Healthy home made 'breakfast friendly' hobnob style biscuits

I'm a firm believer that breakfast is really important. I rarely miss it but usually have something at my desk when I get to work because if I eat before leaving the house I find I'm hungry again by about 10am. This means that for my breakfasts in the week I need to have something quick and convenient as there is no toaster or cooking equipment at work. With that in mind my choices are limited. I sometimes have cereal like fruit & fiber or Dorset cereals but as I've mentioned before I'm not great at portion control. I reckon lots of people are the same because the 30-40g recommended serving of cereals is actually not that much. Before you know it you could be doubling the amount of calories it states for 1 serving on the box and not even realize it.

Ready made so called 'breakfast' products like cereal bars, muffins or breakfast biscuits are actually really high in sugar. Now I do think a bit of sugar is OK in the morning especially if you have worked out but these processed snacks always leave me with a sickly sweet taste in the mouth and set me up with sugar cravings for the rest of the day. I must confess I do actually really enjoy a few biscuits with my coffee for breakfast and I have been known to eat 4 or 5 hobnobs to set me up for the day. Hobnobs are actually made with wholewheat flour and oats so have a decent amount of fiber and at 72 cals each, 5 biscuits actually makes for a decent sized breakfast BUT they are made with a high percentage of corn syrup which gives them that super sweet golden syrup flavor and immediately makes you crave more.

I decided to try and make my own version of this crunchy oaty biscuit that would be much less sweet and therefore suitable for the first meal of the day. For sweetness I used honey which is a natural source of sugar so much better for us that sickly uber-refined corn syrup and also gives them a really nice delicate flavor. They are packed full of fiber so they should keep me full for at least a good chunk of the morning and the fat I used is olive oil which is low in saturates. In short they are about as breakfast friendly as any biscuit is likely to get although there is no protein so I would recommend adding another element alongside the biscuits for a really balanced breakfast. Perhaps a yogurt, some cottage cheese or peanut butter.

They are also a great afternoon/ pre-gym snack with dark chocolate on top. If you use good quality dark chocolate and spread it sparingly it only alters the nutrition content slightly.

Here's what I did:

Ingredients:

180g wholewheat pastry flour
60g oats
60g olive oil
60g honey
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
pinch of salt.
Optional: 60g dark chocolate

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 160 degrees C and line a flat baking tray with baking paper.

Mix flour, oats, salt and baking powder in one bowl and in another whisk the oil, honey and vanilla extract together with a fork until combined. Pour the oil mixture into the dry ingredients and mix into a dough with hands. Carefully make small balls about the size of a 2p coin and place onto the baking sheet. One by one flatten the balls on the sheet into flat, round biscuit shapes about 2-3mm thick. The biscuits will hold the same shape once cooked so get them exactly how you want them now. Bake in batches of 12 for about 7-8 minutes until just starting to brown at the edges.

Once cool you can add the chocolate topping if you want by melting the chocolate over a bowl of hot water and then spreading a thin layer on each biscuit and setting in the fridge for 20 minutes.

Nutritionally the plain biscuits have 63 calories compared with 72 for a bought hobnob and tonnes less sugar and additives.

The chocolate variety have 70 calories compared with 95 for a dark chocolate Mcvities hobnob. (Calories calculated at spark people.)

I'm not saying they taste exactly the same. They are much less sweet so don't expect an exact replica but I think they are much nicer and a really convenient brekkie delicious with coffee.  Not to mention the satisfaction of actually making something yourself!

Enjoy! xx