I love to keep 'toppings' on hand... simple blends to throw on my porridge, or yoghurt, or in a smoothie, or in cookies mix... or savoury options are great for a salad or a veggie bake.

It's what first inspired my Wholeplus Toppers! (which have been going down very well in the Vegan Kind box this month and has made me super smiley!)

You'll remember a month or so back I had some samples of goodies sent to be by the lovely folks at Steenbergs, a UK company who's products I love and order regularly. A couple of months ago they launched some beautiful Christmas spices, delicate blends with subtle flavour variations, and were kind enough to send me some to try out. I have been having fun adding them to my porridge in place of cinnamon, and also over stewed apple and other fruits. I also made my Wholeplus Christmas Stollen flavour using their blend along with their dried lemon peel.

I decided a new winter porridge topping blend full of festive spice was in order and so whipped up this little number. All you need is a food processor or grinder and you'll have your very own blend ready to go!

Ideally keep your blend in the fridge for best flavour and freshness (nuts and seeds can easily go rancid when ground due to exposed surface are) they'll keep fine in the fridge for a three months or so.

This was my spontaneous combo with dates and cacao for a light touch of sweetness but you could add in other ingredients, such as nuts, as you fancy. I kept the ration of flax to other ingredients pretty high as I like to add lots of flax to my porridge as it gives a great omega 3 boost (flax is one of the best sources of omega 3 and we could also do with more of it in our diets!) and the 'gelling' quality of ground flax (linseed in whole form) creates the lovely thicker texture which i'm after. That being said these quantities are simply guidelines,

Recipe: Festive flax breakfast blend

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup linseed/flax
1/4 cup goji berries
1/4 cup cacao nibs
1/4 cup chopped dates
1 tsp Steenbergs Stollen, Lebkuchen or Speculoos spice (or use cinnamon/nutmeg/mixed spice)

Method:

I used whole linseed and ground it before adding other ingredients, otherwise use pre-ground flax.

Add all ingredients to your processor and ground until coarse (or to desired texture). Store in an airtight container in the fridge.