Oat flakes pancake with apples

Do you know that Oat flakes are one of the most versatile and healthiest food out there? And also so cheap and easy to find? Do you have idea of all the benefits it provides for our health and good digestion? Yep? Well then Let's have a great breakfast, supper, or just an afternoon tea snack with this deliiiiicious, easy, fast and healthy pancake recipe!

I'm almost sure after you learn to make it, you will want to make your pancakes all the time like this! It is filling, it is healthy and the taste of the oat flakes.. yuuumm! And even more with the apples... though you can change the fruit, or just without. Maybe a bit of honey, or a slice of fresh white cheese (cottage cheese maybe?). Hmmm I'm getting hungry!

Ingredients:
(for 6-8 portions)

• 150 gr / 1 cup aprox. Flour
• 120 gr / 1 cup aprox. Oat Flakes
• 4 - 6 Tbsp Sugar (better if brown)
• 2 Tbsp Margarine or Butter
• 2 eggs
• 400 ml / 2 cups Milk

Preparation:

Wash, remove core and peel your apples. Cut them in halves and slice them thin.

Pre-heat a pancake or a frying pan with 1 tsp margarine. In a big bowl, add all the ingredients and mix everything with a whisk (manual or electric, makes no difference), until everything is well mixed. Add some cinnamon if you wish. I like them with an extra taste when I make them with apples, so I added a hint of cinnamon, cloves and ginger.

Once the pan is hot, with a serving soup spoon, add one portion and distribute it along the surface of the pan, while is still liquid. Let it cook for a minute or 2, and turn around.

Add the apple slices until you have half of your pancake covered. Let cook until the surface of the pancake has mini holes, or it begins to look dry. Fold the pancake on its half, covering the apple slices. Let half a minute and then turn around (this helps to close it better). Let it around one minute more.

Serve and enjoy while its warm. You can accompany with some thin lines of honey. If its summer, I strongly recommend it with a ball of vanilla ice cream. Also you can add whisked cream, or chantilly. Or just alone... any way you eat them you will love them!

Enjoy!

Apple Breakfast

Yup! Apples again. Continuing with the apple recipes, I wanted to show you this recipe I learnt from my husband. It is not only delicious, yummy, but super ultra healthy! And its basic ingredients mix is delicious to enjoy, to nurturing our body, but as well our face-skin or can be used as well as a quick stomach/digestive system healer after strong foods, or after having some problems that make you go to visit the bathroom too often hehe (more tips ahead!)

This is basically a quick and raw mix of Apples, always perfect Yoghurt, Oatmeal flakes, sugar honey (better instead of sugar), grounded hazelnuts, cinnamon and cloves.

This mix is a powerful and energizing breakfast that will fill you up with energies while it nurtures you, protects your digestive system, and add all the extra benefits from all its ingredients.

Ingredients:
(2-4 servings)

• 2 Apples
• 4-6 Natural Oatmeal flakes
• 6-8 Tbsp Natural Yoghurt (without sugar)
• 4 Tbsp Grounded Hazelnuts
• 2 Tbsp Sugar / 2 Tbsp Honey (you can use sugar if you don't have honey at hand, as when I made the photo)
• 1 tsp grounded Cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp grounded Cloves

Preparation:

Carefully clean the apples, remove the core and peel them off. Slice them in halves, and then the halves in smaller pieces. Or you can grate them, depending on the texture you want to enjoy in the end. Grated: Softer creamy. Bigger pieces: you can actually munch the fresh apple.

In a big bowl, mix all except the yoghurt.

Then add the yoghurt and mix energically and very well.

Serve in separate smaller bowls. Enjoy!

Tip: tastes even better after letting it rest for some (5 to15) minutes.

Other uses:

Face-Skin Healer Mask:

Grate 1/2 apple, 2 Tbsp natural yoghurt, 2 Tbsp honey, 2 Tbsp oatmeal flakes. Mix all and you will obtain an excellent nurturing, cleansing and refreshing (skin healer I call it) mask. After cleaning very well the skin of your face, apply the mask carefully and leave it for around 15 minutes. Wash away with warm water (don't use any kind of soap). Dry with a soft warm face-towel. Your skin will thank you!

Stomach/Digestive system healer:

As in the Face-Skin Healer Mask, for 1 person: grate 1/2 apple, 1 Tbsp honey (half amount), 1 Tbsp oatmeal flakes and 2 Tbsp of natural yoghurt for each half apple. (In case of intolerance to milk products, you can use same amount of warm water). Just let the sick person eat the mix and rest.

Apple Roll

Happy New Year to all Bag-makers and bag-lovers!

My first recipe of the year is my version of a yummy apple roll we had at Ikea a weeks ago. I couldn't let it pass and wanted to try it and to present it. It is very simple, just Apples, sliced almonds, a bit, really a bit of sugar, some cinnamon and pre-made Puff Pastry (welcome if you want to make your own. I didn't want to risk it, so I bought a pre-made pack with I've had no troubles at all).

