Doughy Snickerdoodle Oatmeal Breakfast Bake

Oh my goodness. This incredible bowl of deliciousness...I ate it for breakfast for a week straight. I kid you not. 

I stumbled upon it by accident actually. I was combining bits of several different oatmeal breakfasts/bakes that I like. The result? An incredibly doughy, custard-like oatmeal bake with a caramelized brown sugar crunch that made my mouth think I was eating a snickerdoodle cookie. I just about died and went to heaven. 

Do you like wet, doughy, gooey textures? Surely by now you don't even have to ask me. Home girl goes for brownie batter, raw cookie dough, underbaked goodies, puddings, bread puddings, etc. ANY day. However, I also really like having a crunch to go with it (remember how I put chips on my sandwiches?). Cue the caramelized brown sugar. It gives the oatmeal a really great sweet crunch. It's kinda like the crunchy top of a creme brulee. I don't know that I've actually had real creme brulee. But I imagine that's what the top of a creme brulee would taste like...

Now, you can't skip on the peanut butter. Because, PEANUT BUTTER! Oh how I love pb. And honestly, I like this hot or cold. But I'm a fan of most things cold. You do what suits you. If you serve it cold, it's really delicious with blueberries <3. Just a tip. 

So I thought I would update you all/enlighten you to what I've been learning about in my mindful eating book. I really believe applying the principles in this book could help SO many people with food and weight issues. Our culture is so caught up in "good" vs. "bad" food, the macro- and micro-nutrient content of foods, the timing of foods, the health benefits, etc. that we've completely lost our sense of enjoying our food and allowing it to nourish us. Here's an incredible quote from the book that really resonated with me and was able to articulate my thoughts in a way I never could:

"Finding the middle way means not clinging to any food and not hating any food. Don't go overboard with anything in either a positive way or negative way. Food is food. The rest is mind games."

"We've learned to choose our foods by the numbers (calories, carbs, fats, RDA's, price, whatever), relying more heavily on our reading and computational skills than upon our senses. We've lost all confidence in our sense of taste and smell, which can't detect the invisible macro- and micro-nutrients science has taught us to worry aobut, and which food processors have become adept at deceiving anyway...No wonder we have become, in the midst of our astounding abundance, the world's most anxious eaters."

"When we eat based upon the thoughts in the mind, our eating is usually based in worry. When the mind is fretting about "should eat" and "should not eat," our enjoyment of what is actually in our mouths evaporates." 

pg.46,47 of Mindful Eating by Jan Chozen Bays, MD

Are there issues with our food supply? You betcha. There are certainly things that need to change about our food system and food processing. But as we learn to eat intuitively (truly listening to our bodies--not eating whatever), our demands on the food supply will change, forcing our food producers to make changes. Or us to make changes in the way we buy and prepare foods. But instead of it being based on fear, it will be based on what our bodies are needing and craving. 

The book discusses the different types of hunger we have: eye, nose, mouth, stomach, cellular, mind, and heart. Learning to identify which hunger you're experiencing is essential for being able to satisfy that hunger. Only stomach and cellular hunger can be satisfied with food or drink, but the others can be met through different means. I think heart hunger (desire for emotional intimacy) is a huge one that impacts our culture. Unfortunately, we try finding satisfaction through food, a source that will never truly satisfy that hunger. 

So for a breakfast that will satisfy your mouth, stomach, and cellular hunger, give this snickerdoodle breakfast bake a try. And while you're at it, share that time with someone you love. It's a great way to satisfy that heart hunger too.

Let me know what your thoughts are on this post. Do you like my recaps on mindful eating? Have you tried out any of my recipes? 

Yield: 1

Author: Ashley Smith, RD

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Doughy Snickerdoodle Oatmeal Bake

Prep time: 5 MinCook time: 18 MinTotal time: 23 Min

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup old fashioned oats
• 5 Tbsp white whole wheat flour* (or oat flour for gluten free option)
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 3 Tbsp-4 Tbsp canned pumpkin (depending on how “doughy” you like things)
• 1/4 cup almond milk (or milk of choice)
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp brown sugar
• peanut butter, blueberries (optional, but not really optional)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix dry ingredients (except for brown sugar) and then add wet ingredients. Pour into a small oven safe bowl/dish and bake for 18-20 min.
2. Take out of oven and turn on oven broiler. Sprinkle 1 tsp of brown sugar on top and broil on high heat for 2 min. Take out of oven and let cool until at temperature you can eat. Top with peanut butter and devour or stick in fridge and enjoy later!!

Notes:

*If you don’t care for doughy textures, increase flour to 2-2.5 Tbsp instead of 1.5 Tbsp.

Breakfast...The Best Part of My Day

If you haven't noticed, I happen to like hosting parties/get-togethers. And I at these said parties, I really enjoy feeding my friends.  In college, I would have a group of friends over almost every Saturday morning for pancakes. We would have different sides with it each week, but the pancakes were the same. I was sort of known for my pancakes...it was my thang. 

Breakfast is my jam. I haven't met many a breakfast I didn't like. Biscuits, sausage, gravy, eggs, pancakes, waffles, muffins, bagels, cereal (oh my goodness, I could live on cereal), oatmeal, grits...wait, no grits. My mom used to feed us grits with a piece of kraft cheese melted in. How was that a good idea??? Yet, somehow I used to love it. Gross...But seriously, I really look forward to breakfast every day. That's why Isaac and I eat breakfast for dinner sometimes too. 

I tend to get focused on one breakfast item for a while. A few months ago it was oatmeal variations most days. Then I was hooked on scrambled eggs. Lately I've been on a sweets/carb kick. It's times like these that pancakes perfectly fit the sweet/carb craving. 

I discovered these pancakes in high school and have tweaked them over time. They are a great breakfast choice as they have fiber and carbohydrates from the whole wheat flour and oatmeal, healthy fat (think omega-3s) in the flax, protein in the greek yogurt and egg, and other additional goodies (various vitamins in the apple and pumpkin, aaaaand...antioxidants in the dark chocolate :-) ). 

I added the pumpkin maybe 2 years ago and have never looked back. It doesn't really change the taste much, but it makes the pancakes incredibly thick and keeps them from being dry. I add in some thinly chopped apple and dark chocolate chips, but feel free to add whatever you want--bananas, blueberries, pecan, etc. Sometimes my family will make a big batch of batter and divide it into smaller bowls. Everyone then puts their own mix-ins and cooks them on the griddle. The possibilities are endless!

Can I just point out the little pieces of apple in there??  

Yield: Serves 3-4

Author: Ashley Smith, RD

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Whole Wheat Pancakes

Thick, fluffy pancakes that are packed with nutrition that leaves you feeling full, satisfied, and energized.

Ingredients

• 1/2 C all-purpose flour
• 1/2 C whole wheat flour
• 1/4 C old fashioned oats
• 2 Tbsp ground flax seed
• 2 Tbsp brown sugar
• 1.5 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 C milk of choice
• 1/4 C Greek yogurt
• 1 egg
• 2 Tbsp canned pumpkin
• 1/3 C thinly chopped apple
• Optional: cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, dark chocolate chips, blueberries, chopped nuts

Instructions

1. Combine all of the dry ingredients and stir to mix. Add in wet ingredients and mix until combined and wet batter forms. Add in the apple and any other mix-ins. The batter will be thick (you want it to be), but if it is too thick, add 1 Tbsp water at a time. Pour ¼ C batter onto preheated skillet at medium heat. When the top bubbles and the bottom side is cooked, flip and cook additionally until it is cooked through. Top with your toppings of choice and enjoy!

Top with peanut butter....is there really any other way to eat pancakes??