Rolled Oats

Asked by deeptisharma. Answered on 1st May 2013

Full question

Hi, I am planning to make the granola bars that were featured in Nigella Feasts. It mentions rolled oats as one of the ingredients. However, I haven't had any luck in finding rolled oats. Can you please suggest an alternative? Thanks, Deepti.

Our answer

Nigella has a recipe for Andy's Farfield Granola in Feast, this is a loose breakfast cereal rather than a bar. However Nigella does have a recipe for Breakfast Bars in Nigella Express and these are like cereal and milk, all together in bar form.

Both recipes use rolled oats and unfortunately there is not a good substitute for the oats. Oats are available in many parts of the world, though they may be labelled as "oatmeal" rather than as rolled oats. Quaker is one of the best known and most widely distributed brands. Quite often oatmeal is sold 3 forms and you should use the type labelled as "quick cooking oats" as this is the type that is the same as UK rolled oats. Avoid "instant oatmeal" as this is made from oats that are too finely ground. The other form of oatmeal is labelled as "old fashioned oats" or sometimes as "jumbo oats". These oats are slightly less processed than rolled oats and could be used in the recipes but tend to be more fibrous and chewy.