Well, here it is: my first Christmas-themed recipe of the season. I bought more vegan white chocolate chips just for this. Unfortunately, they come in packs of 4 on Amazon, which means I irresponsibly devoured two of the bags by the handful already . I vow to use the rest for oatmeal only. 🙂
I recently bought some fresh cranberries from the Union Square Greenmarket (seriously, is there anything that place doesn’t have?).
Look how beautiful they were!
Apparently, I’m putting zucchini in everything now. Pureed zucchini makes a beautiful base for this simple oatmeal. I wish I had discovered this before zucchini went out of season. It takes some searching to find them at this time of year, even in New York (by “searching,” I mean that I have to look somewhere besides Trader Joe’s). My new favorite store is Union Market, which is based in Brooklyn but has one store in the Lower East Side. Its produce section is so much more developed than many other stores in New York…including Whole Foods! They had no shortage of zucchini for me. 🙂
The great part of this recipe is how it doesn’t need any additional sweetener. The white chocolate chips are enough to balance everything out. Hooray!
What you'll need:
- 1/2 cup's worth of peeled and diced zucchini
- 1/3 cup milk of choice, or water
- 1/2 cup rolled oats (I use Country Choice Organic)
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract (or vanilla bean paste)
- 1/4 tsp baking powder
- pinch of salt
- 1/3 cup fresh or frozen cranberries
- handful of white chocolate chips (I use King David's, which are vegan)
How to make it:
- Preheat the oven to 350 F and spray a single-serving ramekin with non-stick spray.
- Puree first two ingredients together in a food processor.
- Stir in remaining ingredients (except cranberries and white chocolate chips) until combined OR pulse it all together a few times in the food processor, depending on how much you want the oats to keep their original shape and texture.
- Stir in white chocolate chips and cranberries until they are evenly distributed.
- Transfer mixture to prepared ramekin. Bake for 18-22 minutes, or until the top is no longer doughy. Enjoy! 🙂
