What are your thoughts on sugar?
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Personally, I go out of my way to avoid sugar, especially when it's unnecessary or in large amounts (or both). I find that sugar not only rips my stomach apart, but makes my teeth feel gross and my tastebuds overwhelmed. I've learned to appreciate subtle sweetness (like the caramelization of roasted broccoli, for example) far more than the teeth-rotting sweetness of Mountain Dew (yuck).
For this reason, it took me awhile to figure out an approach to this recipe: chocolate chip cookie. It's a hard flavor to master without brown sugar. Have you ever seen a chocolate chip cookie recipe that didn't include brown sugar? It's like making an omelette without eggs!
I made a bold move and used molasses instead. It may not sound that bold since brown sugar essentially IS molasses, but the first time I tried it, I ended up with molasses cookies with chocolate chips. Yes, they were disgusting! Not one to give up easily, I tried again, this time using a significantly smaller amount. The result? Perfection.
**You can also find hundreds of other oatmeal recipes (as well as tons of other meatless recipes) on my Pinterest account! You can also like The Oatmeal Artist on Facebook. Thanks!
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For this reason, it took me awhile to figure out an approach to this recipe: chocolate chip cookie. It's a hard flavor to master without brown sugar. Have you ever seen a chocolate chip cookie recipe that didn't include brown sugar? It's like making an omelette without eggs!
Chocolate Chip Cookie Baked Oatmeal
by
Prep Time: 5 min
Cook Time: 25 min
Ingredients (serves 1)
- 1/2 cup rolled oats (I use Country Choice Organic)
- 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- pinch of salt
- 1/3 cup milk of choice
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- scant 1/8 tsp molasses (I use Blackstrap)
- 1 tsp maple syrup (or more)
- handful of semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a single-serving ramekin with nonstick cooking spray.
- In a small bowl, mix oats, baking powder and soda, and salt until combined.
- In a medium-sized bowl, mix together milk, vanilla extract, molasses, and maple syrup.
- Add dry ingredients to mix ingredients and stir until combined.
- Gently stir in chocolate chips.
- Pour into the prepared ramekin. Bake for 18-22 minutes.
I usually avoid sugar. I find maple or agave syrup, honey, stevia or even sweetener much more better.
ReplyDeleteAnyway.
Your oatmeal looks and probably tastes heavenly :)
I'm a big honey fan (I love buying it from farmers markets). I also found a great maple syrup and agave blend at Trader Joes (much more affordable than straight maple syrup!).
DeleteThis looks delicious! I totally avoid white sugar, but lately have started to have reservations about stevia. Stevia in its natural form is green, making me wonder just how much processing it goes through?
ReplyDeleteI'm very much anti-artificial sweeteners. I don't care how "natural" stevia is. Anything that's zero-calorie creeps me out! I had a Splenda addiction for several years, and I'm never going back to that! I actually suffered intense migraines for a few weeks after cutting artificial sweeteners from my diet. The chemicals in that crap are unreal.
DeleteAhem, but anyway... :) Thanks for commenting!
I keep a stevia plant in my window box, when I get a nice branch on it I cut it, hang it, dry it, and my husband crushes it up in his coffee =)
DeleteLooks like heaven! Gotta try that! I too was addicted to Splenda. I can't believe how much of the stuff I ingested! YUCK!!
ReplyDeleteCongrats for breaking the addiction! :)
DeleteGive palm/coconut sugar a try. Low GI and great for getting that brown sugar taste!
ReplyDeleteIsn't it really expensive? :/
DeleteI actually prefer chopping up a bar of 70 or 80% dark chocolate into small pieces than using chocolate chips. A little more work, but less sugar and more antioxidants :)
ReplyDeleteThis is seriously so good... I've made it multiple times as a late night study treat. Primetime.
ReplyDeleteIs there anything I can use to replace the molasses?
ReplyDeleteAlso, have you tried to bake any of your "baked oatmeal" recipes in cookie form, and if so has it worked out? I know the two ingredient cookie is all the rage right now, but bananas and instant oatmeal can only give you so much variety.
I love this, but I tweaked it a bit to suit me. I omitted the baking soda because I couldn't find mine (how does it disappear? idk but it did...LOL). I added cinnamon and used brown sugar instead of molasses and maple syrup (2 TBSP). I also added chopped pecans and used dark chocolate chips.
ReplyDeleteIf I wanted to make a big batch of this in an 8x8 pan would I just quadruple the ingredients? I'm wondering because the baked pumpkin pie oatmeal didn't follow that rule for the big batch :) Thanks!
ReplyDeleteYes...the trick is to use less liquid than you think you will, and then slowly add more a tablespoon at a time until you think it's the right consistency. The liquid is really the only thing that doesn't translate perfectly in the conversion to a big batch.
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