Banana Oats Appam / Sweet Paniyaram Recipe

Banana Oats Appam is a nutritious and flavorful snack. Mildly sweet in taste, soft and porous in texture, this paniyaram is simply irresistible! It is a healthier version to an Indian delicacy, Kela muluk ( sweet banana fritters). Basically, sweet paniyaram is a popular dish from South Indian state of Kerala which is made with leftover idli batter. This recipe is quick and easy and calls for the use of appam pan as an alternative to deep frying. Serve this gluten-free banana oats appam at breakfast, as a tea time snack, as a naivedhyam during festivals or a toddler finger food, you are sure to win praises.

Rich in carbs, fiber, protein, and antioxidants, oats are among the most nutrient-dense foods that one can eat. They can be added to a baby's diet after 6 months of age in the form of porridge and purees. 12-36 month child is referred to as a toddler. This is the time when a child is advancing from infancy to becoming a preschooler. A time when a child learns to eat more solid food. For their proper growth and development, a nutritious food is required which provides enough energy for daily activities. Finger foods for toddlers need to be safe, healthy, delicious and that kids can feed themselves. It need not be a special food, but something which is appealing, yummy and that the kid would love to try their hands on without getting messy. It can be a fruit piece, a baked vegetable, a pan fried paneer piece, a home-baked cookie or cracker etc. There are endless options.

Now you all must be wondering, why we are getting into the details of a toddler food? Well, the theme for our #173rd #FoodieMondayBlogHop is #Toddler Finger food and these healthy and delicious banana oats appam is my contribution towards the theme. 

                                  

It was my turn this week to give out options for the theme and this theme got maximum votes by our group members. The reason behind suggesting this theme was a bit personal. After my Diwali vacations, i am terribly missing the time spent with my younger sister's twin daughters. 15 month old, Ananya and Kimaya are cut and, super active. They have started developing taste and have their own ways of showing like or dislikes towards different foods they are offered. When i offered them my homemade Badam Katli, both of them liked it and asked for more. My sister is a working woman and has a tough time figuring out food options for them. I am sure now she will get multiple innovative healthy toddler food ideas from all the bloggers contributing towards this theme. I am dedicating this blog post, to my dear twin nieces. I hope they love this snack as well.

Me with my twin nieces. Massi loves you a lot dear Anu and Kimu 

Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Makes: one dozen sweet paniyaram

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup instant oats
• 2 tablespoon rice flour
• 2 over-ripe bananas
• 1/4 cup jaggery powder
• 2 tablespoon curd
• 1/2 cup milk or as required
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon powder
• 2 tablespoon ghee or oil or as required to fry the appam
• Pinch of salt

Method:

1. Dry roast the oats in a pan for 3-4 minutes. Allow it to cool down and then grind it to a powder.

2. Take powdered oats in a mixing bowl. Add rice flour, mashed bananas, jaggery powder, cinnamon powder, and salt.

3. Mix everything very well. Now add curd, followed by milk, little at a time and whisk to get a smooth, lump-free batter. The consistency should be a bit thinner than the idly batter. Add more milk or rice flour to adjust the required consistency. Set aside the mix for 10 minutes.

4. Heat an appam / paniyaram pan . Add ghee or oil to it. Now stir the batter once again and spoon out into spoon ful of it into each hole of the pan. Cover the pan with a lid and allow the appam to cook on low flame for 1-2 minutes or until you see the golden brown edges of the appam. Flip each appam with a greased spoon and cook the other side aswell.

  5. Serve the delicious banana oats appam to your family with love!

Recipe Notes:

• Use ripe or over-ripe bananas in this recipe.
• You may skip or reduce the amount of jaggery if your bananas are very sweet.
• Sliced coconut may be added to the recipe, but i avoided to prevent choking hazards in toddlers. You may add grated or desiccated coconut if you wish. 
• I have not added baking powder in this recipe, you may add to get more soft and porous appams.

If you ever try this recipe, do share your feedback with us in the comment section below. 

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For more toddler finger food options, check the following recipes from my blog 

• Edible Food Art

                       

• Healthy Gingerbread Cookies

                    

• Paneer Lollipop

                      

• Pumpkin Pattie

                     

• Badam Katli

                     

• Caramelized Fox nuts

                     

• Baked Finger millet Crackers

                     

• Mix Vegetable Cutlets

                    

• Instant Chapati Ladoo