Black Forest Oatcakes...and my blog's 2nd birthday!

Two years. TWO YEARS! Considering I've been running this blog during the two most challenging years of my life (student teaching/senior year, my year of service in Newark, and my first year of teaching in NYC), it's a pretty big deal that I've managed to maintain this blog through it all. To celebrate, I made oatcakes:

But first, let me indulge in my nostalgia. Three fantastic things have happened since the Oatmeal Artist's first birthday.

1. I began my partnership with Country Choice Organic, which has completely changed my life. 
2. I began the Oatmeal Enthusiast series, which showed me that there are SO MANY PEOPLE that eat oatmeal every single morning, just like me.
3. The #oatmealartist hashtag began on Instagram, which always gives me a nice ego boost whenever I'm feeling down. As of right now, there's over 2,000 pictures on Instagram with the #oatmealartist tag. So cool!

Running this blog is absolutely a second job. It takes a deep investment of time and energy, which is pretty significant when you consider my first job (teaching) requires over 80+ hours a week of my time. If YOU all didn't make it so satisfying (by leaving me comments, sharing my Facebook posts, and tagging your Instagram photos), I'm not sure if I would have enough energy to keep it up. So thank you. :)

Now, as for these oatcakes...

I put off this recipe off for two reasons: they're a ton of work, and I was unsure of what ingredients to use. I didn't want them to taste like bananas, but I haven't had much success using other "flavorless" items. Then, I had my breakthrough, and it came just in time for my blog's birthday (and I'm more willing to put in the extra work for a special occasion!). These oatcakes contain a secret ingredient...

Beets. I thought about all the people using beets to make red velvet pancakes, and I thought...why not?

Now, I will admit that I could taste a hint of beets when I was eating them, but they kind of complemented the cherry flavor, so it wasn't off-putting in the slightest. I could only imagine it being a problem if you have a strong dislike of beets and throw your arms up if you even get a whiff of it. :)

Black Forest Oatcakes

by The Oatmeal Artist

Prep Time: 10 min

Cook Time: 10 min

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Ingredients (serves 1)

For oatcakes

• 1/2 cup milk of choice (I used Silk unsweetened organic soy milk)
• 1/4 tsp apple cider vinegar, or lemon juice
• 2/3 cup quick or rolled oats (I use Country Choice Organic)
• 1 small roasted beet (I used Trader Joe's)
• 5 tsp cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp cherry jam
• 1/2 rounded tsp baking powder
• pinch of salt

For serving

• 1 serving coconut yogurt or coconut flavored yogurt (I used coconut-flavored Almond Dream)
• Cherry jam (can use another berry flavor if you can't find cherry)
• Shredded coconut or coconut chips (I toasted mine)

Instructions

1. Combine first two ingredients in a small bowl or cup and let sit for ten minutes.
2. Put all pancake ingredients (including milk mixture) in a blender and blend until smooth. Add extra liquid if necessary (just a tsp or so at a time). It should have the consistency of paint. :)
3. Heat a griddle pan over medium low heat.
4. When griddle pan is ready, spray with nonstick cooking spray (it only needs a little bit!), and use a large spoon or a small scoop to pour pancakes onto the griddle. I made small pancakes, so I used a large soup spoon, and it worked perfectly. Generally, don't go any bigger than 1/4 a cup.
5. When bubbles have formed at the top of the pancake, flip over and cook for another minute. Repeat until all the batter has been used!
6. To prepare the Black Forest Oatcakes, layer one oatcake on a plate. Spread a layer of cherry jam, and then a layer of coconut yogurt. Add another oatcake and repeat until all is used up. At the top, spread one more layer of cherry jam and coconut yogurt, and sprinkle the shredded coconut or coconut chips on top.

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**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!