Oatmeal Mini-Cakes for Breakfast

Yep. Cake for breakfast. That's how I roll....well, not really. I'm all about being healthy and passing on that lifestyle to my kids! This breakfast recipe feels like you're cheating and eating CAKE for breakfast but it is oh.so.healthy for you - and suuuupppeeer easy to boot. *I just typed 'to boot'. Ugh. Turning in my cool card....* 

I was inspired by a pin I found on Pinterest here and tweaked it just a tad to fit my liking - here's my version of it...

**like those little feet on the top of the pic? It's really not MY baby - just a cute stuffed bear they were playing with**

Oatmeal Mini-Cakes 
*Adapted from ChocolateCoveredKatie

- 2.5 cups oats (I like old-fashioned)
- 1 1/4 c mashed banana (the brown-er the better!)
- 5 Tbsp sugar or sweetener of choice (honey, agave, etc)
- 1 1/3 cup water
- 2 Tbsp oil (veg or coconut)
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/4 cup chocolate chip (or nuts, raisins, dried fruit, etc...)
- 2 Tbsp water + 1 tsp baking soda

I prep mine the night before and store it in the fridge - this way the oats can soak up all the yummy goodness and they become easier to digest...and it totally cuts breakfast prep in the morning! 

In a bowl combine banana, sugar, oil and vanilla. Add in oats and mix well - Add in water and stir together.

Put a cover (plastic wrap, press-n-seal, etc..) and pop in the fridge over night.

In the morning -- 

Preheat oven to 350* and prepare a 12-cup muffin tin ready (I like to use paper liners and SPRAY them)

Take your bowl out and notice most of the liquid is gone (soaked into the oats). Mix about 2 Tb water with 1tsp baking soda and ADD into your big bowl. Mix well.

At this point you can mix in your choice of add-ins! I normally pour 2-3 muffins without chocolate for my littlest guy then mix my chips in for the rest. Fill up your muffin tin and pop in the oven.

BAKE 18-21 min depending on your oven. They should puff up a tad and smell amazing.

**I like to eat mine with a fork...it's seriously like CAKE! Mmmmm.

I make these probably twice a week and we eat the leftovers the next morning warmed in the microwave.

Kids review? THUMBS UP! They love 'em!

Baby review? Well, I went to take the pic and it was gone. Like...he inhaled it in .5 seconds. I take that as a GREAT review! 

One time I made these I was lacking in the banana department *gasp!* so I used the banana I had and applesauce for the rest to get a grand total of 1+1/4 cup. Those were delish! I'll probably do that again on purpose. Mmmm.

Save yourself some time tomorrow morning and whip up the batter for these tonight -- you won't be disappointed! I know what I'll be making tonight for tomorrow's breakfast...CAKE! Well, sorta. My healthy cake:)

What do you do...

...when you're in the middle of baking and realize you're out of an ingredient you need?? I tend to laugh then turn to my handy internet and see what I can use instead! Classic example happened just last night...

...Ethan and I were making Pumpkin Bread from a new recipe. We were both oh-so-excited and we got started. We got the dry ingredients all mixed together and then to mix the sugars and eggs...uh oh. We needed 3 cups of white sugar and we only had 2.5 C - no fear we shall use brown sugar to get to our 3 Cups! Pass me the eggs Ethan...what? we only have 1? ugh. we need two. Hello mr. google - you say I can use applesauce and baking powder instead of an egg? sure! Moving right along...time for the oil - *please let there be 1 C left please* nope. ok....let's use olive oil to make up the difference! Mix everything together - thankfully I actually had a can of pumpkin! Into the oven you go! Now the suspense....

(about 50 minutes later) hmmm sure smells good!

Taste test results: THE BEST PUMPKIN BREAD EVER! SUCCESS!

Here's the original recipe and then in color what I had to substitute:

Mrs. Claus's Old-Fashioned Pumpkin Bread
*found on duncanhines.com/recipes/muffins-loaves

3 Cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground nutmeg
3 Cups granulated sugar (2.5 C sugar + 1/2 C brown sugar)
1 Cup oil (1/2 C veg. oil + 1/2 C olive oil)
2 eggs (1 egg + 1/2 C unsweetened applesauce + 1/2 tsp baking powder)
1 (15-16 oz) can solid-pack pumpkin

Baking Instructions:
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 8 x 4 loaf pans (I did one loaf and 12 muffins)
In a bowl, sift flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and nutmeg. Set aside.
In a large bowl, combine sugar and oil. Stir in eggs, mixing well.
Stir in pumpkin. Add flour mixture, stirring just until all is evenly moistened.
Pour batter evenly into pans and bake 45-60 minutes (or 18 min for muffins) until toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Loosen loaves from sides of pan with a knife. Cool in pan 10 minutes, then remove and cool completely on racks. (I lined mine with parchment paper so it came out easily)

In conclusion: After all my substitutions I was a little skeptical if this bread would work out....but it did! And far past my expectations..it was delicious!