Cashew Ice Milk Flavor Variant #eleventy: Toasted Oatmeal

After making what I thought was a really kick-ass rendition of Halo Top's oatmeal cookie for my ever-patient food photographer (ahem) and playing with miscellaneous starches, it occurred to me. Oatmeal... That's kind of a starch, right? Although this version has lost some of its more luscious ingredients, i.e. real butter and brown sugar, it still delivers that wonderful toasted oat flavor and the dense, smooth, and somewhat creamy texture the blended oats imparted to the other types of bases.

Makes: 2 servings (> 2 pints in volume), 154 calories each

To a batch (2 servings) of the cashew ice milk base, without bothering with the aquafaba, this variant adds the following

- 1/2 c old fashioned oats

- 1/4 t cinnamon

- 1 t fat free/low sodium butter sprinkles (optional; add more salt and consider butter extract if skipping)

- 2 t fake brown sugar (also optional; consider subbing 1/2 t molasses or maple extract; this stuff does not taste like brown sugar so much as fenugreek anyway)

- 1/8 t baking soda (not sure I could detect it)

As with other iterations of oatmeal frozen desserts, toast the oats on medium heat - this time, in a dry skillet. DO NOT walk away to prep other ingredients. I don't care how good a multi-tasker you are, don't do it. The smaller pieces will burn if left unattended.

Once the oats are toasted, add about 1/2 c of the cashew milk destined for the base and the cinnamon. Let the mixture reach a simmer and take off the heat. The oats should already be soft enough to blend easily, but it doesn't hurt to let this sit, at least long enough to prepare the rest of the base. If using butter sprinkles and fake brown sugar, simply mix these into the rest of the sweeteners and gums. Once the base is done, blend the prepared oatmeal into it until smooth (I used the single serving attachment for my blender and just enough of the base to aid in blending).

Mmm, oats. Moats?

#veganish #sweet #alternativefoods #icecream