Category Archives: Rolled Oats

Skillet Caramel Apple Crisp

Posted on by

Yields: 8 to 10 servings

Ingredients

Caramel Sauce

  • 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
  • 2 Tablespoons light corn syrup
  • ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
  • ½ cup water
  • ¼ cup unsalted butter, cubed, room temperature
  • 1 cup whipping, heavy cream, room temperature
  • Sea salt flakes, to taste

Filling

  • 1 ¼ kg tart, firm apples, such as Ganny Smith, Jonathan or Honeycrisp (about 6 medium apples)
  • Grated zest of 1 orange
  • Grated zest of 1 lemon
  • 1 Tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice
  • 1 Tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoons good quality vanilla paste or extract
  • 1teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ½teaspoon ground cardamom
  • ⅛teaspoon ground cloves
  • Pinch of kosher salt

Crisp Topping

  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
  • ⅓ cup chopped pecans
  • ⅓ cup light brown sugar
  • ½ teaspoon kosher salt
  • ½ cup unsalted butter, softened

Method

Caramel Sauce

  1. Combine the sugar, corn syrup, cream of tartar and water in a large saucepan set over a medium–low heat. Bring to the boil and cook for 10–12minutes until it becomes a deep gold colour, but not dark brown. DO NOT STIR at any point. If you need to you can gently swirl the pan to make sure the mixture is melting evenly. When the caramel begins to colour, it will darken quickly so keep a close eye on it
  2. Once it reaches the correct color, quickly, but carefully, remove the pan from the heat. Add the butter cubes and using a wooden spoon gently stir until the butter has melted and is well combined. It will bubble a little and release steam so take care not to burn yourself!
  3. Next, add the cream and again slowly stir, again taking care not to burn yourself from the rising steam
  4. Once well combined, add sea salt flakes to taste (carefully tasting as you go!) and whisk to combine. Set aside to cool completely in a hat-proof container while you prepare the rest of the crisp*

Filling

  1. Heat your oven to 350F degrees and lightly butter/ oil a 9- or 10-inch oven-safe skillet
  2. Peel, core and slice the apples into ½-inch slices
  3. Combine the sliced apples, both zests, both juices, vanilla extract, spices and salt in a large bowl, and stir to combine. Drizzle ½ cup cooled caramel sauce over the top and stir again. Scrape the apples and all their juices into your prepared skillet

Topping

  1. In the same bowl, combine the flour, oats, pecans, sugar and salt. Stir until well combined, then add the butter and mash it into the dry ingredients with your fingers until crumbs form. Pour the crumb topping evenly over the apples
  2. Bake the crisp until the topping is golden and the juices are bubbling, 40 to 50 minutes
  3. Serve warm with more warm caramel sauce and ice cream

*Store any remaining sauce in an airtight container in the refrigerator for about a week. It can be rewarmed for later use in a saucepan over low heat.

“Hey Dolly” (Oat Shortbread) Bars

Posted on by

 

img_7611So I wanted a bar. But it had to be the right kind. I had previously made Hello Dolly Bars, or as they’re also known as Magic Cookies Bars, but I had found them too sweet and gloopy. Maybe I added too much condensed milk caramel or not enough dry ingredients? Either way I was far from happy with them and the resulting bars were deliciously mutated into ice cream topping instead. “Waste not, want not” etc etc.

However like a dog with a bone I couldn’t (okay I WOULDN’T) acknowledge failure. There were also a few tweaks I wanted to try. The crumb base layer of the original cookie bar was far too flimsy IMO. I wanted something with more stability and which would carry itself and the topping. Well what better way to go than with shortbread? Simplifying my Golden Coconut Shortbread with a wholewheat flour was the ideal solution. The nuttiness of the wholewheat grains perfectly complementing the oats I would add.

Another tweak was based on a pet peeve of mine – wet cookie bars. I don’t mean a bake that’s underbaked and soggy. It’s the excess of wet topping ingredients that spoils it for me. And so in with the aforementioned oats! Insider tip here- I’ve found that if a recipe calls for using jumbo rolled oats, using a mix of jumbo oats and quick oats gives a much better result. The smaller quick oats fill in the gaps and voids made between the larger oat flakes and you end up with more oaty bang for your buck. It’s a win!

The quick “caramel” of butter and sugar works as a good binder here but if it’s one thing I’m a sucker for it’s chewy bite (Samoas are my WEAKNESS!) and with that I added in some caramel pieces. These would bake to perfectly chewy morsels adding some extra interest to bars. A little fiddly work is involved here in cutting the caramels into smaller pieces but it’s absolutely worth it.

So they’re you have it- “Hey Dolly Bars”. Not quite traditional “Hello Dolly Bars” but baked bars with a lil extra something and sass.

