Cherry Almond Oat "Cupcakes"

Stocking up for winter is one of the habits you develop living in the rural Northeast.  You never know when a snow or ice storm will make roads impassable.  Or there's a power outage.  Or you just don't want to run errands in the cold.  Although we now live in an urban area with relatively mild winters (rain not snow), some habits die hard.

Over the winter, during a trip to Costco, we purchased a jagunda (aka humongous, ridiculously large) quantity of oatmeal.  It's healthy but the quantity is intimidating.

The Feedbag

I hate to throw away food, so I'm on a mission to use these oats before they go bad.  I left "the Feedbag" on the counter for a couple of days, hoping for a burst of inspiration.  I finally came up with a recipe. 

Bill and I have been having yogurt shakes for breakfast.  Delicious and nutritious as they say, but by mid morning, I'm feeling a bit peckish.  This recipe is based on the no bake cookies that were popular when I was a kid.  This is in no way a low calorie snack. It is nutritious, has a boatload of fiber and satisfies like a cookie. 

Cherry Almond Oat Cupcakes
1 C rolled oats
2 1/2 C Kashi cereal
1/2 C slivered almonds
1/2 C pumpkin and sunseed mix
1/4 C ground flaxseeds
1 C dried cherries
6 dates, chopped
1/2 C apple cider
1/2 C almond butter
1/2 C maple syrup

Place oats, cereal, almonds, seeds and cherries in a food processor.  Pulse until everything (except fruit) has a uniform size.  Combine dates, cider, almond butter and maple syrup in a large pot.  Heat, stirring until everything is melted.  Pour oat mixture into pot, and stir until everything is coated in syrup. 

Line a muffin tin with paper cases.  Use a wide mouthed funnel and an ice cream scoop to fill cups, pressing to compact.  Let cool, then remove from pan and into a sealable container.  Refrigerate until firm, and store  in the fridge.

The Verdict
Pretty tasty and satisfying with nice texture.  It's a pretty big serving, though, almost too much.   Next time I will use a mini muffin tin, and play with the ratio of nuts. Maybe substitute carrots for the almonds. 

Based on recipe calculator, each regular sized muffin has 275 calories, 11 grams fat and 5.5 grams of fiber.  Compared to my favorite maple leaf cookie (220 cal, 10 gr fat, 0 fiber per 2 cookies) it has a more calories but a better nutritional profile and fiber.
 
The Dish Bitch
Food processor
pot
wooden spoon
measuring cups
muffin tin