Ginger & oat slice
I love this kind of simple, homely slice. It doesn’t look all that flash, but it tastes wonderful. It’s chewy from the little nuggets of ginger and steel-cut oats, and has a beautiful buttery, gingery flavour. It’s also whipped up in no-time and is perfect with a cup of tea or coffee.
Makes 12 – 15 bars
170g plain wholemeal flour
150g brown sugar
55g steel-cut oats
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
50g glace ginger, coarsely chopped
140g cold unsalted butter, in small chunks
4 chunks or so of glace ginger, finely sliced, to press on top
Preheat your oven to 160C (if your oven is fan forced, reduce the heat to 145C). Lightly butter a 20cm square baking tin, and line the base with baking paper, letting it run up each side so the paper sits just above the rim of the tin. Set the tin aside.
Put the flour, brown sugar, oats, baking powder and salt into the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Whiz everything together for 20 seconds. Add the chopped glace ginger, and pulse to make the chunks a bit smaller. Finally, stop the processor, scatter the butter over the top, then whiz the mixture, stopping and scraping down the sides occasionally, until it looks like crumbly damp sand.
Tip the dough into the prepared tin, and pat it out evenly. Roll a small solid tumbler over the top to even the surface and compact it. Press the finely sliced ginger over the top.
Bake the slice for about 30 – 35 minutes or until the top is pale golden and the edges have firmed up. The centre will still feel softish when you press it, but the slice will firm as it cools.
Sit the tin on a wire rack and leave to cool for at least 25 minutes. While the slice is warm, slice it into bars or squares, then leave it to cool completely in the pan. Layer the bars between sheets of baking paper in an airtight container. Store in the fridge for ten days or so, or in the freezer for up to two months.