Oatcakes

Never had an oatcake? Neither had I. Until I realized that this recipe by Heidi Swanson from her new book Super Natural Everyday would use up multiple strange and random ingredients in my pretend pantry (pretend because it's only a few shelves above my sink). I recognize that it's probably not normal to actually have spelt flour, coconut oil, and flax meal (although Heidi calls for seeds) just waiting to be used. But that's what months of experimentation sometimes lead to.

So oatcakes. This is how you make your morning oatmeal portable. Because they're basically little cakes made up of rolled oats and just enough batter to bind the oats together. In the spirit of cleaning out the pantry, I will admit that I didn't have any maple syrup so I subbed in the last of my molasses thinned out with some water.

These aren't particularly sweet, but they are a really great afternoon snack or pre-workout energy boost. And so much better than buying a preservative-laden bar for such things. A little on the dry side, I will admit. But then, that's kind of the nature of oats. Just eat one along with your afternoon coffee break.

Oatcakes
Adopted from Heidi Swanson's Super Natural Every Day

300 grams rolled oats
225 grams spelt flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons salt
45 grams flax meal
1 cup chopped walnuts
70 grams coconut oil
1/3 cup unsalted butter, cut into chunks
1/4 cup molasses whisked with 1/2 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
2 large eggs, beaten

Oven preheated to 325F. Grease a 12-cup muffin tin, or use muffin liners.

In a large bowl, whisk together the oats, flour, baking powder, salt, flax meal and walnuts. Set aside.

In a heavy saucepan, melt the coconut oil, butter, molasses/water mixture and sugar over low heat. The sugar should dissolve and the butter should just melt, but don't overheat the mixture because we don't want it to cook the egg when they're combined.

Pour the coconut oil mixture over the dry ingredients and fold them together with a fork until just moistened. Add the beaten egg and stir until the ingredients start to hold together. Spoon the dough evenly into the muffin tin. Bake for 25-30 minutes until the edges are a deep gold color.

Remove from the oven and let cool for a moment before removing the oatcakes to a cooling rack.

You might have some extra dough, as I did. If that happens, once the oatcakes come out of the oven and are on the cooling rack, run the muffin tin under some cold water to cool it down and dry it with a towel. Re-grease a few extra cups and spoon the extra batter into them. Fill the empty cups about 3/4 full with water so they don't warp when you bake it. Return the tin to the oven and bake again.