This porridge fingers recipe is so easy to make and is great for weaning babies and toddlers alike. Ideal for baby led weaning.
Last week I hopped on the Tube to west London for a Piccolo Pop In - a lunch, chat, nutrition session and generally lovely time with Alice from baby food company My Little Piccolo and Leyla from This Day I Love.
Who are My Little Piccolo?
My Little Piccolo is a baby food company with a difference.
All of their recipes are inspired by Mediterranean goodness so you can expect to find plenty of fruits and vegetables as well as lots of lovely herbs.
The spring greens with pear, apple and mint has been a big hit here. The company has recently introduced a couple of new stage 1 pouches, which are vegetarian - carrot, sweet potato and squash, and courgette, pea and leek.
The stage 2 pouches - for when your baby is ready for slightly chunkier food - include sweet tomato and ricotta spaghetti and a three grain vegetable risotto.
Alice showing me how to make porridge fingers © Alejandro Tamagno
Alice Fotheringham is one of the founders of My Little Piccolo.
She's a trained nutritionist, and while My Little Piccolo is primarily a baby food company, she had a wealth of knowledge and understanding about children's nutrition and eating.
I thoroughly enjoyed talking to her about my kids and their eating. She also made me realise that in many ways R is actually a good eater. He might not touch fruit or veg if he can avoid it but he'll happily tuck into a curry. So it's not all bad.
My Little Piccolo egg cups
Egg cups are great for babies and toddlers
Alice shared some of her recipes with us, such as these simple egg cups.
They are so easy to make and make a great snack or lunch for babies and toddlers. All you need to do is finely chop up some vegetables, pour over some beaten egg and bake in a greased muffin tin.
These are great for toddlers and if you're doing baby led weaning.
We also made a lovely pea hummus, some savoury muffins and porridge fingers.
Porridge fingers
My Little Piccolo has kindly let me share the porridge fingers recipe with you.
As your baby gets older you can make these a bit more exciting by adding other spices such as all spice and dried chopped fruit or make a savoury version with some mixed herbs and grated parmesan.
You can buy My Little Piccolo baby pouches in Asda, Waitrose and Ocado amongst others - see their website for a full list of stockists.
More recipes you might like
More recipes you might likeIf you like this recipe you might like:
- courgette, lemon and blueberry overnight oats
- apple and cinnamon porridge
- cherry bars
- blueberry and banana porridge bars
- strawberry porridge
- how much fruit and veg kids should really be eating.
Read more about cooking for babies.
Pin porridge fingers
How to make porridge fingers
If you have made this recipe I would love it if you’d leave a comment and rating below. Thank you!
Porridge fingers
Ingredients
- 10 heaped tbsp porridge oats or a mix or oats, millet flakes or barley flakes to provide a mix of grains to your baby’s diet
- 10 tbsp full fat cow’s milk or no added sugar almond milk, oat milk or any nut milk alternatives
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ mashed banana optional
Instructions
- Pour the oats into a small, flat bottomed microwave proof dish and pour over the milk. Add the cinnamon and the banana (if using) and mix together. Press the oat mix down into the dish with the back of the spoon and cook in the microwave for 2 minutes on high.
- Cut into fingers and serve once cool.
- If you don’t want to use the microwave, these work just as well in the oven. Heat the oven to 190°C/375F/Gas Mark 5 and cook for 15 minutes.
- Once cool, store in an airtight container in the fridge for 2-3 days.
HAVE YOU TRIED THIS RECIPE?
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Disclaimer: I was invited along to a My Little Piccolo Pop In for the purposes of this post. I have received no payment and all opinions are my own.
Ashlee (weaning_marley)
My 6 month old boy loves these porridge fingers. I doubled the recipe and froze most of them to get them out when needed otherwise I would have eaten them all as the are super fast! I also added a couple of raspberries to the mixture for extra flavour. I haven’t tried making them in the microwave but they cooked really nicely in the oven. As I am a terrible chef I liked how easy these were to make! Thank you for the recipe.
Ashlee (weaning_marley)
Good god I should proof read before posting!! *eaten them all as they are super tasty.
Mandy Mazliah
yay! So glad you both enjoyed them so much x
Ani
Hi
Can you use any other fruits like berries instead of or in addition to the banana?
Mandy Mazliah
Hi Ani, you need the banana as it helps to bind the porridge fingers together but I think you could add a handful of berries and it would work ok - I haven't tested it though.
Katie
Just made these for my little man and he LOVED them! So easy too! Going to try and freeze what’s left - worth a try! Thanks for the recipe!
Mandy Mazliah
So happy to hear that Katie! Hope the freezing works out for you.
Raquell
Tastes amazing, easy and fun to eat!
Mandy Mazliah
Thanks Raquell - so happy you liked them!
Kayleigh
Do you think I could use ready break instead? We can't get out for oats at the moment.
Mandy Mazliah
Hi Kayleigh - I really don't know whether Ready Brek would hold together. I would test it for you if I had some available - do let me know if you try it.
Rachel
I noticed a few questions asking about using breast milk. I made these using breast milk and they came out great. I had to wait until they were completely cool before cutting as they were a little crumblier than regular milk (perhaps that’s the variable fat content in breast milk?). But they still held together well. If you are worried than your bm isn’t so fatty and they won’t hold together I’d use the banana too.
