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.

Low sodium baked oatmeal snack cake

 

This is a low sodium version of a sheet snack cake. It gives 12 servings with a calculated sodium of 53mgs per piece. As with any recipe, best to confirm this with your dietitian to make sure that it fits with your dietary needs. The nutrition calculator I use is https://www.verywellfit.com/recipe-nutrition-analyzer-4157076 but since there are many others, it's always best to confirm with a dietitian. In addition, they will also be able to provide the amounts of other ingredients included to see if this is right for you. One piece is filling enough for a snack.

4 egg whites

½  cup brown sugar

½ cup 100% Maple syrup

2 tsp low sodium baking powder

2 tsp cinnamon

1 teaspoon allspice

½ teaspoon nutmeg

½ cup arrowroot flour

¼ teaspoon cream of tartar

½ cup puffed millet cereal

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup low fat milk

1/2 stick (4 tbsp) unsalted butter

½ cup finely grated apple

1 cup pure, unsweetened apple juice

5 cups old fashioned oats

1/3 cup dried fruit (cranberries)

 

Instructions

1.       Line the bottom of a 9x13-inch non-stick baking dish with parchment paper. Grease the sides well.

2.       Mix the butter, maple syrup, sugar, dried fruit, and milk in a small saucepan and heat until butter is melted. Set aside to cool

3.       Whisk egg whites,  with cream of tartar until smooth.

4.       Add the cooled milk and melted butter to the egg mixture and mix until combined

5.       Add the milk mixture, apple juice, and apple to the toasted oats, millet, baking powder and flour. Stir until combined

6.       Transfer the oatmeal mixture to the baking dish, and smooth the top with the back of a spoon. As the oats absorb the liquid, it will level out and firm up. Refrigerate the mixture overnight.

7.       Bake in a 350 degree Fahrenheit oven for 40-45 minutes, until fully set

8.       Remove from the oven, cut into squares

9.       Baked oatmeal can be stored in refrigerator for up to 5 days, and re-heated in a microwave before serving. For freezing, I wrap each square in foil and place in a freezer safe ziploc bag. I defrost it overnight in the refrigerator then heat up in the microwave.