This tray bake is without a doubt my number one go-to whenever I need a quick and easy snack-solution for a play date, after school treat or last minute picnic. It works with most berries, although I find it particularly tasty with red- and/or blackcurrants. The slight tanginess works perfectly with the sweetness of the spongy batter. The consistency is similar to a focaccia, which makes it an ideal fuss free snack on the go. Most of you probably know that I always try to avoid caster sugar, but after various tries with other options I had to give in to the fact, that it simply looked, tasted and baked best using white sugar. Using only 4tbsp for a whole tray felt acceptable to me, you can amend this to your kids’ taste adding a little more or trying it with less if you are using particularly sweet berries.
What you need:
100g ground almonds
200g plain white flour
¼ tsp salt
3 tsp baking powder
4 tbsp caster sugar
220ml unsweetened plant milk – I use oat or soya milk
3 tbsp coconut yogurt
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar or lemon juice – I often go 50/50
1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
140g (roughly) fresh or frozen berries of your choice, I like a forest berry mix containing plenty of red- and blackcurrants
How you do it:
Preheat your oven at fan 160C.
In a large bowl mix all the dry ingredients.
Add oat milk, coconut yogurt, vinegar/lemon juice and vanilla extract and stir gently until you have a smooth batter (make sure not to over mix it as this can reduce the rising effect of the baking powder reacting with the vinegar/lemon juice).
Spread the batter evenly onto a lined baking tray, I find this works best using a spatula (aim for a thickness of about 2-3cm, don’t worry if it doesn’t go all the way to the edges of the tray).
Evenly scatter the berries on top trying to avoid any clusters as this will inhibit the batter from rising properly.
Bake for approx. 30mins or until you can insert a knife and it comes out clean.
