You know how I don’t like pears because they remind me of a sad, flavorless, soggy apple? That’s kind of how I feel about apricots. 😛 They remind me of a hard, off-tasting peach. And YOU KNOW how much I love my peaches. I often grab apricot-flavored jelly or pancake syrup, thinking, “Ohhhh, this will be like peaches!!” But the whole time I’m eating it, all I can notice is that apricot taste, and how it’s not peaches.
Apricots are like decaf coffee. It’s almost what you want, but it’s mostly a disappointment.
However, when I saw the clamshell of apricots at Trader Joe’s this week (TJ’s loves its clamshells…), I felt inspired. Apricots are so cute! That golden hue with sporadic shades of blush just spoke to me. 🙂
But how would I tackle the peach impostor problem? I roasted that ish. BOOM. Problem solved.
In the pictures, I set this oatmeal up like a parfait, but it doesn’t have to be. In fact, I recommend stirring the roasted apricots into the oatmeal when you’re ready to eat it…especially if you’re not trying to impress anyone with presentation. 🙂
What you'll need:
- minimum of 3 fresh apricots*
- maple syrup (or granulated sugar)*
- lemon juice
- 3/4 cup milk of choice, or water
- 1/4 cup quick cook steel-cut oats (I use Country Choice Organic)
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste (or about 1/3 of a vanilla bean)
- dash of cinnamon
- pinch of salt
How to make it:
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Grease a baking sheet.
- Cut apricots in half and remove pit. Set cut side up on baking sheet.
- Drizzle evenly with maple syrup (or sprinkle with sugar). Sprinkle a little lemon juice over it.
- Bake for about 35 minutes and allow to cool.
- Bring milk (I use 1/2 c almond milk and 1/4 c water) to a boil, add oats, and reduce heat to medium. (If you’d like to add a teaspoon of flax or chia seeds, do so now.)
- Once more of the liquid has absorbed, add vanilla bean paste, cinnamon, and salt. Stir.
- When you’re pleased with the consistency of the oatmeal, transfer to a bowl. Top with 2-4 roasted apricot halves. Add a splash of your milk of choice and any other additional toppings (other fruit, shredded coconut, nuts, etc.).
Just an FYI:
*If you want a single serving, 3 apricots will do. If you want your efforts to give you more than one serving, you can basically use as many as you want. Store leftovers in the fridge in a sealed container. *Sugar will give you a more traditional, syrupy result, but I don't keep granulated sugar in my cupboards, so I used maple syrup. Some people will say you can't use liquid sweeteners for something like this, but I thought it worked out just fine.
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