Just call me Nigella!!!

You may remember I've mentioned before about "gouter" being an official meal here in France, at least where the kids are concerned anyway. It actually turns out to be quite an expensive one too!
The norm is to give one baked good (biscuit, cake, crepe), one milk derived product (yoghurt, drinking yoghurt, yoghurt/fromage frais in a tube), and something fruity (a piece of fruit, a fruit pot or pouch etc). I know it seems quite a lot, but my kids seem to manage to eat all of this at 4pm and then their tea at 6pm. Really tea time should be at 4pm as thats when they seem to be at their hungriest!

So in an effort to cut down on costs and just stop buying so much commercially made rubbish. I've decided to combine Laila's love of baking with her daily gouter. So each week we're going to bake something that she can have each day for her gouter and it is to last the whole week!

On Monday while Max was sleeping we made some apricot & raisin bars (I wish I'd taken a picture). I followed my friend Cara's recipe for "date bars" but she specifically wrote I could put any fruit I wished!!

Here's the recipe for anyone interested:

175g butter or margarine (softened)

175g soft brown sugar

225g plain flour

1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

100g rolled oats

1/2 teaspoon salt

150g + of dates/apricots/raisins/other dried fruit

Moderate oven (170°C or 150°C fan assisted)

Beat the softened butter and sugar. Mix in the flour, bicarb, oats and salt.

Grease a 20 x 30cm tin and spread over half the crumb mix.

Chop the dried fruit and spread on crumb base.

Cover with remaining mix.

Cook for 25-30mins. Cut and leave to cool in tin.

They are delicious and Laila and Max (ok and mummy and daddy) all liked them. I do think they might have been better with a spoon of golden syrup in there to bind them, they were a little dry and crumbly, not as nice and chewy as Cara's! I am assuming this is because dates tend to be stickier than apricots and raisins so they probably bind it all better? Or Laila ate too much butter during the process!! They will definitely not last till Friday (there might be a tiny bit left by Thursday!), but we only made half the amount in the recipe as I didn't have enough flour and marg in stock! I have already added both to next weeks shopping list!

On Tuesdays and Thursdays (Laila's 2 full days) I take the gouter to school, and we sit with some of the other mums in front of the slide. The mums chat while the kids snack and play after school. Well they were all very impressed that I'd made something for gouter and I'm under instructions to give them the recipe!! 

Any contributions ideas for next weeks "gouter" will be welcomed as now I feel a little under pressure!