These are simply delicious to have with a cup of tea on a rainy afternoon. They do keep for a few days but we rarely have any left the next day as they are a family favourite.

Tray bakes are so simple to make and some don’t even require any cooking. There isn’t much that can go wrong with this recipe so give it a try over the weekend and let me know how you get on.

Ingredients

350 g plain flour

300g rolled oats

150g brown sugar

150g caster sugar

50g ground almonds

1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

1/2 banana

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

250g vegetable margarine spread (lots of plant based options in supermarket)

1 teaspoon almond extract

350g raspberry jam

300g fresh raspberries

a handful of flaked almonds

crumble topping:
50g plain flour

50g rolled oats

Method

Grease and line a baking tin and pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees.

Mix together the flour, oats, brown sugar, caster sugar, ground almonds and bicarbonate of soda in a large bowl. Add the mashed banana, vanilla, margarine and almond extract and mix well.

Save about 350g (approx. a quarter) of this mixture for the topping and spread the rest of the mixture into the baking tin and push down firmly. Spread the jam and scatter the fruit evenly on top of the oat mixture.

Make a crumble topping by combining the spare oat mixture with a few extra oats and flour and use your fingers to make a crumbly texture. Sprinkle this topping onto your oats and fruit.

Bake for 15 minutes in your oven. Add the flaked almonds and cook for a further 10 minutes until the tray bake is lightly browned on top.

Remove from the oven and leave to cool. Cut into squares to serve with your cup of tea.

Adapt

You can try and make this with frozen fruit and berries. Also with blueberries. You may wish to leave out the extra almond extract as well.