Gluten Free | Vegan | Dairy Free

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 170C, lay your hazelnuts on a clean baking tray and roast at this temperature for 15 minutes, shaking once or twice. You can replace the hazelnuts with another nut or seed, or leave them off all together.
2. Put the oats into a small pan with your milk of choice. At Kiss the Hippo we use organic rice milk, because it has a slightly sweet taste without the added sugar.
3. Bring the milk and oats to a gentle simmer for 5 minutes until the oats are cooked through, stirring occasionally to stop it sticking to the bottom of the pan.
4. Turn off the heat and stir in the chia seeds, nut butter and optional agave or maple syrup. At Kiss the Hippo we use a homemade hazelnut praline, a blend of roasted hazelnuts and raw cane sugar. But at home you can add a tsp of any nut butter and something sweet - agave or maple syrup would be lovely. Leave to one side for a few minutes, to allow the chia seeds to swell up and soften.
5. When the nuts are ready - golden brown and smelling amazing - remove from the oven and allow to cool. If using hazelnuts, you can rub them in a clean tea towel to remove most of the skins. Transfer the skinned nuts to a fresh tea towel, wrap them up and using a rolling pin or heavy based pan, gently crush them. You could also crush them using the pulse setting in a food processor, although this will give a finer texture.
6. When you're ready to serve, add 100ml water to the porridge and bring back to a simmer, make sure the nut butter is mixed in well. Transfer to a bowl and sprinkle with crushed nuts and fresh berries. Enjoy!