Whole Wheat Oats and Almond Blondies | Eggless

I love oats in any form. My first experience in cooking oats happened when my mom was diagnosed with diabetes. Every morning I used to make a savory porridge for her. She used to hate that  but I used to love it.

Back in India I haven't cooked much with oats. But here I use it regularly. This is one such quick and fuss free recipe that's close to me.Just whip up and throw in the oven .That's it in 20 - 25 minutes, you will have a dessert ready.But we aren't sweet people. so I make desserts rarely.

It was a  fine morning I was preparing tea and there comes a question from a corner , Do we really need an oven ? Poor me in the mid of crazy morning chores couldn't understand this sarcastic comment for a minute. My ego didn't let me stay cool , sarcastically I  said Why to bother as it came as furnished kitchen? 

After relaxing a bit I realized that I haven't baked anything recently.Later that day ,I baked these blondies as tea time snack.It all vanished in minutes.My food critic (hubby) rated this as one of my best recipes recently.What else I could ask for ?? I was in cloud nine as getting a good remark from him is no easy job.

I care about what I eat so I try to bake mostly with whole wheat. This blondies are no exception, Whole wheat  and oats along with almonds every bite of it was yum. I prefer mine mild sweet you can adjust to your taste buds.

Ingredients

Whole wheat Flour ...................................... 1 cup
Old fashioned Rolled Oats ...........................1/2 cup + little extra
Butter .......................................................... 1/2 cup , room temperature
Dark Brown Sugar ...................................... 3/4 cup
Almond meal ...............................................1/3 cup
Wheat germ .................................................. 1 tbsp
Salt ................................................................ a pinch
Vanilla Extract .............................................. 1 tsp
Yogurt............................................................. 1/4 cup , whole milk
Pumpkin Spice mix ......................................... 1/2 tsp
Baking soda ..................................................... 1/2 tsp
Baking Powder ............................................... 1 tsp

Method

• Preheat oven to 350 F.
• Line a 8x8 tin with parchment.
• Sift the wheat flour with salt , baking soda , baking powder  and pumpkin spice mix.
• In a mixing bowl  cream butter and sugar with a hand blender, slowly add in the yogurt and vanilla extract.
• Stir in the flour mixture in batches and 1/2 cup oats mix just until they are incorporated well. try not to over mix as it might result in hard blondies.
• Gently add in almond meal , reserving a tbsp .
• Sprinkle the reserved oats, wheat germ  and almond meal on top and gently press them with a spatula.
• Bake for 25 minutes.
• Cut them into squares while they are hot . Cool them in a wire rack.

Notes

• Keep an eye on the oven after 20 minutes, as every oven works different.
• You can use chocolates/ nuts / dry fruits as topping too.
•  If you cant find pumpkin spice, replace with 1/4 tsp cinnamon, 1pinch nutmeg and a generous pinch of dry ginger.
• If looking for diabetic friendly choice, replace with any other sweetener.