Apple Oatmeal Breakfast Bar (low sodium)

 

This is a low sodium apple oatmeal breakfast bar/snack cake that you can eat for breakfast or any time of the day. It's also a great coffee cake. I have used a variety of oat products so it's very dense and filling. The steel cut oats give it a nice chewy texture and you can use any combination of spices that you like e.g orange zest, ginger, cardamom etc. The good thing is that it's not too sweet so you can top it with stewed or fresh fruit in season. The juice or liquid from the stewed fruit will be soaked up by the breakfast square and that makes it become moist like a pudding!

If I freeze the squares, I usually take them out of the freezer the night before and let them thaw out in the refrigerator. The next morning, I wrap the square in a damp paper towel and warm it up gently in the microwave using low power. 

Variations: If you don't like the gritty feel of steel cut oats, soak them beforehand in some hot water for about 30 minutes. Drain the liquid through a strainer If this variation is selected, the baking time may be prolonged by an extra 5-7 minutes) and the consistency of the final product is more like baked oatmeal, not like a "cake". In addition to the apples, you can sprinkle a few blueberries on top of the mixture in the pan.

Juice and zest of 1/2 a large lemon may also be added to the apple juice mixture is you like a slightly tart taste to the oatmeal.

1 cup old-fashioned oats

½ cup steel cut oats

½ cup oat bran

1 cup flour

1 teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon allspice

½ teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon low sodium baking powder

1 cup unsweetened apple juice

½ cup half and half

3 tablespoons maple syrup or honey or a mixture of both

2 tablespoons brown sugar

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1/2 Granny Smith apple, seeded, and peeled, cut into cubes.

1 large egg

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

 

 

1.     Line the bottom of an 8x8 inch baking dish with parchment paper leaving an overhang on 2 sides. Grease sides and set aside

2.     Mix together the oats, bran, flour, low sodium baking powder, and spices in a bowl and set aside

3.     Mix the apple juice and butter in a small saucepan or measuring cup. Heat over the stove or in a microwave (if using the measuring cup) until the butter is melted. Add this to the cubed apple and set aside to cool to room temperature.

4.     Lightly whisk the egg, half and half, maple syrup and brown sugar. Mix in the vanilla and melted butter. Add the liquid mixtures to the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Pour batter into the prepared baking dish. Let stand for about 15- 20 minutes so that the dry mixture can absorb the liquid. You can sprinkle some thick cut old fashioned oats on the surface at this point (1-2 tablespoons)

5.     Bake for about 35 minutes in a 375 degrees Fahrenheit oven or until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool, invert then cut into slices of a size of your choosing (I cut into 9 square bars).

6.     Store in refrigerator or wrap and freeze.Top with your favorite fresh or stewed fruit.

Low Sodium Oatmeal Spice Cake

 

This is a delicious oatmeal spice cake recipe. The original is from an old cookbook I have from back when people didn't care about fats, sugar or Sodium. I've made it lighter and cut the sodium content significantly by leaving out added salt, using unsalted butter and shortening, and using low sodium baking powder rather than straight baking soda (which has tons of sodium). I've enhanced the taste with a lot of spices and you can even add orange zest or 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves to give it a bit more "zing"! I cut it into 16 slices but if I did not have to watch portions, I'd probably do 8!

1/2 cup pure apple juice

1/2 cup water

1 cup rolled oats (old fashioned)

1/4 cup unsalted butter

¼ cup shortening

1/2 cup lightly packed dark brown sugar

1/4 cup maple syrup

2 tablespoons molasses

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

¼ teaspoon allspice

1 tsp reduced sodium baking powder

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/3 cup dried fruit (cranberries, raisins etc)

 Instructions

 1.      Line the bottom of a 13x9x2 inch baking pan with parchment paper. Grease and flour the sides.

2.      Bring apple juice, water, dried fruit, brown sugar, butter, maple syrup and molasses to a boil. Pour over oats and allow to cool.

3.      Mix the spices, baking powder, and flour together in a small bowl. Set aside.

4.      Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

5.      Whisk the two eggs until pale in color. Add vanilla.

6.      Mix in eggs, and vanilla into cooled oat mixture. Add the flour and stir until combined.

7.      Pour into prepared baking dish, bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes or until a cake tester inserted comes out clean

8.      Cool and cut into 16 slices.

Low Sodium Oaty Anzacs

 

I love Oatcakes and also the same goes for Anzac Biscuits. This is a recipe that combines them. They are also low sodium (meaning no added salt and using unsalted or no salt added ingredients) to meet my current dietary requirements. I would suggest you do your own nutritional calculation to see if this meets your needs. They are not very sweet and if you like them sweeter, you can bump up the sugar and golden syrup to 1/4 cup each. Unsalted butter and lard can be used or just lard alone.  I prefer to use Lyles Golden syrup but have also used Maple syrup. After the first bake, they come out crisp enough for most people but I like them dry, crispy and crunchy so I let them cool for about 20 minutes then lower the oven temperature to 250 degrees F and let them "soak" in the low heat for another 30 minutes, like you would do biscotti or rusks. 

Some variations I would do if I were not on dietary restrictions would be to dip these in salted caramel or dark chocolate......

2 cups oats (grind 3/4 cup of this in a food processor to make a coarse flour)

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

¼ cup brown rice flour (optional or just use 1 cup all purpose flour and omit the brown rice flour)

1/2 cup lard (can use ¼ cup unsalted butter and ¼ cup shortening)

1/8 tsp low sodium baking powder

1/8 tsp cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon allspice

3 rounded tablespoons brown sugar

3 tablespoons golden syrup or maple syrup (or a mixture of both)

¼ cup unsweetened 100 % apple juice

 

1.   Mix oats (including the ground portion), sugar, baking powder and flour together in a mixing bowl.

2.   Rub butter and lard into that (using a dough hook on a standing mixer makes it easier)

3.   Mix syrup, apple juice, and put in the microwave or saucepan to bring to a boil. Add to flour and lard mixture.

4.   Mix with spoon or dough hook to form dough

5.   Let this sit for about 10 minutes then form into a dough ball.

6.   Separate into 12 large walnut sized balls and roll out each to ¼ inch thick on a floured surface. Use a lifter to place on a parchment lined cookie sheet

7.   Bake at 375 degrees F 10-12 minutes. Check after 10 minutes as they burn easily. Remove from oven, cool and store in an airtight container.