Receta Maple Oat Cakes: Baking with Sammy and Alex

by Laura Tabacca

I can tell it’s fall because the viruses are just not stopping around here. Which is relevant because I am soooo behind and that is why I am only now getting around to posting about these oat cakes, which I made with both girls on Labor Day (!), and which sustained me through the first round of viruses 2 weeks ago. And I am a bad mom because I forgot to take any pictures of the girls–or even the oat cakes actually. These pictures are from the second batch of oat cakes, which I made immediately after running out of the first batch (I am telling you they were an absolute godsend when I was sick–slightly sweet, starchy , full of healthy grains, the perfect sick food). I have actually run out again already and am contemplating making more. As much as I love my oatmeal, the ease of grabbing one of these oat cakes as I run out the door to take Alex to school is absolutely invaluable.

These cakes, which I slightly adapted from Heidi Swanson’s fabulous Super Natural Every Day, look like muffins but should not be confused with muffins. To be frank, they are much healthier and they taste it.They do not have the tender cakiness of a muffin; instead they are sturdy, chewy, a little drier, slightly sweet. The first bite threw me off, I won’t lie, but by the last bite I was hooked.

These oat cakes are a great baking project with your children, despite the stovetop step of melting the sugars and fats together. The dry components are fun to scoop, dump and mix, and melted fats are always easier to stir in by hand than solid fats. I chose to sprinkle coarse sugar on top of my cakes (I can’t be all healthy all the time!), and the kids had fun with that step as well.

Maple Oat Cakes

Closely adapted from Heidi Swanson

• 3 cups (300 g) old fashioned rolled oats
• 1 cup (112 g) white whole wheat flour
• 1 cup (112 g) spelt flour
• 1/2 t baking powder
• 2 t fine grained sea salt
• 2 T chia seeds
• 2 T ground flax seeds
• 3/4 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (I always prefer pecans)
• 1/3 cup (70 g) extra virgin coconut oil
• 1/3 cup (85 g) unsalted butter
• 3/4 cup maple syrup
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar, natural cane if possible
• 1 t vanilla extract
• 1 t natural maple extract
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• coarse sugar for sanding

Preheat the oven to 325 F, and place the rack in the top third of the oven. Grease a 12 cup muffin pan (do not use paper liners). Set aside.

Whisk together the flours, oats, baking powder, salt, ground flax, chia seeds, and walnuts or pecans. Set aside.

Melt the butter and coconut oil over low heat on the stove. Add the maple syrup and sugar and whisk together. Do not let the mixture get super hot. Remove the melted mixture from the stovetop and mix in the vanilla and maple extract. Let it cool until you can dip a finger into it without it hurting. Pour over the oat and flour mixture and mix gently. Add the eggs and mix quickly but gently until it is thoroughly mixed.

Scoop the mixture into the muffin cups–use all of it, it will come close to filling the cups. Sprinkle the coarse sugar over the dough. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until the cakes are golden all over and deeply golden at the edges. Let cool for 5 minutes, and then turn out onto a cooling rack to cool completely–if necessary, run a knife around the edges of the cakes to loosen them. The oat cakes will keep for a week in a sealed container.