Ingredients

Shortbread Base

  • 1 2/3 cup Wholewheat Flour
  • 1/3 cup Semolina
  • 2 Tablespoons Rice Flour
  • 1 1/2 Tablespoons Cornstarch
  • 1/2 cup and 2 tablespoons fine sugar, divided
  • 1/2 Teaspoon Kosher salt
  • 1 cup/ 2 sticks salted butter, cold and cubed

Oat Topping

  •  1/2 cup salted butter
  •  1/2 cup  granulated sugar
  •  3/4 cup  dark brown sugar
  •  1/4 teaspoon Kosher salt
  •  3 large eggs, beaten together
  •  1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  •  2 cups jumbo rolled oats
  • 1 cup quick oats
  •  1/2 cup shredded coconut, sweetened or unsweetened
  •  1/2 cup toffee bits apx (I use 12 Kraft caramels, chopped in half, then each half chopped in to 4)
  •  1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

a8fe5156-43a0-4ff1-b3cc-0882cb31eadb

Method

Shortbread base

  1. Lightly grease and line a 9″ x 12″ traybake tin
  2. In a large bowl combine the flour, semolina, rice flour, cornstarch, sugar and salt. Whisk together to further combine
  3. Add in the cubed butter and rub together with your fingertips until the mixture is just beginning to bind together. Every so often do a  quarter turn of the bowl to make sure you’re using all the dry mixture. You’ll want a texture somewhere between breadcrumbs and damp sand before you stop. Be wary of overworking the butter into the mixture – you want to avoid a dough that is feels slimey from the butter melting too much into the dry ingredients
  4. Tip the crumb mixture into your prepared tin and press the dough so that it forms a solid layer. Level the surface with the back of a spoon or measuring cup, making sure the mixture is evenly spread and uniform. Prick all over with a fork
  5. Refrigerate for 30 mins minimum
  6. Preheat your oven to 325°F
  7. Remove the shortbread from the fridge and bake for about 30 minutes
  8. Remove from the oven and allow to set side to cool in the tin while you make the topping

Oat topping

  1. Increase oven temperature to 350°F
  2. Prepare the topping by melting the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Cook the butter, stirring often, until it melts completely. Continue to heat. The butter will start to foam up a bit, reduce the temperature if needed. Watch carefully as lightly browned specks begin to form at the bottom of the pan, and the foam starts to turn brown in spots. Smell the butter; it should have a nutty aroma
  3. Remove the pan and off the heat, stir in the granulated sugar, brown sugar and salt. The mixture will be thick. Let it cool for a few minutes
  4. Whisk in the eggs and vanilla until the mixture is well-combined. Transfer to a large bowl
  5. Stir in the oats, quick oats, shredded coconut, toffee bits and chocolate chips. Mix all the ingredients to combine well. Spread the mixture evenly over the shortbread crust.
  6. Bake for 20-25 minutes until the bars are set around the edges and the middle is a little jiggly. They’ll firm up as they cool.
  7. Once fully cooled remove from the tin and slice in to 18 pieces (3 x 6 bars)
  8. These bars will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days

fef4ec31-1fb7-49fa-9899-f71697f2c6b5

 

Chewy Maple & Bee Pollen Oat Cookies

Posted on by
Not really much of a tale behind these other than I just REALLY wanted an oatmeal cookie one day. But I can be particular about my oat cookies! Not for me are the crisp, brittle types. I prefer the soft, chewy variety that meltingly give when you bite. Maple syrup ALWAYS makes things better so why not include it? To be honest it’s not too prevalent in the taste of this cookie- just enough boost the “cookie comfort factor” (I may trademark that as a baking calibration tool!) The bee pollen was a “why the heck not?” addition from a pantry rummage, albeit with added health benefits. If you don’t have any feel fee to omit. Which of course means these become “Chewy Maple Oatmeal Cookies”. One less ingredient but just as tasty.

Makes 30 apx

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups All Purpose flour

• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter, softened

• 1 cup light brown sugar, packed

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar

• 2 large eggs

• 1 tablespoon fancy molasses

• 3 cups whole rolled oats

• 1/2 cup bee pollen

• 1/4 cup maple syrup

Method

  1. Whisk the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl. Set aside
  2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugars on medium-high speed until blended, about 5 minute, then increase to high speed and whip for another 5-6mins
  3. In a jug combine the eggs, molasses, maple syrup and vanilla. Add to the butter mixture and beat for 3 minutes until combined. Scrape down the sides and beat again as needed to combine
  4. Add the dry ingredient mixture to the wet ingredients (I usually do it in 1/4 cup increments) and mix on low until combined. Remove the bowl from the mixer and fold in the oats and bee pollen. The final dough will be thick and sticky.
  5. Cover and chill the dough for at least 45 minutes in the refrigerator
  6. Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats
  7. Use a medium cookie scoop (about 2 tablespoon size) to scoop the cookie dough on to the prepared baking sheets, placing 2 inches apart. Bake for 15minutes or until lightly browned on the sides. The centers will look soft.
  8. Remove from the oven and allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely
  9. Cookies can be kept at room temperature in a sealed container for up to 1 week