Carrot Cake Baked Oatmeal (Vegan)

Prep Time:20

Cook Time:45

Servings: 6

Equipment

Blender

Ingredients

Carrot Cake Baked Oatmeal

6 large medjool dates pitted and soaked in hot water for 10 minutes
1 small apple
1¼ cups (300ml) soy milk
2 tbsp (30g) peanut butter, almond butter, or walnut butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups (160g) rolled oats¹
1 tbsp ground flaxseed
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp nutmeg
¼ tsp ground ginger
pinch of salt
200 grams carrots shredded

"Cream Cheese" Frosting²

45 grams raw/untoasted cashews soaked in hot water for 10 minutes
150 grams silken tofu
225 grams extra firm tofu
½ tsp vanilla extract
½ tsp miso
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp maple syrup

Instructions

Blend wet ingredients: Drain medjool dates and place in a blender. Chop apple, remove the core and seeds, and add to blender. Add soy milk, peanut butter, and vanilla extract. Blend for a minute or two until well combined.
Mix dry ingredients: In a large bowl, mix oats, ground flaxseed, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and salt.
Combine: Pour blended mixture into the bowl and add carrots. Mix until well combined. Cover and let sit while the oven preheats.
Preheat oven to 350°F/180°C. Lightly grease an 8x8-inch baking dish (or similar size - mine was 7x11).
Bake: Once oven is ready, pour the oat mixture into your baking dish. Place in the oven to bake for 45-60 minutes until the top is firm. Let the oats cool at least 10 minutes before slicing.
Make frosting³: Drain cashews and add to a blender along with the rest of the frosting ingredients. Blend until smooth, scraping down the blender as needed. It may get stuck at first, but once the tofu breaks down it should be easier. Transfer to a bowl, cover, and chill in the fridge until ready to serve.
Frost: You can either frost the entire baking dish, or frost individual slices as you eat them. If you want to frost the entire dish, let the oats cool completely first.
Storing: The cream cheese frosting will start to spoil around day 5, so please consume within 5 days. Be sure to keep it tightly covered and use clean utensils to remove.

Notes

1) To make this gluten-free, use certified gluten-free oats. While oats don't naturally contain gluten, they can be cross contaminated during processing.

2) This makes a thick layer of frosting (see photos). If you don't like this much frosting, just make a half batch. Do note, though, that a lot of the protein comes from the frosting, so you may want to serve something else on the side or have a bigger serving of the baked oatmeal.

3) I like to make this baked oatmeal a day in advance, chill in the fridge overnight, then frost it the next day before serving. It tastes great cold! If making in advance, you can wait to make the cream cheese frosting until the morning-of, since this spoils faster than the baked oatmeal.