Carrot Cake Oatmeal
Oats, dried carrot, and raisins soaked hot until they taste like the frosting-free part of a carrot cake.
- calories
- 540
- weight
- 4 oz
- cal / oz
- 135
- protein
- 11 g
- serves
- 1, scales
- prep
- 2 min
- cook
- 3 min
- total time
- 5 min
- water
- 300 ml boiled
- cost
- $
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Breakfast
- Canister stove
- Alcohol / Esbit
- Backpacking
- Thru-hike
- Winter / snow
- Bikepacking
- Vegetarian
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Dump and stir
Ingredients
| Old-fashioned rolled oats | 1/2 cup | pulsed short in a blender at home |
|---|---|---|
| Dried diced carrots | 2 tbsp | 1 tbsp if you want the carrot in the background |
| Brown sugar | 3 tbsp | |
| Raisins | 2 tbsp | |
| Dry milk powder | 2 tbsp | |
| Ground cinnamon | 1/4 tsp | |
| Shredded dried coconut | 2 tbsp | |
| Fine salt | a pinch |
Method
- At home, pulse the oats in a blender until the flakes are roughly a third their original size, then do the same with the dried carrots. Bag everything dry except the coconut.
- In camp, bring 300 ml of water to a boil.
- Dump in the bag and stir. Let it come back to a boil, then pull the pot off the stove.
- Lid on, five minutes. The carrots need the whole five to soften.
- Stir again and scatter the coconut over the top.
Dried carrot is stubborn. Whole diced pieces will still be crunchy after a normal oatmeal soak, which is why both the oats and the carrots get broken down in a blender before the trip. Smaller pieces rehydrate in the same five minutes the oats need, so one pot and one boil covers both.
The milk powder is doing more than flavor. It gives the mix enough body that the sugar and cinnamon hang on the oats instead of settling into the bottom of the pot. Coconut goes on at the end on purpose: stirred in early it turns limp, on top it stays dry and gives the bowl some texture.
Packing
One quart freezer bag for the dry mix, a small separate bag for the coconut so it stays crisp. Milk powder clumps if it gets damp, so keep the bag sealed.
Variations
- Swap the dry milk for coconut, rice, or soy milk powder to make it vegan and dairy-free.
- A tablespoon of butter powder or oil pushes it past 650 calories.
- Chopped walnuts on top if nobody in the group has a nut allergy.
https://trailcooking.com/breakfast/carrot-cake-in-a-bowl