Carrot Cake Baked Oatmeal (Vegan)

Makes 8 servings

Recipe from PlantYou 

Husband-Tested in Alice’s Kitchen

These baked oats are sooooo delicious.  Make a batch tonight so that you’ll have a great breakfast to look forward to all week.  I serve mine topped with Homemade Instant Pot Cashew Yogurt and whatever fruit/berries are in season.  

Ingredients

2 cups rolled oats

¾ cup oat flour

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ground ginger

1½ tsp baking powder

1½ cups grated carrot

2 cups unsweetened cashew milk or other plant milk (I use soy milk.)

½ cup unsweetened vegan yogurt 

⅓ cup maple syrup

1 tsp vanilla extract

¼ cup crushed walnuts or pecans plus more for topping, if desired

Cashew Cream Cheese Icing (Optional) I just topped mine with plain yogurt each morning.

1 cup cashews unsalted

1 cup unsweetened coconut yogurt

½  lemon, zested and juiced

¼  cup maple syrup

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 375F and grease or line a 9 x 13 baking dish with parchment paper.

Add all of the dry ingredients apart from the walnuts to the baking dish, including the oats, oat flour, baking powder, cinnamon and ginger. Mix. Then add the wet ingredients, including the carrot, yogurt, maple syrup, plant milk and vanilla. Stir until fully combined.

Top with crushed walnuts if desired, and place in the oven for 50 to 55 minutes until cooked through.

While the baked oatmeal cooks, you can make the optional cashew cream cheese icing by adding all listed ingredients to a high speed blender or food processor. Combine until smooth, and ice the top of the oatmeal once cooled. Store the oatmeal in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.

Notes

If you don't have oat flour, you make your own in a food processor or coffee grinder. Simply grind some oats until you get a fine flour.

For a nut-free version, you can use sunflower or pumpkin seeds. As for the frosting, you can blend up some plain tofu instead of the cashews.

It's possible to make a similar baked oatmeal dish using zucchini. Bear in mind, zucchini has a higher water content, so you will need to squeeze the moisture out before adding zucchini into the pan. 

Nutrition

Calories: 353.2kcal | Carbohydrates: 51.1g | Protein: 9.7g | Fat: 13.4g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4.2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5.3g | Sodium: 190.8mg | Potassium: 392.2mg | Fiber: 5.3g | Sugar: 19.3g | Vitamin A: 4014.7IU | Vitamin C: 14.3mg | Calcium: 243.9mg | Iron: 2.8mg