Goji Oaties
I love experimenting in the kitchen, especially at the end of the month when funds are low and conversely creativity is high. I have made some very strange things while waiting for payday – not all of them very healthy, but sometimes a girl’s gotta eat the dry salty crack and not feel bad, you know?
This recipe was a direct result of low funds and an inspired kitchen session, and somehow it just worked. I know because Mark assures me it’s a definite winner, and that the key is in the light, spongey texture. He’s a great judge of my cooking – completely unafraid to disdainfully throw away a half-eaten, dry-as-dust protein ball mishap, or point blank refuse to try my misadventure of rice noodles in whatever’s-in-the-fridge sauce (to be fair, I didn’t end up eating them either).
Goji Oaties
Ingredients:
- 2/3 cup rolled oats soaked in water for at least half an hour
- ½ cup mixed seeds
- ½ pecan pieces
- 1-2 tbsp cacao, depending on how chocolatey you like them
- ¼ cup coconut flakes
- ¼ psyllium husks (can omit if you don’t have – just more seeds/nuts instead)
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp baking soda
- Pinch Himalayan crystal salt
- 1 tsp vanilla extract (can use essence)
- 2 heaped tbsp raw honey
- 2 fresh dates / 3 dried dates, soaked in water for an hour
- Handful of goji berries
Method:
1. Put all the ingredients except gojis in your food processor and combine well.
2. Stir through gojis with a spoon.
3. Pour mixture into greased small baking tray or casserole dish and pat smooth.
4. Bake for 20 – 25 mins until a testing fork comes out clean and the texture of the cake is firm and springy when you press it.
5. Allow to cool and cut into bars or blocks.
Tip: To make a protein rich snack, add ¼ cup protein powder and balance the wet to dry with a few teaspoons of water or oat milk. You can also substitute protein powder for psyllium husk.
This recipe is based on a baked protein bar recipe, only I was missing the primary ingredient – protein powder. I also had no flaxseed, chia, or any of the other ingredients I usually put in. My very intricate thought process went something like this – what do I have? Oats! Ok great, experimental oat bars it is. And since then, we haven’t gone a week without stocking up on them.