For whatever reason, I have this burning desire to take otherwise ‘normal’ recipes and turn them into spin-offs of my favourite desserts.
You might call this weird, but I call it totally normal…as long as I don’t look over my Recipes page all at once and then I start to think an intervention might be necessary.
My theory is that I am making up for lost time. After struggling with an eating disorder for 10 years, it is now time to have fun with food. Long gone are the days of eating the same 3 meals day in and day out and constantly feeling deprived. I like to have fun with food now, but at the same time, I want my food to work for me and leave me feeling my best.
This burning desire to recreate desserts is especially strong at breakfast time; although I will be the first to admit that I don’t care for something too sweet in the morning. Carrot Cake Oatmeal and Pumpkin Pie Overnight Oats are on my regular breakfast rotation and I feel like I am beating the system getting to eat such delicious food first thing in the morning. And who doesn’t like to beat the system?
Naturally, the next dessert on my breakfast hit list is Apple Pie Oatmeal. It took me a couple of trials, but I was blown away by the taste of my most recent attempt and I knew I had to share it with you on this blistery Winter morning.
Apple Pie Oatmeal
Yield
2 small bowls
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
A warm embrace on a cold winter day, this Apple Pie Oatmeal will remind you of delicious apple pie, but will leave you feeling energized and ready to tackle the day ahead. The leftovers (if there are any!) taste amazing chilled, too.
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup rolled oats (use certified gluten-free, if necessary)
- 1 large apple, peeled and chopped into 1/2-inch pieces (about 1 1/3 cups)
- 1 tablespoon chia seeds
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- Pinch fine sea salt
- 1 to 1 1/4 cups (250 to 310 mL) unsweetened almond milk, as needed
- 1 1/2 tablespoons (22 mL) pure maple syrup
- 1/2 cup (125 mL) unsweetened applesauce
- 1/2 teaspoon (2.5 mL) pure vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon (5 mL) fresh lemon juice (optional)
Suggested toppings:
- 2 tablespoons chopped walnuts
- Diced apples
- Coconut sugar
- Cinnamon and ground ginger
- Granola
- Coconut Whipped Cream
Directions
- In a medium sized pot over medium heat, whisk together the oats, apple, chia seeds, cinnamon, ginger, salt, milk, maple syrup, and applesauce until combined.
- Cook over medium heat for about 9 to 15 minutes, stirring often. When the mixture thickens and the oats soften, it is ready.
- Stir in the pure vanilla extract and lemon juice (if using).
- Pour into a dish and serve with your desired toppings.
Nutrition Information
(click to expand)
This recipe really excites me because not only did I go crazy over the taste, but I love recipes that are based around simple, plant-based foods. They leave me feeling energized!
Add the oats, peeled and chopped apple, chia seeds, unsweetened applesauce, Almond milk, cinnamon, ginger, pinch of kosher salt into a pot and whisk well.
Cook for about 8 minutes over medium heat.
The applesauce, chia seeds, and chopped apple really bulk up this oatmeal! It turns into a huge bowl, which is always a good thing.
Sprinkle with chopped walnuts, cinnamon, and a drizzle of maple syrup!
Swirl.
and dig in to one of the most comforting bowls of oatmeal I have ever tried.
I also made someZucchini Bread Oatmeal last week…
Mmm. Zucchini Bread.
It was quite delicious, but the recipe still needs some tweaking before I am ready to share it! I am really excited about this one though.
You might want to check out my Carrot Cake Oatmeal too.
Monday mentionable:
1. Check out my new Favourite Sweets list on the right hand sidebar…I will be updating it on a regular basis with my favourite sweet treats.
Have a great start to your week!
Oh man, you are killing me with these amazing and gorgeous recipes!
This one is pure, delicious love :)
we cook apples into our oatmeal almost all the time. good stuff!
Man, your oatmeals are SO creative! I am going to have to actually try one out instead of just constantly drooling over them.
P.S. I saw this music video this weekend and thought of your blog/your story. Check it out :) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_1-HJvhWKw
Love that! Thanks for sharing :) Really cool how they did the video too.
Mmmmm! My mouth is watering!
With regards to your zucchini oatmeal…..Chocolate Covered Katie does a baked oatmeal and she calls it “Boatmeal” – which I think is so funny! Just knowing I’m making “boatmeal,” makes me want to make boatmeal. lol
I love your blog. LOVE IT. I have 3 recipes of yours I am going to make tonight :) Can’t wait.
I want to try every recipe that you put on this one. I need my oatmeal to have a little something extra to make it more enjoyable. I can’t wait to see the zucchini bread recipe.
I love the creative oatmeal ideas you share. It’s so easy to fall into an oatmeal rut, and you inspire me not to have the same mix ins all the time!!! Have a great day.
Looks delish. I have oatmeal EVERY morning and I think chia seeds really add necessary volume. Keeps me full for hours!
Wow this is so weird.. I actually had a dream about apple pie oatmeal last night! looks incredible Ange and I could totally do with some right now! I hope you had a great weekend! :)
I eat this combo on a more than regular basis – I love the flavors together! I usually do a banana instead of the applesauce though – I might try the applesauce tomorrow!
Well, diced apples are my favorite add-in with oatmeal, so I think that jazzing it up more to be apple pie oatmeal would be right up my alley. I also enjoy having fun with food. Healthy does not equal boring!
I love me some apple pie oatmeal– made some the other day topped with almond butter :) To me, it’s better and WAY healthier than the real thing!
Great view on having fun with food I can relate to, especially after years of fearing it. This oatmeal looks creative an wonderful and something I might try for dinner since my time is so limited on work mornings. Thanks!
Oh the apple pie oatmeal looks delish! And so does the zuke bread spin off!
And this is the motto I live by: “but I love recipes that are based around simple, plant-based foods. They leave me feeling energized!”
YES!! I love your more elaborate recipes and photos; they are food as art. They inspire me. They make me want to be better and do better. They motivate me. But not every day is a day where I can be motivated to greatness :) Some days..
Most days…simple, easy, plant based is where it’s at. After all with a FT Job, FT Family to take care of….it’s the basics that get made and happen for me!
I think it’s just fantastic that you encourage all of us to have FUN with our food. Life’s too short to get all wrapped up in it. But it’s a challenge that many of us are or have faced. It’s just so nice to see so many people that share the same outlook on food, no matter what their history is with it.
I’m really interested in this zucchini bread oatmeal! I went to the dentist this morning, and the hygienist was telling me that the garden she had growing up produced hundreds of zucchinis each year. Of course her mom didn’t want any zucchini to go to waste, so she put zucchini in EVERYTHING! The recipes she was listing off were unreal. haha I never thought zucchini could be enjoyed in so many ways.
This looks aaaaamazing! I’d love to make it for dinner.
99.9% of my breakfasts includes somethin sweet&dessert-like, and include oats :)
Right not I’m into baked vanilla pear oats topped with blueberries+raspberries. with boost. haha.
I absolutely love your take on dessert for breakfast! I made a delicious orange scented barley pudding for breakfast the the other day…! I can’t wait to see your zucchini oats!
I make my own version of apple pie oats a lot and you’re right, it’s SO COMFORTING!