded with it and it will kill us all. Then theres all this nonsense about not eating fruit. I just don't have enough facts and there are actually too many opinions on the internet and in overpriced books for me to formulate a well educated and unbiased opinion about sugar.

I would like to say that this slice has zero added sugar, as the only sweetness comes from those deliciously stinky smooshy overripe bananas that are sitting in your fruit bowl. I sure don't mind sweetening up my mornings with some oaty banana love and blueberries….and pure maple syrup….just a tiny bit won't hurt right?

Banana Oat Slice
makes 4 slices in a 1.5L baking tray 
150g-200g mashed over-ripe banana (I found this was about 2 small/medium)
1/2 cup milk
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
3/4 cup rolled oats
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda

Whisk the egg, milk, vanilla and then mix through the mashed banana. Add the oats, baking powder and baking soda and mix through. Let the mixture to sit for about 10 minutes then pour into an oven proof dish and bake at 180 for about 30 minutes.