Fig Bar Baked Oatmeal

Baked oatmeal for one based on homemade fig bars. It’s easy, vegan and a reasonably healthy breakfast.

Did you know that this coming Sunday is National Peanut Butter Cookie Day? Then Monday is World Meat Free Day? And June 16 is National Fudge Day?

Personally, I love all of these random food days – probably because I love food and a love random things. But I think we need to introduce a few more food-themed days. Why don’t we have ‘National Eat Peanut Butter Out of the Jar Day?’ Or ‘Pancakes for Breakfast Day’? And where’s ‘Stop Using #CleanEating Because Chocolate Ain’t Dirty Day’?

Folks, we seriously need to revamp our food day calendars.

Anyway, here’s a breakfast that you could easily have for National Fig Newton Day or National Oatmeal Day. But considering that Fig Newton Day was on January 16 and Oatmeal Day isn’t until October 29, let’s just call this is a breakfast you can have any day of the year.

At the risk of stating the obvious, the inspiration behind this baked oatmeal was fig bars. Oddly enough, I’m not a fan of those fruit-paste-wrapped-in-pastry snacks, but I do like homemade fig bars. Especially when they’re like soft like bar cookies, spiced with cinnamon, and filled with oats.

So I suppose it would be more accurate to say that this baked oatmeal was inspired by homemade fig bars. Big difference, trust me.

The filling is made with applesauce for moisture, cinnamon and cloves for flavor, and some (optional) maple syrup for extra sweetness.

The filling’s ridiculously simple: it’s just chopped dried figs. It’s a little difficult to note the precise quantity of dried figs needed, since it all depends on (a) the size of your figs, (b) the size of your ramekin, and (c) how much fibre you’re after.

Ideally, you’d have enough dried figs to make a single layer of fruit in the middle of your oatmeal. But the world won’t come to an end if your fig filling doesn’t quite reach the edges of your ramekin. When it comes to humble oatmeal, near enough is good enough.

By the way, if you’re after more baked oatmeals based on bar cookies, may I suggest Millionaire’s Shortbread Baked Oatmeal? Or perhaps Buckeye Brownie Baked Oatmeal? And I’ll be sharing a recipe for Gooey S’mores Baked Oatmeal pretty soon.

Fig Bar Baked Oatmeal

 

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Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

30 mins

Total time

40 mins

 

A breakfast fig bar for one. This baked oatmeal is dairy-free, vegan and easily gluten-free (if using certified GF oats).

Recipe type: Baked Oatmeal

Yield: 1

Ingredients

• 2 - 3 dried figs, chopped
• 1 teaspoon hot water
• ¼ cup applesauce
• 1 - 2 teaspoons maple syrup (optional)
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• ⅛ teaspoon blackstrap molasses
• ⅓ cup almond milk
• ½ cup rolled oats
• ¼ teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• Pinch of ground cloves
• Pinch of salt
• 1 tablespoon shredded coconut

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Grease a 1-cup capacity ramekin.
2. Combine the chopped figs and hot water in a small dish. Set aside.
3. In a small bowl, combine the applesauce, maple syrup, blackstrap molasses, vanilla extract and almond milk.
4. Add the rolled oats, baking powder, cinnamon, cloves, salt and shredded coconut. Mix until well combined.
5. Transfer half of the oatmeal batter to the prepared ramekin. Top with the fig mixture, and then pour over the remaining oatmeal batter.
6. Bake for 22 - 28 minutes, or until the top is dry and a little bit firm. If removing the oatmeal from the ramekin, allow it to cool for 5 minutes first.

Notes

Blackstrap molasses
Blackstrap molasses add a slight brown sugar taste. If you don't have any, simply omit them. If desired, replace the maple syrup with brown sugar.

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