Mandy Mazliah
Thanks so much for sharing Rachel - that's so useful to know
Annie
Hi. I've tried to make these twice now in the microwave and they taste lovely but the mix stays squidgy. I have to spoon it out of the dish as it won't stay in bars/fingers. What am I doing wrong?
Mandy Mazliah
Hi Annie, sorry to hear that you're having trouble with the recipe. It's hard to say what the problem is. Have you tried cooking them for a bit longer? And what kind of milk are you using?
Laura Watson
Brilliant recipe my kids arent mad on cinnamon so I blended raspberries and blueberries in with the milk. Worked well.
Mandy Mazliah
Thanks Laura - that sounds like a delicious combination
Omnia Madwar
I made these in 2 batches, one with quick cooking oats and another batch with old fashioned rolled oats. Rolled oats are nice as granola bars for adults but was too rough for my little one- 8 months old. The second batch with quick cooking was like the flapjacks you mentioned and amazing for little ones. I wanted to share this as someone was asking which oats to use x
Mandy Mazliah
Thanks so much for this Omnia - this will help a lot of people out I know
Natalie Durndell
When do you put the banana in?
Mandy Mazliah
Hi Natalie - after you've mixed the oats and milk together - just mash it and stir it in.
Christina
Hi there! In the US... Do you know what the equivalent to porridge oats are here? We have intant (quick cook), rolled oats, or steel cut oats. Thanks so much! I look forward to making these in a few months when we start BLW.
Mandy Mazliah
Hi Christina, thanks for your question. I think that rolled oats is probably what you need - whatever you'd use to make standard porridge (oatmeal). I'm not sure about steel cut but I don't think quick cook would work. Hope you enjoy them!
Maria
These look so easy to make , thank you
Mandy Mazliah
They are very easy Maria - hope your baby enjoys them!
Zoë
What texture are these supposed to be? Mine came out of the microwave still soft.
Mandy Mazliah
Hi Zoe, they are like a very soft flapjack but they should hold together. It's really tricky with microwaves as they all have different powers but perhaps try cooking it for longer at 10 second intervals until it's done? Let me know how you get on.
Jiayi
How long can i keep these?
Mandy Mazliah
You can keep them for 2-3 days in an airtight container in the fridge. They can go in the freezer as well for a month or so.
Kitty
Can you suggest an alturnative to milk for these? I don’t want to give my baby milk until after he’s turned o e.
Mandy Mazliah
Hi Kitty, you can make them with formula or breast milk. I would also imagine you could use oat milk or almond milk or similar as well although this hasn't been tested. Let me know how you get on.
Jo
What age would you recommend these from?
Mandy Mazliah
You can serve these from six months
Jennifer
I'm so sad! This did not work at all for me. I used breastmilk and it was a big, crumbly mess. Wonder if that's why it wouldn't stick together??
Mandy Mazliah
Oh so sorry to hear that! I haven’t tested it myself with breastmilk but I’m pretty sure Piccolo must have done.
April
That's a real bummer! We'll have to experiment with the user of breast milk.
Krystan
If you don’t have a microwave what temp and time for the oven?
Mandy Mazliah
Hi Krystan, it’s at the bottom of the recipe - 190 degrees for 15 minutes x
Jilly Dalton
As I am trying to ward off sugar I am trying to eat healthy foods instead, fruit included I am going to try a small amount of these and see if I like them. I hope the oats get cooked enough? I might try these instead of breakfast.
Mandy Mazliah
Hope you enjoy them - the oats do get thoroughly cooked.
Joy
Do you think I could use breastmilk instead of the other kinds of milk?
Mandy Mazliah
I haven't tried it Joy but I can't think of a reason why not - let me know how it turns out x
Babyandpug
Did this work out? I want to make these with breast milk
Terri
Can you freeze these?
Thanks
Mandy Mazliah
Hi Terri, I haven't tried but I can't think of a reason why not. Will experiment next time I make them
Feed_me_mama
I make porridge bites using silicone molds which are really similar. One of the first things I ever made for the tiny man! Fabulous post, Mandy.
Mandy Mazliah
Or not so tiny any more - he's just turned two right?
Kirsty Hijacked By Twins
I make something similar which is great for Slimming World. These look delicious. Thank you for sharing with #CookBlogShare x
Mandy Mazliah
Thanks Kirsty - they're great for kids and grown ups alike to snack on!
Eb Gargano / easypeasyfoodie.com
Oooh, lovely recipe - similar to my cranberry porridge squares, in fact! Great minds and all that 🙂 I really like using milk instead of sugar to make the oats stick together - much healthier than a whole load of sugar! I like the addition of banana too - I might have to try that, instead of the maple syrup/honey I normally use to sweeten my porridge squares. Eb x
Mandy Mazliah
They are a lot like your porridge squares aren't they - surprisingly easy to make flapjacks without all the butter and syrup isn't it x
Rosie Brass
If you put these in the freezer, do you just defrost them in the fridge overnight? And if you keep them in the fridge for a couple of days, do you just serve them straight from the fridge? Just checking you don’t need to/shouldn’t reheat them!
Mandy Mazliah
Hi Rosie
Yes you can defrost them in the fridge overnight or they'll take an hour or two on the countertop if you're not that organised. You can serve them cold but I think they're nicer warm so you can reheat them in the oven or microwave if you want but be very careful they're cool enough for a baby before serving them.