Oat Cakies -- if cookie and muffin had an oatmeal love child -- soft, gluten-free, and plant-based

I have an Almond Cow plant-based milk maker, thanks to their epic and very generous black Friday sale. I love this AC. I use it regularly. My favourite thick creamy milk that I make for my tea and coffee is a combination of coconut, hemp hearts, and pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds. It's very rich, very very creamy, and very very very wonderful. I turn the left over pulp into completely addicting spicy crackers with the addition of ground chia seeds, coconut flour, and liberal quantities of seasoning.

My kiddo adores chocolate oat milk. It's smooth,  creamy, and delicious. I have turned the leftover oat slurry pulp into soft oat cakies that are quick and easy to make.

They are not very sweet, because I was aiming for pleasant, not overly complicated, and simple tasting. The sort of thing you want when you are in the mood for something plain to go with a cup of tea.

oat cakie

delicious cranberry oat cake

When making oat milk, I use 1 cup of rolled oats, which I then process in the Almond Cow. The resulting pulp is 1 cup of oat slurry, which I then used as a base for this recipe. I have recreated making a slurry using 1/2 cup of oats and 1 cup of water, and it worked perfectly.

equipment needed:

blender (hand blender or jar blender)

measuring spoons

measuring cups

mixing bowl

mixing spoon

whisk

silicone baking mats or parchment paper

baking trays

oven

4 tbsp/2 oz scoop -- optional -- you can also scoop using a spoon. (I like the ease and the uniformity of using a scoop)

ingredients:

A)

1/2 cup quick cook oats

1 cup water

1/4 tsp xanthan gum

B)

1/4 tsp mountain salt

1 tsp vanilla

1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1/2 cup date sugar

C)

1 cup date shredded coconut 

1 cup large rolled oats flakes

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp cream of tartar

D)

mix-ins -- why not choose one (or two)?

1/2 cup chocolate chips/chocolate chunks

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1/2 cup raisins

 ...

whatever you like

directions:

1. preheat the oven to 345

2. blend the ingredients from part A) to make a slurry

3. in a mixing bowl, whisk together all the ingredient from part A) and B)

3. add in the ingredients from part C), and mix well. The batter should be thick enough to hold its form. If it's too runny, add more oats

4. if you are using mix-ins, you can add them now!!

5. scoop about 4 tbsp of batter per piece onto a silicone lined baking tray (or parchment paper lined baking tray)]

 I did 6 per tray, and this recipe made 10 total. If you add in 1/2 cup of mix-ins, it will make 12 pieces. )You can also scoop using a 1 oz or 2 tbsp scoop for small little cakies but you'll have to decrease the baking time. This will make twice as many.)

6. bake for 35-40 minutes at 345, or until browning nicely around the edges, and hold their shape well but are not too hard.

7. remove from the oven and cool

8. store in an airtight container in the fridge

baker's notes:

-This recipe will make 10 unless you use mix-ins, in which case it will make 11 or 12, depending on how much you add

-You can add in whatever you like that will go with oatmeal. Next time I think I will add some hemp-hearts, or maybe sunflower seeds and apple chunks

-if you are adding raisins and you want to spice things up, why not put in 1 tsp cinnamon and 1/2 tsp ginger?

-Date sugar is literally dehydrated and then powdered dates, so it is high in fibre and all kinds of minerals and micro-nutrients as well as being sweet. A pretty fabulous sweetener.

cranberry oat cake

after baking

before baking

The Gluten-Free Toast Loaf

It may not be adequately scientific, but migraines drove me to eliminate gluten, following my own research down the rabbit hole of chronic pain etc.

This journey into the bunny warren of bread-alternatives has definitely engendered more than its share of experiments. The main challenges were coming up with a cohesive symbiosis of ingredients that are soft enough to allow the loaf to rise, but aren't too wet inside once the baking is finished. I know there are an exhausting number of books out there in the Toronto Public Library on how to make bread without gluten, but here experimentation is the name of the game, the journey being just as important as the destination. Although the toast eaters in this home might declare the quality of the toast to be the pinnacle of their concern.

This option is very popular in our household right now, especially cut a little bit thick, and toasted with determination and thoroughness.

It's tricky to make bread that does that bread thing without gluten in it. However, there are some secret ingredients that help the cause. One of them is xanthan gum, one of them is starch like tapioca, and one of them is a bean flour like white bean flour or chickpea flour. In addition to that, some grain flour, rolled oats, etc. Tapioca starch adds wonderful springiness and sponginess, and also functions as a powerful prebiotic, nourishing your optimal intestinal flora as well as you. The combination of ingredients that I am sharing with you here is by no means the only option, but we've been quite happy with the texture and taste of this little toast loaf.

equipment needed:

loaf pan lined with parchment paper

kettle

measuring cups

measuring spoons

mixing bowls

mixing spoons

oven 

(personal hack: I use a small roaster oven -- the kind other people use for thanksgiving -- to rise and cook my bread loaves, especially when it's hot outside and I don't want to run the oven. You can often pick them up for dead cheap on kijiji)

ingredients:

A)
1 1/2 cups warm water (comfortable bath warm)
1/4 cup coconut sugar
1 tbsp bread yeast

B)
2 tsp xanthan gum
1 heaping tsp mountain salt
1/2 cup white bean flour (or chickpea flour)
1 cup sorghum flour (you can opt for other flours like millet or buckwheat, but may need a little less buckwheat as it absorbs more water)
1 cup quick oat flakes
3/4 cup tapioca starch


directions:

1. combine A), stir well, and set aside
2. in a separate mixing bowl, add all ingredients from B) and mix very very well until completely combined.
3. when A) has foamed up, add it to B), and mix well.
4. the dough should be sticky, but hold its form.
5. scoop it into a lined loaf pan, and smooth the surface with wet hands or a wet silicone scraper.
6. allow to rise. I do this in the oven with the light on, or in my little roaster oven, or on the counter in the sun
7. after it has risen for 3 hours, bake at 375 for 1 hour
8. when finished, remove from pan, and let cool on a cooling rack
9. store in an airtight wrap (we keep it in the fridge, but you do you)