No sugar Oat Drops

Another desert recipe for the family health blog!  Ha!  These are basically nuts and fruit and oats, though.  My kids lovem (we do too). Here's the link to the original recipe.

And here's my version (sorry no pic - they get eaten too fast):

No Sugar Oat Drops

1 1/2 cups regular rolled oats (I chopped in food processer but recipe doesn’t call for that)
1 cup coconut flakes (I’ve omitted this before with good results)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg (the recipe calls for allspice)
1/4 cup of almond meal (process in food processor)
1/2 cup mixed nuts, finely chopped (hazelnuts, brazil nuts, cashews, whatever)
1 cup dried fruit (could use craisins, dates, raisins)

3 ripe bananas, mashed OR  (?)½ c. pumpkin puree (still need to try this variation)
1/4 cup coconut oil (or whatever oil)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (almond extract was really good in its place)

Preheat oven to 350*. Grease baking sheet.

In a large bowl, combine rolled oats, almond meal, mixed nuts and coconut flakes. Stir in spices. Add dried fruit and stir until well and evenly mixed. Make sure the dried fruit does not stick together in big clumps.
In another bowl, combine oil, mashed banana and vanilla extract. Pour wet ingredients over dry ingredients and stir until well combined (I let the batter sit an hour or however long I want to let the oats absorb the liquids).

I put packed tablespoons of batter on the cookie sheet, but the recipe says:  Take a large cookie cutter and press spoonfuls of the batter into it. Remove cookie cutter. Bake for about 20 minutes or until edges are golden brown.

Happy Birthdayt to ME!

For my birthday I made a cake that I had wanted to make for Will's birthday but it didnt happen because it was a little intimidating and time consuming.  Will said he had tried making one before but the flan didnt set for some reason.  We both had this kind of cake on our missions.  Will remembered it with chocolate cake, but I remembered it with yellow, so I made it this way.  The cook in my first area was from Brazil, so kudos to Brazil for the amazing flan cake - it stays super moist.  Behold - I give you- the flan cake!

Flan Cake

• 1 yellow cake mix (prepared according to directions on the box – check to see if you need extra eggs or oil for this.)
• 1/4 cup caramel topping (Cajeta de Leche if you can find it at a Mexican market)
• 4 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 can evaporated milk
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 tsp. almond extract 
• Ground cinnamon

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.put your bain marie vessel in the oven while it is preheating.

2. Grease and flour a large Bundt pan.

3. Prepare cake mix according to package directions.

4. Pour the caramel topping around the bottom of the Bundt pan.

5. Pour cake mix over caramel.

6. In a blender, mix together well: eggs, sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk, and vanilla extract.

7. Pour the flan mix gently down one side of the pan.The flan will go to the bottom and the cake mix will raise up a bit as the flan mixture fills the bottom of the pan.

8. Sprinkle with cinnamon.

9. Place your cake in the bain marie pan (i used a 9×13 pan) and add hot water about 1 to 1 1/2 inches up the side of the Bundt pan.

10. Bake (in the water bath) 45 min, then cover with foil and bake about 20 min more.. It should be slightly golden brown. Test for doneness by inserting toothpick in the cake. If it comes out clean, it’s done.

11. Remove from water bath and cool 10 to 15 minutes.

12. Invert onto a cake plate. The caramel will still be runny – it’s supposed to be to melt over the cake, so be careful when inverting! Refrigerate for at least an hour before serving.

I tried to make my own carmel sauce but it turned into candy so my cake had no carmel, but was plenty sweet and tasty.