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golden caster sugar
4 round tbsp natural organic yoghurt
4 tsp runny honey (1 tsp per portion)
Serves: 4 children
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 5 minutes
1 Lightly toast the oat flakes in a small frying pan until golden brown. Take care not to burn them. Take off the heat and remove a few oat flakes and put aside. Meanwhile, place the blueberries and raspberries into a small saucepan, add water and a sprinkle of golden caster sugar and heat gently, stirring occasionally.
2 Add the yoghurt to the pan of toasted oat flakes and gently stir through.
3 When the fruit is nicely warm, serve the yoghurt and oatmeal into a small bowl, spoon on the fruit, drizzle over the honey and sprinkle over the reserved oat flakes.
Tips
• This is really tasty with banana, and a good way to use up any over-ripe ones laying in the bottom of the fruit bowl. Simply slice them into the yoghurt when it is in the frying pan.
• To serve this as a dessert you can simply leave out the oat flakes and crumble digestive or ginger nut biscuits into the yoghurt and add fruit.
• You can also toast some flaked almonds with the oats.
I measure the ingredients in spoons – it’s too early in the morning for weighing!
wholemeal pancakes with caramelized apples (#ulink_4bd701d5-db52-5d0f-8576-b11f85da4478)
This is a delicious sweet treat for breakfast. I mix the wholemeal flour with some plain white flour, as using just wholemeal flour makes the pancakes too heavy.
75g/3oz plain flour
25g/1oz wholemeal flour
250ml/9fl oz semi-skimmed milk
2 eggs
3 Bramley apples
50g/2oz butter
½ tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp soft brown sugar
Serves: 4 children (makes about 8 pancakes)
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes
1 Start by putting the flours, milk and eggs in the liquidizer and blitzing for about 2 minutes.
2 Peel and core the apples and slice quite thinly. Heat half the butter in a frying pan and add the cinnamon. Let it bubble for a minute before adding the sliced apples. Sprinkle over the sugar and very carefully turn the apples over so that they are coated in the buttery syrup. Turn the heat down and allow to cook gently. Keep an eye on them while you are cooking the pancakes and turn them over from time-to-time to allow them to cook evenly.
3 While the apples are happily cooking away, melt the rest of the butter in another frying pan and start frying the pancakes. The first pancake always seems to be a disaster, so I usually eat it myself. Pile the pancakes on a plate beside you until you have made them all.
4 Divide the apple mixture between the pancakes and roll up. Drizzle a little maple syrup over each one to guarantee a good day ahead!
Tip
• It’s a good idea to make the batter the night before and leave in the fridge until the morning. As well as saving time, it improves the batter by allowing it to rest.
porridge with blueberries (#ulink_0752c36d-9671-56e7-abad-5d57f78a8c32)
I love sending the children off to school with a tummy full of porridge – you know they will have enough in there to last until lunchtime with great energy! If I am going running I know it helps my energy levels.
100g/4oz porridge oats
1 300ml/10½fl oz water
600ml/1 pint whole milk
150g/6oz blueberries
soft brown sugar or maple syrup
Serves: 4 children
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes
1 If I am making this for breakfast the next day, I always try to remember to put the oats and water in a saucepan the night before and leave it with the lid on overnight. It just reduces the cooking time, which is always a good thing when I’m trying to get everyone to school on time.
2 Pour the milk onto the oats and water and gently bring to the boil, stirring all the time.
3 Turn the heat down and simmer for about 7 minutes, until the porridge is thick and creamy.
4 Divide between four bowls, sprinkle with blueberries and a little maple syrup or sugar.
fruit gratin (#ulink_81aa83ae-3359-50f4-baae-d40bb41d6385)
Although this might seem a slightly odd choice for breakfast, it is very quick to make, especially if you make the batter the night before and leave it in the fridge. You can then simply pour the batter into the dish, pop in the fruit and put it in the oven to cook while you dress the children and yourself!
The aim of this dish is that the fruit should be surrounded by a soft, only just set, cake. It’s almost like having Yorkshire pudding with jam on top! You need to serve it straight from the oven, otherwise it will continue to cook and become hard and stodgy.
butter to grease the dish
6 plums/apricots/nectarines
425ml/15fl oz milk
3 eggs
75g/3oz plain flour
50g/2oz caster sugar
50g/2oz ground almonds
1 tsp good-quality vanilla extract
seeds from vanilla pod (optional)
Serves: 6
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 20–25 minutes
1 Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/GM6
2 Grease the dish and put to one side.
3 Slice the soft fruit in half and remove the stones.
4 Put the milk, eggs, flour, sugar, almonds and vanilla into the liquidizer and blitz for about 2 minutes.
5 Pour the liquid into the prepared dish and then gently arrange the fruit, cut-side down, so that all you see is the softly rounded fruit peeking out from the batter.
6 Place in the oven and cook for about 20 minutes.
7 Serve immediately.
boiled eggs with cheesy fingers (#ulink_3b5140db-1bb7-5b31-b33b-8c617bfea252)
My children think this is the ultimate treat for breakfast – again, it’s more of a weekend breakfast, as it takes too much thinking about for a weekday morning …
4 large organic free range eggs
4 slices wholemeal bread
100g/4oz mature cheddar cheese, grated
Serves: 4
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 7 minutes
1 Preheat the grill on high.
2 Bring to the boil a large deep saucepan of water and carefully add the eggs. Remember to set the timer for 5 minutes – I easily get distracted so always work by my timer! Toast the wholemeal bread and cover with the cheddar. Place under the grill until the cheese is bubbling.
3 Remove the eggs from the pan, place in a sieve and run under the cold tap to stop overcooking – eggs that are too hard-boiled are not the same!
4 Crack the top of the egg and remove the shell on the top third. Place into an egg cup and slice off the white to reveal a lovely runny yolk.
5 Cut the cheesy toast into soldiers and dip into the yolk! Serve.
Tip
• If you keep your eggs in the fridge, allow them to reach room temperature before boiling – this helps prevent them cracking as they boil.
It’s only when you taste boiled eggs that you remember how good they are.
field mushrooms on toast (#ulink_56f60c94-7fa5-5c42-822e-f9d54f24c758)
This may sound like a very grown-up breakfast for children, but I find if I am eating it my children are always hanging around for a taste.
1 loaf ciabatta
4 tbsp olive oil
400g/14oz portabellini or other large mushrooms
20g¾oz bunch of basil
25g/1oz parmesan, finely grated
Serves: 4
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes
1 Cut the ciabatta in half vertically and again horizontally. Drizzle with a bit of the olive oil and place on a baking sheet.
2 Cut mushrooms into thick slices.
3 Heat the remaining olive oil in a large saucepan until shimmering, then throw in the mushrooms.
4 Cook on a fairly high heat, stirring regularly until the mushrooms start to release their natural liquid.
5 Turn off the heat, add a few torn basil leaves and put the lid on. Leave to infuse while you grill the ciabatta on a fairly high heat for about 5 minutes until it is just browning and going crunchy.
