Saturday, September 10, 2016

Apple Cranberry Oat Dessert Or "Fall is Coming!"

Hello, everybody! The Fresh Pioneer is back with a delicious Fall recipe. And yes, I know it's not quite Fall yet but it's my favorite season so I celebrate it year round. Sort of like those people who have Christmas trees up all year!
 So, a giant melon from our garden. We had a lot of baby cantaloupe this year, but then this bad boy emerged. Inside it was green-peach and tasted like a honeydew. We don't know what it was but we love volunteers!
 I tried to recreate the rainbow since a friend pointed out that it was in the wrong order... but where is the blue food??

So, let's get to the Apple Cranberry Oat dessert, shall we? The person who sent it to me jokingly said that it "didn't know whether it was a healthy snack or a dessert". It was true. The original called for 1.5 cups of quick oats, marshmallows, 1/2 cup of sugar AND flax seed. Hmmmm... I decided to make it 2 cups of regular rolled oats, lowered the sugar, cut out the flax seed (because I didn't have any), added some walnuts and then put a few marshmallows on for the kids who thought I was ruining the recipe.

Ingredients(my version):

2 c rolled oats
1 tsp baking powder
3 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup brown sugar
3 tbs honey
2 cups milk
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup cranberries (I used dried but fresh would be fine, too)
2 large apples

 Unbaked, it didn't look super appetizing.

Mix the oats, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and brown sugar together. Set aside. Mix the honey, milk, egg, vanilla together and then mix with the dry ingredients. Fold in the cranberries and apples. Put into a prewarmed over (375F) and bake for 30 minutes.
 The walnut version. I added a little more honey to this batch and cut the sugar again by about 1/4 cup.
 Mmmmmm. Marshmallows.
 Out of the oven! I was afraid it was going to be dry with all those oats but it was perfect. Like a warm, fragrant, honey-sweet breakfast bar.
My 13 year old son's plate. He added some fresh apples and almonds so it would look healthier. Moms are not fooled!
So, the verdict was.... definitely a winner of a recipe! Bonus: my entire house smells delicious.

Have a wonderful weekend! We're off to the Gem and Mineral Show. It's been a tradition since our kids were babies. The county fair was last week, and the week before was our city shindig, so we're feeling quite festive. :D

Be sure to stop by my author pages at Mary Jane Hathaway and Virginia Carmichael (cover reveals coming soooooon!), or my blog at The Things That Last. Until next time!

12 comments:

  1. This looks marvelous! I'm so excited when fall fruits and oats combine to make amazingly delicious combos... Why is it that lemon anoints the spring and apples pair perfectly with fall? Is it a habitual thing or is it meant to be that way?

    I don't care, I'm loving the thought of this! Thank you, Mary Jane... and laughing at the teen plate. :)

    Hoping you're enjoying a cooling out there... Ours looks like it's coming next week, and we'll be grabbing sweaters and whining... (or not, LOL!)

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    1. You know, we've had a strange end of summer. It turned chilly at night a week ago, but then it got warm again. It's almost 9PM and and 72F so I'm not sure what's going on!

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  2. Oh, I can just imagine how amazing your house smells. Don't mind me, I'll just sit in the corner and inhale. :)

    This does look delicious. It sort of reminds me of my favorite blueberry oat cereal, but mine doesn't have marshmallows. :)

    Have fun at the gem and mineral show!

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    1. I think the marshmallows are to lure in people who don't like healthy oats! It's such a funny recipe. I don't think it knows what it wants to be!

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  3. Love combination of apples and cranberry -- haven't done that before. And oats in anything baked is divine. I'll definitely try this...wonder if I could substitute maple syrup for the honey? I'll have to look into that.

    I LOVE fall the best and moistest so I am super jazzed that it is finally here. We had nasty, stinkin' ol' heat and humidity all week but it's breaking today and then we're looking ahead to cold nights and warmish days. Woot.

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    1. You know, there was a part of the recipe I skipped and it was to drizzle maple syrup over it but I thought that was overkill with the marshmallows.

      My favorite season!!

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  4. This looks so good! But I would do the marshmallow-free version. :) I laughed that the kids were leaning toward the healthier version. You've raised them well! :)

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    1. Haha! I think their purists. Marshmallows are for s'mores!

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  5. Sounds Yummy. Never thought of marshmallows on top. Interesting. Will have to try it. smile

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    1. Let us know what you think? I skipped them, myself. But I'm not a fan of marshmallows at the best of times. :)

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  6. This looks like a great breakfast/snack/dessert, and I love how you tweaked it! I'll have to try it and add in some tweaking of my own. :)

    We had some fall weather last week, but then today's high is 89°. But no worries - tomorrow's high is 59°! Yes, it's the change of the seasons in the high plains.

    Fall will come, don't worry!

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    1. Ha! I love those temperature changes. My rule of thumb, no matter how warm it is for however long, by Halloween night we're bundled up and wearing gloves. It's always in the 30s or lower by then. So, when they kids start planning costumes in Sept, I remind them that it will be COLD.

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