Learn to make home made, free from delicious porridge

Are you bored of your usual toast and cereal breakfast routine? Fancy something that is super quick and easy as well as insanely nutritious and delicious? Feel free to thank us later. This gluten free and vegan recipe is an absolute belter and also makes for a lovely lunch or quick supper dish.

We’re joining in the World Porridge Day fun with our posh porridge recipe that is oat based with delicious deviations from plainer, more traditional versions. Porridge purists may be horrified but we’re confident that if they try our gluten free and vegan adaptation they’ll become converts.

I used the recipe as it appears in our Honeybuns All Day Cook which you can find on our online shop.

As you may know, we post regular gluten free baking videos. When it came to filming this one, I had to keep replacing the missing bowls. It was a bit like a re visitation of Goldilocks, with people wafting into the kitchen and snaffling the steaming bowls of porridge. The comments went something like this,

‘Oooooh it’s so creamy, I can’t believe it’s vegan’ and

‘Is it really healthy? It tastes too good to be good for you’

It was during filming the porridge video that I ate it for lunch and I have to say it fuelled me through a really busy afternoon and stopped me snacking. I was keen to see if this ‘fuller for longer’ sensation had any scientific merit. This excellent nutritional website cites the evidence based health benefits of oats. These wonder grains are high in beta glucan which is a soluble fibre and ‘forms a thick gel like solution in the gut’. It’s this gel that then sits in your tummy releasing all the nutrients into your bloodstream whilst also satiating your appetite for longer. So oats are a turbo charged high fibre ingredient.

I will cover some of the other numerous health benefits later on.

I’m keen to convey to you how utterly delicious, cheap, versatile, healthy and easy this recipe is. I regard it as one of our ‘store cupboard super hero’ recipes.

Take a look at Em’s bake-along video

You can bake-along with me if you prefer. For a step-by-step visual guide to making the traybake, please do check out my live bake-along video below.

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Or if you fancy a home baking session, you can follow the recipe below.

Here are some FAQs which will help you get the best out of this gluten free and vegan porridge recipe.

Time taken to make this breakfast recipe

You'll need to set aside a maximum of 20 minutes which includes the time taking to make the Florentine porridge topper as well as the porridge itself.

This is an extra special gluten free recipe

We've ensured that this is a safe gluten free, dairy free, nut free and vegan recipe. The Florentine topping is a lovely twist and elevates our porridge into posh breakfast territory. It'll look like you've made lots of effort, which of course you have if you compare this to opening a box of rice pops.

More health benefits of this breakfast recipe

Oats really are amazing. They are cheap, easily obtainable and full to bursting with nutritional benefits.

In a nut shell, they are high in soluble fibre, high carb whilst also low calorie and high in protein.

They're a great source of vitamins and minerals, notably, manganese, magnesium and vitamin B1.

What does Manganese do?

It has potent antioxidant properties- so it basically helps prevent the human body from 'rusting' and helps combat inflammation.

What is the function of Magnesium?

It's essential for brain function and there is growing evidence that a daily dose of magnesium can help with depression, (again check out Healthline). We've included lots of pumpkin seeds in the porridge topping and these seeds are also high in magnesium.

Why do we need Vitamin B1?

It facilitates glucose metabolism or put another way it converts food into energy for cells in the body to be able to use.

Advice on Gluten free oats

As an exclusively gluten free bakery here at Honeybuns, we're often asked about oats and whether they are safely gluten free. It is a bit of a confusing situation to get your head around. Standard oats are not labelled as gluten free whilst you can also buy gluten free oats. It's therefore commonly assumed that oats contain gluten naturally. This is not the case. The allergen alert on packaging 'may contain gluten' refers to the risk of gluten contamination of the oats either:

In the field. Other gluten containing crops can contaminate the field if they are grown side by side. For instance wheat (containing gluten) can self seed into a crop of oats.
In the milling process. If other grains are being processed alongside oats they can become contaminated with gluten.

In addition to this contamination issue, oats contain a protein called avenin which can cause issues for some coeliacs in the same way that the protein, gliadin (found in gluten) does. Quoting the Coeliac UK website 'Immune responses to oats do occur in some people with celiac disease but are relatively uncommon'. So it's therefore important to check when cooking for coeliacs if they can safely tolerate gluten free oats.

I hope this makes sense! Basically, always check the pack for 'gluten free' when buying oats or any other ingredient or product when catering for coeliacs and those who are gluten sensitive. You also need to check they can tolerate gluten free oats.

To buy safe gluten free oats try Glebe Farm Foods. They have a great reputation and are a small, family owned and run business.

Posh Porridge Recipe FAQs

Can I substitute different gluten free ingredients?

Yes absolutely! You can use any of the following:

rice flakes
quinoa flakes
millet flakes

You can use these on their own or mixed in with your gluten free oats for an extra interesting porridge.

We've included swapsie ingredients in brackets in the ingredients listed below.

What equipment do I need?

We've kept this as simple as possible.

Saucepan
Roasting tin or baking sheet
Microwave or hob

How many will this recipe serve?

2 x perfect portions

Ingredients for the porridge

50g rolled gluten free oats

20g quinoa flakes (or rice or millet flakes)

400ml plant based milk (our favourite is coconut but try almond, oat, or soya)

Ingredients for the florentine porridge topper

½ tsp salt
25g pumpkin seeds
25g sunflower seeds (you can always just double up on one of these seeds to save buying 2 types)
1 tsp fennel seeds (if you prefer you can use caraway seeds or a vanilla pod)
25g pine nuts (expensive but really worth the investment! Despite their name they are not nuts)
Zest of 1 orange (or use orange oil or frozen zest)
50g glace cherries, naturally coloured
50g dried cranberries (or any dried fruit)
25g mixed peel

Let's get cracking and start cooking

To make the porridge

Pop all the ingredients into a microwavable bowl and cook on full power for 2 minutes or pop all the ingredients into your saucepan and stir continuously on a medium heat until it thickens. This will take approximately 4 minutes

To make your Florentine Mix

You can make the Florentine porridge topper in advance and store it in a Kilner jar for when you need it. It will keep for 4 weeks in such a lidded jar.

Preheat your oven to 200°C / Gas 6
Pop all the Florentine Topper ingredients in your tin and mix together.
Pop in the oven for 5-6 minutes. I go into pedantic detail in my video above on how you can tell when your mix is done.
Serve your porridge in two bowls and sprinkle with some of your Florentine porridge topper.
Devour with relish and the satisfaction that this is insanely healthy and delicious!

TOP TIPS

Why not gift a Kilner jar of the Florentine mix to somebody special? You can add a rustic luggage label tied on with gingham ribbon. For a really fabulous present why don't you add in a Honeybuns gift tin of gluten free cakes as well?
For a great range of Kilner jars try Harts of Stur. They are our local go to for kitchen kit and are lovely people to boot!
Try adding the Florentine mix to cake or cookie mixes for extra ooooh la la. Or try it added to a bread mix such as our Seeded Loaf recipe with video.