Blueberry Muffin Oatmeal Cake

This rainy start to spring has put a damper on my mood recently (bad pun, no apologies) and I’ve been wishing and hoping that the sun will break through and May flowers will bloom even when it’s supposed to be April showers. After all, March went out like a lion instead of a lamb, the weather should mix it up a little! To get in the spirit of spring, I’ve been making meals with lots of spring fruits and veggies like asparagus, artichokes, baby lettuces and berries. Since I already have classically autumn apple cinnamon and pumpkin spice oatmeal cakes, I came up with a lovely Blueberry Muffin Oatmeal Cake for this season. It’s a little cakier than my other oatmeal cakes, and worthy of the muffin name for that reason. Go ahead, whip one up and take a bite bursting with berries!

 

Ingredients:

Essential ingredients

1/2 cup gluten-free quick-cooking oats (using these instead of rolled oats results in more of a muffin-y texture – I went with Chex Gluten Free quick-cooking oats)

1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce

2 Tbsp Greek yogurt – plain, vanilla or blueberry

1 egg white (substitute applesauce if desired)

1/4 cup fresh blueberries

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp brown sugar

Pinch salt

For topping: 2 tsp each of Greek yogurt, cream cheese, and blueberry jam or preserves

For ramekin: 1 tsp butter (can substitute olive oil or cooking spray)

 

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Gluten Free Blueberry Muffin Oatmeal Cake

This rainy start to spring has put a damper on my mood recently (bad pun, no apologies) and I’ve been wishing and hoping that the sun will break through and May flowers will bloom even when it’s supposed to be April showers. After all, March went out like a lion instead of a lamb, the weather should mix it up a little! To get in the spirit of spring, I’ve been making meals with lots of spring fruits and veggies like asparagus, artichokes, baby lettuces and berries. 

 

 

PB&J Baked Oatmeal Cake

I love peanut butter and jelly. And unlike most Americans, I’ve had to defend that love vociferously. When I was at university in Oxford, I remember one of the first weird looks I ever got for being a Yankee was when I was talking about how much I loved PB&J as a kid, and how even with a wheat allergy, I’d try to eat it on rice cakes or in oatmeal or simply spooned straight from the jar. At first, I thought the confusion was simple; in England, jelly is used most often to refer to the mint jelly eaten with lamb, or what we call Jell-O. They call fruit jam or preserves, well, jam or preserves – which we also use. But even that sounded a bit strange to my friends. After months, I coaxed a few into trying the combination on their morning toast, and they were hooked…but in the process I found myself in a position that would become all too familiar over the next few years, that of the explainer and defender of American food. I even wrote an article about it on my American Tongue blog at the student newspaper, Cherwell. Which was odd, considering I definitely did not eat the typical ‘American diet’ they’d heard horrors of! There are some things about American food I’ll never be able to explain, but PB&J is not one of them.

That said, this delicious little cake is a new twist on an old favorite – a peanut butter baked oatmeal cake with a smear of blueberry jam on top. Warm and comforting on this chilly winter morning, it’s a wonderful way to start the day. Try it paired with a mug of blueberry coffee and some fresh blueberries on the side, and see for yourself!

 

Ingredients:

1/2 cup gluten-free rolled oats

1-2 Tbsp peanut butter (I used Peanut Butter & Co Smooth Operator)

Peanut butter oatmeal cake with a delicious crust…

1/4 cup applesauce

1/4 cup milk of choice (I used So Delicious Vanilla Coconut Milk)

1 Tbsp Greek yogurt (I recommend using 2% or full fat for the creaminess)

1 Tbsp blueberry preserves (you can also use raspberry or your favorite flavor)

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp brown sugar

Pinch salt

For ramekin: 1 tsp butter (can substitute olive oil or cooking spray)

 

 

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

…topped with preserves for a PB&J treat!

2. Combine all dry ingredients in a small bowl, then add in wet ingredients and mix well.

3. Melt butter in 1-cup (8 ounce) ramekin to coat inner surface. (You can also use olive oil or cooking spray, but I found that butter worked really well in this recipe to give the cake a yummy buttery crust).

4. Bake at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 minutes, then set oven to high broil for an additional 5 minutes.

5. Use a knife to carefully pry the edges of the cake from the ramekin (easy as long as it was greased well!) and flip upside down into a dish.

6. Top with blueberry preserves. Enjoy!

 

 

What’s your favorite way to enjoy PB&J? Did you ever find yourself trying to explain how awesome it is to people who have never heard of putting them together?

 

 

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