OATS SO SWEET

Not just for breakfast, Diana Henry showcases the versatility of this humble ingredient in bread and puddings

- Diana Henry

Good Food contributing editor Diana Henry is an award-winning food writer. Her latest book is From the Oven to the Table (Mitchell Beazley). For more of Diana’s recipes, go to bbcgoodfoodme.com.

@dianahenryfood

If someone throws the word ‘oats’ at me I’ll immediately think of flapjacks and sigh. It’s not that I’m against healthy eating but I loathe flapjacks. They’re sensible yet oversweet and the oats get stuck in your teeth. Give me an apple any day.

Whisper ‘porridge’ to me, though, and my shoulders relax. My eldest has it every morning so I usually come down the stairs to the smell of porridge filling the kitchen. It’s gently sweet and, of course, milky. Weetabix with cold milk – the preferred option of my other son – seems thin and chilly and inadequate in comparison, and now that I’m writing about porridge and, even though it’s mid-afternoon, I guarantee I will have a pan of it on the hob once I’ve finished writing this piece. I try to add only a smidgen of sugar and usually have it with stewed apples. It’s pretty much the healthiest ‘almost pudding’ I can think of.