I have so many recipe ideas. Unfortunately, some of them require obscure ingredients that I couldn’t imagine myself using regularly (or, in the case of macadamia nuts, I can’t afford to use them regularly!). This was my problem with root beer extract. Wouldn’t it be cool to have a root beer float oatmeal? But what else could I possibly do with it?
Thus, I was pretty freakin’ pleased when I perused my mom’s baking cupboard and discovered root beer concentrate. You see, my mom’s quite special. She may appear to be your standard accountant, but when she comes home, she transforms into a cake decorator. She used to just do average sheet cakes and basic wedding tier cakes, but when the cupcake trend blossomed, so did her repertoire.
She now pumps out all sorts of “hip” cupcakes: Oreo, dreamsicle, red velvet (of course), lemon, salted caramel, etc. If you’ve seen it on Pinterest, she’s probably tried it. Anyway, sometime during her experiments, she must have done a root beer cupcake, and thanks to her, I can give you this recipe today.
Although I prefer to incorporate fruit into my recipes, this one does not have any. You could try using a mashed banana, but I can’t guarantee that the flavor will be completely “hidden.” If you try it, let me know how it goes!
Oh, and random note: happy one-week birthday to my sweet little nephew.
Ingredient notes:
This recipe uses yogurt to bulk up the oatmeal, make it creamy, and replicate the “ice cream” flavor in a root beer float. You’ll want to use a plain or vanilla flavor, but in terms of the kind of yogurt you choose, just pick your favorite. They all have a unique aftertaste that you can’t quite cover up completely, so it’s important that you select the one you enjoy the most. For me, I chose SoDelicious Greek-Style coconut yogurt (plain flavor).
For the root beer flavor, I used the root beer concentrate simply because that’s what my mom uses when she makes root beer cupcakes. There’s also root beer extract, which is apparently less potent than the concentrate. This means if you use root beer extract, you will want to increase the amount that you use. Unfortunately, I cannot give you an exact number, but this blogger recommends doubling the amount.
What you'll need:
- 1/2 cup milk of choice, or water
- 1/2 cup rolled oats (I use Country Choice Organic)
- 1/4 cup plain or vanilla yogurt of choice (see notes above)
- 1 and 1/2 tsp root beer concentrate (see notes above)
- 1 tsp chia seeds (optional)
- pinch of salt
- To achieve a brown color, you can add 1/2 a tsp of cocoa powder. You'll barely taste it!
How to make it:
- Combine all ingredients in a mason jar.
- Cover with lid and shake, shake, shake until combined.
- Store in the refrigerator overnight (or for several hours). This recipe is ideal to eat cold, and I do not recommend warming it up (the yogurt will taste sour if you do).
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