Oatmeal Banana Applesauce Cake

Today was the first day of February break and the first words out of my daughter's mouth when she woke up this morning was "I'm bored" which is never a good sign. So this morning I let the girls amuse themselves with some stockpiled makeup that I bought ages ago that's been collecting dust on the shelves in the basement. That makeup bought me an hour and a half of peace. The very best investment ever.

While they were making themselves pretty I thought I'd play around in the kitchen for a bit. I've been looking at the canisters of Quaker Oats in the stockpile wondering what to do with them. After going through all of my recipes I couldn't find anything that turned me on, so I squished two cake recipes  together to come up with something new. Oatmeal banana applesauce cake......

This cake was simply delicious. Super moist, flavorful and just sweet enough. I plan on serving this the next time I make brunch because it sort of reminds me of a coffee cake. The cake itself tastes very rich but surprisingly has very little fat in it. The frosting on the other hand makes up for that.

Oatmeal Banana Applesauce Cake

1 1/4 cups Quaker Oats (quick or regular)

1 1/4 cup boiling water

1 cup applesauce

2 bananas mashed

2 tbsps softened butter

1 egg

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups flour

1 1/4 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350. Place oats in a bowl and pour boiling water over top. Let sit for a few minutes. Add applesauce and banana. Mix to combine and set aside. Mix butter and both sugars in a stand mixer. Add egg and beat until combined. Pour egg/sugar mixture into oats mixture. Add vanilla and mix until combined. 

In a separate bowl combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Add the oatmeal mixture to the flour mixture. Mix until combined. Pour into a square baker and bake until toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Cream Cheese Frosting

4 oz unsalted butter

4 oz cream cheese

2 cups powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla

Beat all ingredients in a mixing bowl until smooth. Try not to lick the beaters while they are still moving. Once the cake is completely cooled you can frost it.

How delicious does that look? Yummy!

The frosting really makes this cake. And I'll share a little baking secret with you....Last year my friend Janet introduced me to Nielsen-Massey's vanilla bean paste. Since giving it a try I haven't gone back to vanilla extract. It gives my baked goods a rich vanilla taste and let me tell you, you can really taste the difference. I highly suggest giving this product a try. You can tell that I used it in the frosting because you can see the specks of real vanilla. The frosting was to die for.

So if you are like me and have a bunch of canisters of oatmeal that you got for free at the stores recently, definitely give this a try. We loved it and I bet you will too!