Honey Oatmeal Cake Bars

 

These are sliced cake bars that are very filling as a mid-morning or afternoon snack. It's a type of "Dump" cake where all ingredients are dumped in the mixer bowl and whisked together. The toasted Buckwheat flour gives the cake a nice, nutty background note, and takes away the more "earthy" taste of "green" Buckwheat flour. Toast it in a wok or fry pan over medium heat until the flour begins to smell aromatic and nutty. 

1 cup all-purpose flour

½ cup buckwheat flour, toasted (toast in a wok until it starts to smell aromatic)

1 cup old fashioned oats

¾ cup brown sugar

¼ cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon low sodium baking powder

¼ teaspoon baking soda

Juice of 1 lemon

½ teaspoon salt (if not on sodium restricted diet)

1 teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon allspice

½ teaspoon nutmeg

¼ cup unsalted butter

¼ cup unsweetened applesauce

½ cup water

½ cup unsweetened apple juice

2 tablespoons honey

1 teaspoon vanilla

1-2 tablespoons oats

Blueberries for sprinkling

 

Line the bottom of a 13x9x2 inch baking pan with parchment paper. Grease and flour sides, set aside. “Dump” all ingredients into a mixer bowl. Mix at low speed until just blended, then high speed for 3 minutes. Pour into prepared baking pan. Sprinkle blueberries on top along with 1-2 tablespoons oats. Bake at 350 degrees F for 35-40 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes in pan before inverting and cutting into 16 pieces!

Almost Vegan Baked Oatmeal

 

This baked oatmeal is almost vegan and more like a pudding in texture. It's very moist and rich. The combination of rolled oats and steel cut oats keep you full for a couple of hours. It goes well with fresh fruit of your choice. The coconut milk mixture produces a nice custard topping to finish it off. It's a bit time consuming to prepare but well worth the effort.

1 1/2 cup Old Fashioned Rolled Oats + 1 tablespoon extra for sprinkling on top

1 -2 tablespoons oat bran for sprinkling on top

½ cup steel cut oats, soaked

1 tablespoon Arrowroot flour

1 tsp Baking Powder

1 tsp Ground Cinnamon

1/2 tsp Allspice

1/2 tsp Ground Nutmeg

½ teaspoon salt (if no sodium restriction)

2 cups unsweetened Apple Juice

1 large egg

1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce

1/2 cup dark brown sugar

2 tablespoons dark brown sugar for sprinkling over apple slices at bottom of dish

1/4 cup Butter + 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

1 apple (any kind) cored, peeled, or unpeeled. Cut half in slices, finely cube the other half

 

Custard Topping

1/4 cup coconut milk

1-2 tablespoon dark brown sugar (depends how decadent you want to make it)

½ teaspoon vanilla

 

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and line the bottom of a 9x9-inch baking dish with parchment paper. Make sure the baking dish has a depth of about 4". Grease all sides of the dish. Place sliced apples at bottom, sprinkle with 2 tablespoons brown sugar and 2 tablespoons melted butter. Set aside.

In a small bowl, combine rolled oats, Arrowroot flour, baking powder, salt (if using), and spices. Set aside.

Pour Boiling water over the steel cut oats and let soak for 5-10 minutes, drain and set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together apple juice, egg, applesauce, nut butter, brown sugar, and vanilla extract. Add oats mixture (rolled and soaked and drained steel cut) to the wet ingredients and mix to combine. Fold in cubed apples.

Transfer mixture to the prepared baking dish, sprinkle the top with oat bran and 1 tablespoon rolled oats, refrigerate overnight so all the liquid can be absorbed. The following morning, mix ¼ cup coconut milk, 1 tablespoon dark brown sugar and ½ teaspoon vanilla to make the sauce of the custard topping. Pour this over the top of the oats and bake until set, about 40 - 50 minutes. 

Let cool completely in the refrigerator so that all the liquid can be absorbed and the consistency is firm enough to slice and serve.

Pumpkin Apple Baked Oatmeal

 

This is a delicious combination of oats, apples, pumpkin and spices that are associated with a crisp Fall day. It's a great way to use up any leftover tinned pumpkin puree that you might have after making pies, cakes etc. The oatmeal goes well with stewed fruit or fresh fruit of your choosing.

The recipe is a very forgiving one and lends itself to customizing. It's almost like a "dump recipe" where you can use whatever you have on hand. I used a spice mixture of cinnamon, allspice and nutmeg, but others include, ginger, cloves, cardamom, or dried orange. 

2 cups rolled oats use certified gluten free if needed

2 Tablespoons Arrowroot flour

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon allspice

½ teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon salt (if not sodium restricted. Can be omitted)

1 teaspoon low sodium baking powder

1 cup pumpkin puree

1 1/4 cup liquid of choice (milk, dairy or non-dairy, Kefir, apple juice)

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

1/3 cup mixed maple syrup and honey

2 tablespoons dark brown sugar

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 medium apple of your choice

2 tablespoons water

 

Instructions

 

Preheat the oven to 375℉ degrees. Grease a 8×8 baking dish with butter, then line with two pieces of parchment paper, leaving an overhang on all sides

In a medium bowl, combine oats, arrowroot flour, spices,  and baking powder. Mix to combine.

In a small fry pan, bring the butter, brown sugar, water, and apples to a simmer, then cover and simmer until apples are partly cooked on low heat. Remove from heat and arrange the apples at the bottom of the baking dish. Reserve the liquid.

Whisk pumpkin puree, liquid you are using (I used a mixture of Kefir and apple juice), eggs, vanilla, and maple syrup/honey to bowl.

Mix the wet and dry ingredients together and pour into baking dish

Spread into the prepared baking dish. Let it sit for about 15 minutes so that the oats can absorb some of the liquid. Pour the reserved butter and brown sugar liquid over the top. Bake for 30-35 minutes. Oatmeal is done baking when it is puffed up on the edges, set in the middle and top is golden.

Let cool completely before slicing into 9 squares. Wrap each square individually in foil the put in a freezer bag if you are freezing.