Figgy Pudding Baked Oatmeal

As you can see from my website, I am pretty crazy about baked oatmeal. I try to come up with new ideas to keep this breakfast staple, fresh and interesting for me. With this recipe, I drew from my memories of Figgy Pudding, a sticky, sweet desert that I liked very much but now can only eat in tiny portions due to the high sugar content. I have tried to make this using as little sugar as possible, relying instead on the natural sweetness of the dried fruit. I have used a combination of dates and figs for their fiber content, as well as a mixture of spices for added flavor. Added sugar is only from 1/4 cup brown sugar and 1/4 cup of honey. For those who might like it sweeter, those quantities of sugar and honey may be increased.  

Ingredients:

1 cup quick-cooking or old-fashioned oats, uncooked

1 cup Scottish oatmeal

1/2 cup flax meal

¼ cup dry, shredded coconut

1/4 cup brown sugar (or equivalent in Panela or Jaggery pieces)

¼ cup honey

6 ozs dried Medjool dates, chopped

9 ozs dried mission figs

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1 ½  teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 ½ teaspoons allspice

1 ½  teaspoon ground cardamom

½ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon fine sea salt

2 large eggs

2 1/3 cups milk

1 1/2 cups half and half

2 teaspoons pure orange extract

Directions

1.      In a large bowl, combine the oats, spices, oatmeal, chopped nuts, flax meal, baking powder, and salt. 

2.      Mix the honey, brown sugar, chopped dates and figs, walnuts, coconut, and orange extract, with the milk and half and half. Slowly bring to below boiling, stirring frequently to prevent it from burning. The milk will thicken and curdle slightly. Remove from heat, and allow to cool to lukewarm temperature.  

3.      Heavily grease a 8x8x2 inch baking tin or Pyrex dish (If I’m using Pyrex, I put about 1-2 tablespoons of butter in the dish, microwave to melt, then swirl around to coat the bottom and sides just like you would do when making a bread pudding).  

4.      Whisk the eggs, and add the lukewarm milk mixture to this.

5.      Pour into the bowl with the dry ingredients, and mix well. Pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish. Use a wooden spoon or spatula to distribute the solids evenly. Refrigerate for a few hours (6 hours at least) or overnight for the dry ingredients to absorb the wet mixture. 

6.      Bake in a water bath for 1 hour to 1 hour and twenty minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit, until the center is set, firm to the touch, has a golden color, and a cake tester inserted comes out relatively clean (I use a food thermometer to make sure that the center temperature is 164 degrees Fahrenheit or just above). Invert from baking dish and cut into 12 squares.

Sesame Flax Cranberry Oat Bars

These bars are very nice and crunchy but also very moist and buttery.  They soften the next day but remain moist. They are, like many other of these cookies, quite addictive, and do not last long. To ration them, I have frozen some so that they are out of my sight, and maybe I'll even forget about them 😁.....probably not. They go great with coffee or tea. The dough is difficult to work with but once you have oiled your hands, patting it to fit the baking pan becomes much easier. It is a twice baked cookie like many of the others I make on this site. To get a really crunchy bar, extend the second baking time until the bars are dry and hard like Biscotti.
Ingredients

• 1 cup soft butter
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• ¼ cup water
• ¼ cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon orange extract
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon white vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 large egg
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• ½ cup Durum Atta Flour
• 1 cup Scottish oatmeal
• ½ cup old-fashioned rolled oats (not instant or quick cooking)
• 1/2 cup flax meal
• 1/4 cup sesame seeds
• 1 1/2 cups dried cranberries
• ¾ cups finely chopped nuts

Instructions

1. Line a 13”x9”x 2” pan with parchment paper, leaving an overhang on all sides.
   
2. In a saucepan over low heat, dissolve the brown sugar in the water, mixing until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture is caramel colored. Do not allow to boil. At this stage, it will look like a thin syrup. Add the vinegar. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
3. Mix the flour, baking powder, salt, ground coriander, oats, oatmeal, flax meal, sesame seeds, dried fruit, and nuts in a large bowl
4. In a small bowl, cream the butter and white sugar until fluffy. Add the egg and orange extract and beat well. Add the dissolved brown sugar syrup and mix well.
5. Add the dry ingredients to the creamed butter, sugar and egg mixture. Mix until combined. You can also work the mixture with your hands like you would a dough. The dough will be quite crumbly, and difficult to work with. Let it rest so that the oats can soften a bit.
6. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
7. Put the dough into the prepared baking pan and flatten using your hands that have been well coated with vegetable oil, as well as a flexible spatula to flatten out the mixture.
   
8. Bake the mixture for 10 to 12 minutes, until golden brown. Remove from oven, and carefully lift the mixture from the pan using the parchment paper to do so. Place the slab and paper on a baking sheet, and cut into bars or squares using a sharp knife or cleaver.
   
   
   Let cool for 15 minutes, then put back in oven at 275 degrees Fahrenheit for one hour and 20 minutes, or until the bars have taken on a nice brown color, and are dry to touch. Remove from oven and allow to cool.