Two Terrible Vikings Snack
What makes the perfect Viking snack? As part of the World Book Day Book Club, we’re featuring an easy and delicious treat to eat alongside our May read, Two Terrible Vikings by Francesca Simon.
Author Francesca Simon recommends fruits and nuts for a perfect hunter-gatherer inspired treat – paired with porridge, this recipe will keep you going for a long read or book club chat – Porridge with a Trail Mix Troll Print.
Note: These recipes include some ingredients that some people are allergic to – if you are organising the food for your book group then please do check if anyone has any allergies and substitute accordingly.
We’re suggesting the trail mix as a topping for porridge but it can be enjoyed on its own if you don’t have access to a kitchen.
Trail Mix Troll Print
You can buy mixed fruit and nuts but here are some suggestions for making a mix yourself. The best trail mix has a mix of tastes and textures. You can create your mixture in advance or you might want to let everyone choose their own combination by setting the ingredients out.
Note: if children are creating recipes in a group setting, please ensure they are preparing in their bubble. Otherwise they should prepare their troll print snacks individually.
Here are some ideas and a suggested mix but you can experiment to find your perfect combination.
| Crunchy (3 spoons) | Sweet (1 spoon) | Chewy (1 spoon) |
| Nuts | Chocolate or carob chips | Any dried fruit such as apricots, raisins and sultanas |
| Cereal – wholegrain hoops or cornflakes work well | Coconut | |
| Popcorn | Banana chips | |
| Banana chips | Fresh berries – blueberries, strawberries or raspberries work well |
To make your mix into troll prints you will need:
- The plate or bowl you are serving your print on
- Greaseproof paper (or other food safe paper)
- A pencil
- A clean hand
- Some scissors – please ensure if children are using scissors that an adult is on hand to help
| Step | Picture |
| 1. Draw around a bowl or plate using a pencil, then cut out the shape using scissors- ask an adult to help with this step. |  |
| 2. Wash your hands with soap and water to ensure they are clean.
3. Make a fist and put it in the middle of your paper and draw around it – if you have a particularly big bowl or small fist you might have space for more than one. This is a good cheat for getting a footprint shape, feet free! |
 |
| 4. Draw your own troll toes – make them quite big as you will need to cut them out |  |
| 5. Cut out the footprint carefully with scissors– ask an adult to help you with this step – so you are left with a stencil. |  |
| 6. Place your stencil on the plate and fill it with your trail mix and fresh berries. |  |
| 7. Remove the stencil and admire your troll print before enjoying! |  |
| 8. Make as many footprints as you like or just enjoy the rest of the mix from a bowl. Our favourite nut free creation is cranberries, raisins, bananas and chocolate chips! |  |
If you would like to use the trail mix to make a porridge topping, complete steps 1-5, then prepare your porridge.
For each portion of porridge (would serve 2 as a snack), use 50 grams of porridge oats and 300ml of any milk or water or a combination.
Put the oats and liquid into a pan and bring to the boil. Keep bubbling for around 5 minutes until it gets gloopy! You will need to stir all the time – don’t forget it like Hack and Whack! Alternatively, you can microwave the mixture – heat for 2 minutes 30 seconds, then stir and heat for another 2 minutes 30 seconds. You could also use your favourite ready mix or quick porridge.
When you are happy with how your porridge looks serve it into the bowl you made your stencil with.
Smooth out the top of the porridge then use your stencil to create a troll print on the top
Enjoy with your copy of Two Terrible Vikings by Francesca Simon! To find out more about our May Book Club title, please click here. Happy reading!