So here it is the recipe, and I hope you enjoy it. Serve warm with some warm vanilla sauce, or whipped cream (I recommend the vanilla sauce, hmmmmm going to have some later this afternoon!).

Ingredients:

• 3 Medium Sized Apples
• 1 package Pre-Made Puff Pastry
• 1 Tbsp Margarine
• 2 Tbsp Sugar
• 3 Tbsp Sliced Almonds
• 1 tsp Vanilla powder
• 1 tsp Cinnamon powder to decorate

Preparation:

Leave your Puff Pastry roll outside to reach room-temperature. If its frozen, let it defrost naturally in your fridge or outside. For best results, follow instructions in your package.

Clean carefully your apples. Remove the core and peel them off. Cut the apples in halves, and slice each half in pieces aprox. 1/4 inches (1/2 cm) thick. Reserve.

In your clean working area, carefully extend the puff pastry roll (leave its protective paper, this will protect the pastry from sticking to your table).

Once its extended, use your cooking brush to paint the puff pastry with previously melted margarine. Reserve the rest of the margarine.

Mix sugar and vanilla powder in a small bowl. Sprinkle the surface of the pastry you just painted with margarine. Spread the sliced almonds in all the surface.

Now lay the apple slices covering all the pastry surface. Leave a small space on the side you're going to begin to roll, and a bigger space on the side you will finish, or close your roll.

Carefully and not that tight, begin to roll, covering the apples and closing both ends of the roll to avoid apple pieces to fall out. Be sure to work slow but steady, and to remove carefully the protective foil from the pastry as you roll it.

Close the roll, rolling it over the bigger space reserved to close it. Carefully lay the roll in your baking tray (prepared with baking paper). Be sure that the closing is below the roll.

Paint with the rest of the margarine. Mix the cinnamon with the rest of the sugar. Sprinkle this sugar-vanilla-cinnamon mix over the roll.

Bake at 200°C /392°F for 25-30 minutes, or until the surface turns golden-brown.

Serve warm and accompany with warm vanilla sauce, or whipped cream.

Enjoy!

Bratapfel - German Baked Apple

Christmas is in the air... so here I have another delicious, easy and light recipe to add a sweet and warm note to your dinner on a special night. Even better for these cold days! (but don't hesitate, it can be made and enjoy in any time of the year!)

Bratapfel (German for Baked Apple), it is a traditional Christmas dessert in all Germany. I must confess that when I made it, it was the first time I enjoyed it! and for sure there will come many more times to do so! It is so easy to make! You only need your apples, some Christmas spices (traditionally cinnamon, cloves, ginger), raisins and walnut, hazelnuts or almonds. Needs only around 5 minutes to prepare plus 30 minutes to bake. And to accompany you can add a delicious (and also easy to make) hot Vanilla Sauce.

I changed a bit the traditional ingredients and used only almonds and not walnuts that are the most common nut for this recipe.

One more line: this time I took the photos, under strong inspiration of the new cook book from Ikea "Homemade is best". I hope you all like them and the recipe!

Ingredients:
(for 3 servings)

• 3 medium size Apples
• Some lemon juice
• 3 Tbsp margarine or butter (1 Tbsp for each apple)
• 3 tsp Cinnamon powder (1 tsp for each apple)
• 3 tsp Ginger powder (1 tsp for each apple)
• 1 tsp Cloves powder (distributed in all 3 apples)
• 3 Tbsp Roughly grounded Almonds (1 Tbsp for each apple)
• Sliced Almonds to decorate

For Vanilla Sauce:

• 400 ml Milk
• 2 Tbsp Corn starch
• Vanilla (liquid extract or powder, much better taste if you can use 1 vanilla bean). The amount you consider if you want it more or less strong the taste. For powder Bourbon Vanilla extract, I used 1 tsp.
• 2 Tbsp sugar

Preparation:

Wash your apples and dry them well. Remove the core of the Apple and make a tunnel around 2 fingers wide.

Remove one line of the skin of the apple all around its middle circumference.

Place the apples in your baking form and bathe them with the lemon juice (to avoid oxidation and brown spots in your apple). Melt the margarine/butter and bathe each apple with it. Be sure if falls on the center hole.

Stuff the apples with the grounded almonds until the half, then add the spices, cinnamon, cloves, ginger. Fill the rest of the hole with the rest of the grounded almonds.

Spread a bit more of cinnamon and ginger over the apples.

Decorate with the sliced almonds adding some on the top of each apple.

Bake in your oven at 190°C (374°F) for about 30 minutes.

Vanilla Sauce:

Mix around 6 Tbsp of cold milk with the Corn Starch. Place the rest of the milk, sugar and vanilla in a sauce pan until milk boils. Remove from fire and while removing constantly, add the milk with the Corn starch. Remove thoroughly. It will start to get thick. Go back to the fire and always moving the sauce, cook for about one more minute.

Serve the sauce and add the apple above. Decorate your apple with some more sauce above it.

Eat slowly and enjoy every second of this delicious Christmas traditional dessert!