Have you been looking for a great recipe that lets you sneak in some healthy ingredients? Yes? Then you should MUST give this one a try! Your friends and family will never believe that it’s secret ingredient is beans (that is, if you can coerce yourself to share any of it after you’ve tasted how amazing it is). The original recipe that I followed is from Chocolate Covered Katie but I did make a few alterations, which I have included in the recipe below.
- 1 cup quick oats
- 500 grams re-hydrated chick peas (garbanzo beans) *please see note below before making
- 1/4 cup applesauce
- 1 T pure vanilla extract
- 2 tsp almond extract
- 1 T butter extract
- 3 T canola oil
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 and 1/2 cups sugar (white or brown, I used brown)
- 3 T cinnamon
Pre-heat oven to 350. Stir all ingredients together in a large mixing bowl then blend all ingredients VERY well in a food processor. If you have a small food processor like I do, I suggest doing 1 1/2 cups at a time and then re-mix it all in the mixing bowl again after it’s been blended. Spread mixture into a greased and floured pan (I used a 10 inch spring form pan which made it extremely easy to take out) and bake for about 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean (a little bit of crumb is ok). Let sit at room temperature for at least 10 minutes before you remove it from the pan. Serve plain, with butter, or if you want to add even a little more sweetness to it, Katie also has a great recipe for Cinnamon Roll Frosting that you should check out! I did serve mine with this; it was delicious. I did however, add about 1/2 tsp vanilla, sweetened it with a little bit of brown sugar (about 1 – 2 tablespoons), and used almond milk to thin it.
I know what you’re thinking right now, ” Where’s the picture? There’s usually always a picture! ”
*SIGH*
It hurts me to publish this without a picture to go along with it. You should be able to not only read about this amazing recipe but SEE how delicious it looks and be left with no other choice than to get whatever ingredients you may be lacking, head to the kitchen, throw it together and then anxiously wait the 35, no 45 minutes (curse those 10 minutes for cool down!) until you can finally taste the amazing creation.
So, what do I have to say for myself? Why have I failed you so? All I can say in my defense is that once you make this Cinnamon Roll Pie and painstakingly count down the minutes for it to be cool enough to taste without burning the roof of your mouth, you will understand why there is no picture. How could anyone lose focus on the fact that this thing tastes SO GOOD – and it has beans in it?! I needed to share the wealth (rather, what was left of it) immediately! Luckily, there are some people in this world who can control their desires to cut into and devour their amazing creations long enough to take a picture to share with the rest of us! So, just click on the first link above and you’ll be able to see how beautiful glorious this thing is.
*update regarding the beans: the first time I made this recipe I used dry garbanzo beans (in a bag) that had been soaking in water for a few days, so they were re-hydrated, not cooked. The second time I made this I realized that the first time I didn’t use canned beans, which are cooked, not just re-hydrated, so the second time I actually used the canned beans like the original recipe called for. I did not like the outcome. It ended up having a funny, almost chewy texture that I did not like and I did not eat or share any of it. Since the only thing I changed was using canned beans I’m pretty sure that’s why they turned out differently. I would suggest not using canned beans. Just buy a bag of dry chick peas, put them in a container and cover with water (make sure you add enough water as the beans will absorb the water). Let them sit 8-10 hours, overnight, or even a few days in the fridge is fine. Then measure out 500 grams.
fitwitme 