Bake up some maple-oat deliciousness in this easy to prep breakfast cake.
After living our entire lives in southern California, my husband and I had the crazy idea to uproot our family and relocate to the Midwest. We lived there for five years. There were lots of good things that came from that experience, as well as a lot of really hard things: finances, harsh (to us) weather, and a distance from anything familiar or comfortable.
My husband grew up in Santa Barbara with the ocean on one side of him and mountains on the other. Kansas isn’t like that. He’d always been able to orient himself with directions because the Santa Barbara mountains are north. There wasn’t a big landmark to help him in KC; it’s pretty much flat.
While we were prepared to live there forever, we were more than thrilled when an opportunity came to move home. Before that happened, though, we looked for small reminders of home.
When my favorite enchilada sauce showed up at my Walmart I literally shouted with glee. A trip to Chipotle, the closest thing we could find to our style of Mexican food, was little a mini-vacation. And FishPapa enjoyed Starbucks’ Maple-Oat Scones often during the cold winter months because they reminded him of home and the guys he would meet for coffee in the morning.
This cake is the result of my efforts to mimic my husband’s favorite coffeehouse maple-oat scones. Baking it all into a cake makes for easy prep work while still featuring all of the fabulous, mapley-oaty goodness. My friend Jessika, also a Maple-Oat Scone fan, attests that this recipe does the job.
This recipe is one of our family’s favorites for a not-too-sweet breakfast treat or afternoon snack. It’s also part of my newest recipe collection Good Cheap Eats: Everyday Dinners and Fabulous Feasts for $10 or Less.
Be sure to pre-order your copy of the book as most of the recipes will not available online. Consider this a sneak peek.
Recipe: Oaty Maple Breakfast Cake
Ingredients
- 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup rolled oats
- 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) cold butter, cut into pieces
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 cup half-and-half
- 1/3 cup pure maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted
- 1 tablespoon milk
- 2 teaspoons maple flavoring
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F. Grease a 9-inch round cake pan with nonstick cooking spray.
- In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade, com- bine the flour, oats, butter, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Pulse until coarse crumbs are formed. Transfer this mixture to a large bowl.
- Add the half-and-half, maple syrup, and vanilla. Stir quickly until a thick batter is formed.
- Spoon this mixture into the prepared pan and bake until a tes- ter inserted in the middle comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Cool slightly in the pan on a rack.
- Meanwhile, prepare the glaze by combining the confectioners’ sugar, milk, and maple flavoring in a small bowl. Drizzle this glaze over the warm cake and allow to cool completely before serving.
Preparation time: 10 minute(s)
Cooking time: 20 minute(s)
Number of servings (yield): 8
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I always smile when you list the things you didn’t like about Kansas. They are often the very same things I really miss since moving away a few years ago. I loved the weather – seasons but none too harsh. I loved the open plains with vistas that go on for miles. I moved to an old river city without a single straight street in contrast to the easy to navigate township and range grid system in the Midwest. As the old saying goes, one man’s remorse is another man’s reminiscence.
Exactly. Ha! I did love Fall. That was my favorite. 🙂
Thanks for the timely recipe as I just ordered a 50 lb bag of rolled oats from Azure. I will also be gone all day Thursday and this should help to keep the family snacking while I am gone. I love any excuse to eat cake for breakfast. Thanks, again!
Oh, this sounds like my kind of recipe.
Could you use almond milk instead of half and half?
I never have, but I would imagine so. Perhaps use just a bit less. I’m guessing almond milk isn’t as thick as half and half.
I made this recipe today and it is very good. I think the next time I make it I’ll increase the salt to 1/2 tsp as it seemed a bit “flat” to me. In addition, the two tsp of maple flavoring seems like a LOT. I put in literally 4 drops and was happy with the flavor, although the color of the icing was not as dark as yours. Anyway, JMO. It was easy to make and I’ll put it in my “school morning” rotation. My kids will be happy for something new and tasty.
Thanks for the feedback. Just curious. Did you use fine sea salt?
No, I did not use fine sea salt. Is it more compact than regular salt? That could have been the difference if so.
I can’t find a post to link to, but my personal feeling is that sea salt has more flavor. Depending on the grain, the measuring can be different among salts.
Ooh, I can’t wait to make this! I so love your recipes, books and everything else! And can’t wait for the new book!
Thanks. Tell all your friends 😉
I’m trying to stock my freezers before Baby #3 arrives. Could this recipe be doubled and frozen?
Yes, without the icing.
2 questions: if I were to freeze and give to a friend who is about to have a baby, should I just give her the icing recipe and let her make it herself?
Hubby doesn’t like maple syrup. Would this work with honey or brown sugar?
I’m so sorry for the delay in getting back to you. Yes and yes are the answers.
Ha! I didn’t know you were from Santa Barbara! My husband and I met there and lived there for 7 years (hubby longer), had 2 daughters there, and then we moved to AZ and San Diego, and are now in VA and I feel the same way: SB is home! (Not just the weather, it’s the people and the mindset that really makes the atmosphere feel different!) Hey! I wonder if we ever met in SB! I worked at Peet’s Coffee from 2003 to 2006. And my husband was a performer with Santa Barbara dance theater. I think I need to make this cake! Like now!!! Also., knowing you are santa barbarian (ha) is going to make me come back and use Alltherecipes here more often! 😉
Ha! Small world. We moved away in 98. My sister and in-laws still live in the area. Unfortunately, we usually get dirty looks from total strangers when we visit now because we have six kids. They’re all well behaved, but for some reason SB’ans don’t like big families. So, it doesn’t quite feel like home anymore.
Gah! We have six now too! But we still know at least ONE family there who also has six! (The Lomelinos who run Isla Vista Church.) Yep, ha! I would probably not feel quite so home-ish as I imagine, if we ended up going back! I’d miss VA! =D But I feel like more often than not, I get dirty looks in VA too, for having so many! And strangers think they can comment on our birth control choices? … Ummmm…
The world is a crazy place, isn’t it? 🙂
PS – We made this and it was SO good and a lot faster than making an actual maple oat scone recipe. This will be on our regular breakfast treat rotation!
So glad you liked it!
If i don’t have maple flavoring can I just use maple syrup instead?
Not really. Maple flavoring is really concentrated. To get enough maple flavor from syrup you would dilute the mixture too much.