Healthy, vegan oatmeal that tastes like a bowl of muffin batter topped with a warm blueberry compote.
In high school, one of my friends would frequently buy a blueberry muffin, only to spend fifteen minutes painstakingly removing every blueberry. Every single one.
Of course, her wonderfully polite friends would always point and ask, ‘Dude, why not just buy a plain muffin!?’ She claimed she liked the parts of the muffins that the blueberries touched, but not the blueberries themselves. Confused? I sure was. (And still are).
In fairness to this friend, the blueberry-removing wasn’t the weirdest food habit I saw at school. Another one of my friends would eat everything in layers. As in, imagine someone licking the chocolate off a Snickers bar first. Then eating the peanut-studded caramel layer. And then the nougat.
Yeah, it was pretty darn weird.
As odd as this may seem, those two memories inspired this oatmeal. Unlike most blueberry oatmeals, the blueberries sit on top of the oats. So you can stir them in, eat them first, pick them off – whatever works for you.
When I first thought of this breakfast, placing the blueberries on top of the oatmeals (instead of mixing them in) was just going to be a little homage to my high school memories. But the more I thought about it, the more it made sense.
For one thing, a warm blueberry compote sitting on top of a bowl of oatmeal is so much more exciting than just stirring in some blueberries. And the compote can be made using frozen blueberries (good for those of us who don’t want to spend a million dollars on berries).
Plus, the whole oatmeal doesn’t turn purple!
When you look at the ingredients list, you may think I’ve completely lost it. Why? There’s 1/8 teaspoon of baking soda. Yes, baking soda. It sounds crazy, but it helps make this oatmeal taste like muffin batter, which is what I was going for.
Of course, if the baking soda is just too ‘out there’ for you, simply omit it.
A little cinnamon, vanilla extract and lemon zest are also there to add some flavor, and applesauce gives the oatmeal a creamy, batter-like texture.
The recipe also calls for ½ teaspoon of blackstrap molasses. I’ve received quite a few comments recently about blackstrap molasses – generally along the lines of ‘what are they?’ and ‘do I need them?’
So, in case you were wondering, blackstrap molasses provide a slight brown sugar taste (because brown sugar is just white sugar + molasses). A little goes a long way, which is why my recipes only ever call for a tiny amount.
If you don’t have any blackstrap molasses, you can either add a spoonful of brown sugar, or just leave them out.
While I’m not in a position to judge other people for weird food habits, since I have quite a few of my own (and I know some people find my love of oatmeal very odd!), I don’t think I’ll ever understand people who don’t like blueberries.
I mean, they’re sweet, they freeze beautifully, they look adorable, they’re not messy to eat – and they’re blue! (Okay, they’re kind of purple sometimes. But that’s cool too).
Oh well, more blueberries for me!
- For the oatmeal
- 1 cup almond milk
- 1 cup water
- ½ cup steel-cut oats
- Pinch of salt
- ½ cup applesauce
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ⅛ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon blackstrap molasses
- ½ teaspoon lemon zest
For the blueberry topping- ¾ cup frozen blueberries
- ½ teaspoon lemon juice
- In a saucepan, bring the almond milk and water to a boil, and then turn down the heat to medium-low. Add the steel-cut oats and salt, and stir well.
- Add the applesauce, cinnamon and baking soda to the saucepan, and mix until completely incorporated.
- Stir in the vanilla extract, blackstrap molasses and lemon zest.
- Steel-cut oatmeal generally takes 20 - 30 minutes to cook. As it’s cooking, add more almond milk if it looks as though the oatmeal is drying out.
- Meanwhile, make the blueberry topping. Place the frozen blueberries and lemon juice in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook for 8 - 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until the blueberries are warm and the mixture isn’t too liquidy. This topping can be made in advance and reheated on the stove or in the microwave.
- Once the oats have softened and are creamy, divide the oatmeal between two bowls. Top each bowl with half the blueberry topping. Enjoy!
If you would prefer, skip the topping and just stir some fresh or frozen blueberries into the oatmeal.
Applesauce
I used unsweetened applesauce. You can make your own applesauce by pureeing cooked apples (or canned apple slices).
Blackstrap molasses
The blackstrap molasses add a slight brown sugar taste. If you don't have any, add a spoonful of brown sugar or just leave them out.
Sweetness
For a sweeter oatmeal, stir in maple syrup (or another sweetener), to taste. Alternatively, add some to the blueberry topping
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