Chocolate & PB oatcake

Around here, we are always looking for new recipes to upgrade the most dreadful mornings or to simply chill and munch onto something decadent while watching Netflix. One of my favourite breakfasts is oats: they taste like dessert and are incredibly satisfying - I don't need anything until well past noon.

Many times, I'm looking for a dessert/breakfast that has all the flavour and healthy ingredients, minus the added sugar and fats. That's why I love baking with oat flour: it's great, very filling and the oaty texture can be easily concealed for those picky eaters like my husband, who must continue thinking it was almond flour.

So this recipe is a major upgrade on the oatmeal bar: we go from crumbly and creamy to cake texture. The key is to use oat flour, either store-bought or powdering some old-fashioned rolled oats

Another important point in making this recipe is to bake the oats for 10-15 minutes in the oven. If you don't want to turn it on or you simply don't have one, heat the oats in the microwave for 1-2 minutes, until the texture is cooked. It really doesn't get easier than this!

Chocolate & PB oatcake

Yields: 2 individual cakes

Ingredients:

1 ripe banana

1/2 cup oat flour

1/2 + 1/4 cup oat milk (substitute for coconut or cashew)

2 tablespoons pure cacao powder

1 tablespoon maple syrup

1 teaspoon baking powder

1'5 tablespoon natural peanut butter (no sugar or salt added)

2 ramekins

1 electric blender

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 200ºC and prepare two oven-safe ramekins.

2. Add all the ingredients to the bowl of an electric blender* except the peanut butter, and blitz the mixture for 1-2 minutes, until no lumps remain.

3. Pour the cake mixture into the ramekins. Now, grab a teaspoon and distribute the peanut butter, so it's slightly mixed with the batter.

4. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes until the tops are cooked (in my case, after 13 minutes they were done, but each oven is different!)

5. Remove from the oven and let cool down for 5 minutes**

6. Serve with fresh fruits and a dollop of plain Greek yogurt, and enjoy!

Notes:

*Alternatively, you can mash the bananas really well, and mix everything in a bowl.

**You can adapt the texture so the cake is more or less cooked, depending on your taste. For example, I preferred a more "lava-cake" consistency that morning. If you wish to have a more "cakey" texture, simply bake it for 10-15 more minutes.