Stuffed oatmeal bites

Sometimes creativity involved a long process of iterating on an idea, refining it until it becomes something new. Sometimes, it's as quick as "oh no, my toddler stole that snack right out of my hand, I must recreate it tonight!" 

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This is a story of the latter. I got a care package of single serving snacks from work, which the kids quickly raided for what they saw as the good stuff. I eyed a nice oatmeal cookie that felt soft and light yet creamy and it talked about being apple pie stuffed, yes please! As I finally sat down to enjoy it, the toddler perks up and asks for a bite, then another, then she just takes the rest. Then I thought of these banana oatmeal bars I made recently and they seemed like the perfect candidate to adapt in recreating the oatmeal cookie.

First, I soaked some dried blueberries in hot water - I wanted a fruity filling but didn't want to invest the time to cook down apples for a proper pie-like filling. I'll probably revisit this later and post an update with results. Then I mixed all the ingredients together, it's as easy as that - banana for creaminess, nut flours as both binders and earthy notes, a dash of maple and vanilla for flavor and flax+chia seeds for texture. The cinnamon and cardamon recreated the apple pie aromas throughout, you can add some nutmeg or allspice instead of the cardamom if you prefer. A dash of salt is essential for any baked good, don't leave that out! 

Preheat the oven to 350F and prepare a mini muffin tin - I wasn't sure how sticky these would get so after spraying each cavity thoroughly with cooking spray I also put a strip of parchment like handles to help lift them out after baking, as you can see in the picture. Use a cookie scoop to measure out even amounts of the mix in the muffin tin, then use the back of a spoon to press it down to fill the bottom snugly. Then, use a small spoon or round measuring cup to create a small dimple for the filling, it makes it easier to seal it in the middle later.

Drain and place the rehydrated blueberries in each of the cups. I also used some left over poppyseed filling in a few of mine just to see how it works (it does! it's delightful). You can use any fruit you enjoy for this or even chocolate ganache if that's the way you're inclined to go - I'd refrigerate the the ganache after this step to harden a bit before topping with the remaining mix.

The remaining oatmeal mix turned out to be exactly 12 more cookie dough scoops, perfect for measuring out equal amounts for the top of the mini muffins! Press down with the back of a spoon again to seal all the edges and fill the cup snugly. Blueberries won't leak out, but the results are so much nicer if they're well moulded together.

Bake these in the preheated oven for 12-15 minutes until set. After they come out of the oven, let them sit in the pan for a few minutes to cool slightly and firm up enough to handle, then use the parchment handles to pull them gently from the tin. Let cool completely on a rack to prevent condensation. Look how beautiful these turned out! They make great portable snacks, or put a couple together with some yogurt and fresh fruit for a fabulous breakfast option.

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Stuffed Oatmeal Bites

(Makes 12 mini oatmeal cups)

Ingredients:

handful of dry blueberries (or any other dry fruit you prefer)

1 large banana (125g peeled)

1/2 cup hazelnut flour (56g)

1/4 cup sun flour (32g)

1 tbsp maple syrup

2/3 cups (scant) quick or rolled oats

2 Tbsp ground flax seed (10g)

2 tsp chia seeds (8g)

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp cardamom

a pinch of salt

Method:

1. Put dry fruit in boiling water, let sit covered for 10-15 minutes to rehydrate.
2. Preheat oven to 350F and prepare mini muffin pan.
3. Mash banana until smooth, then add in all the other ingredients and mix until uniform.
4. Scoop half the mix in bottom of the pan.
5. Make an indentation in the bottom on each cup, put fruit (you can mash it if you prefer).
6. Add another scoop of mix on top, press evenly.
7. Bake at 350 for 15 min

Notes:

• Use any dry fruit you enjoy best, or grate/cook down half an apple for an apple pie style filling
• Nut/seed flours can be substituted to taste, almond or walnut flour would work well to replace either hazelnut or sunflower seed flours
• Play with spices you enjoy, any warm spices can pair in a lovely way with banana and maple flavors