18/10/13
Blackberry & coconut squares
I happened upon this recipe last year when I got a bit carried away with the old blackberry picking and after making endless jars of jam and numerous pies I still had a glut of berries left over. This recipe is from the Good Food website and the squares make a perfect afternoon snack or as a dessert served with cream. You can use this recipe in the summer by substituting the blackberries for strawberries, raspberries or blueberries.
ingredients
250g self-raising flour
25g oats
280g soft brown sugar
200g cold butter, cut into pieces
75g dessicated coconut
2 medium eggs, beaten
350g fresh blackberries ( I sometimes use Elderberries added to the mix if I don’t have enough b berries)
method
1. Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4.
2. Rub the butter into the flour using your fingertips until only small pea-size pieces remain.
3. Stir the oats, sugar and coconut through the flour butter mix , then fill a teacup with the mixture and set this aside.
4. Stir the eggs into the bowl of mixture, then spread over the bottom of a lined baking tin (31 x 17cm), or a 21cm square tin. Smooth the surface with the back of a spoon.
5. Then scatter over the blackberries followed by the reserved teacup mixture and bake for 1 hr to 1 hr 15 minutes until golden and cooked through (if you poke a skewer in, it should come out with moist crumbs but no wet mixture).
6. Leave to cool, then remove from the tin and cut into squares. Serve with some extra berries, and natural yoghurt or simply plain makes a perfect tasty morsel.
About the Author
Laura Bell is a yoga teacher in North Wales, UK and has been practising yoga for ten years. She is the founder of a company called The Zest Life, where the philosophy is about discovering ways to help you find and feel your zest for life. Throughout the year she runs yoga classes, themed workshops and lifestyle retreats at beautiful locations in Wales. Find her on Facebook and Twitter and stay connected to living the zest life.
