Oatmeal-Raisin Snack Cake plus Cream Cheese Frosting

We tend to go in cycles with our favorite cookies… we're always up for a good chocolate chip cookie, but we tend to have bursts of cravings for other flavors like oatmeal-raisin, snickerdoodles and peanut butter. We love chewy, nutty texture of oatmeal-raisin cookies and we're almost able to convince myself that they’re lighter since… oats! This snack cake tastes like a hybrid of a frosted oatmeal-raisin cookie and our great aunt’s famous poor man’s cookies, which is actually a spiced snack cake with raisins and nuts, and topped a boiled frosting.

We've always been a huge fan of oatmeal since we were a kid, grabbing those maple brown sugar packets for breakfast from elementary school all the way through college and our first “real” job. Eventually, we started using plain oats and cooking them on the stove, adding in things like apples, raisins, dates, nuts, bananas, and whatever other add-ins we were hungry for on a particular day. We then transitioned to steel cut oats for the increased health benefits, but they do take some extra time to cook and we don’t find them nearly as convenient as the pouches or even the traditional rolled oats on the stovetop.

When Quaker Oats contacted us and asked if we wanted to try their new speedy-cooking 3-minute steel cut oats, we were thrilled to give them a try. Being able to make steel cut oats in three minutes versus the typical 30 minutes is awesome, especially since our days of leisurely breakfasts are on hiatus for the unforeseen future. They even have instant steel cut oats pouches in two different flavors – Brown Sugar & Cinnamon and Cranberries & Blueberries.

It didn’t take us long at all to throw these speedy-cooking oats into a recipe that’s a hybrid of one of our favorite cookies and one of our favorite old family recipes.

Three years ago: Conch Fritters
Four years ago: Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes

Oatmeal-Raisin Snack Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Yield: 15 to 18 servings This Oatmeal-Raisin Snack Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting is wonderfully light and plush - a reliable casual dessert. It tastes like a big oatmeal-raisin cookie!

For the Cake:

• 1½ cups (375 ml) boiling water
• 1½ cups (217.5 g) raisins
• 1 cup (160 g) speedy-cooking steel cut oats
• 1⅓ cups (166.67 g) all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) ground nutmeg
• ½ teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) salt
• ½ cup (113.5 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
• 1 cup (220 g) light brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the Cream Cheese Frosting:

• 8 ounces (226.8 g) cream cheese, cold
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2 cups (240 g) powdered sugar
• ½ teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) vanilla extract
• Pinch of salt

• Make the Cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9x13-inch baking pan.
• In a medium bowl, stir together the boiling water, raisins and oats and let sit for 20 minutes.
• In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt; set aside.
• Using an electric mixer, beat the butter and both sugars together on high speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Reduce the speed to medium and add the eggs and vanilla extract, beating to combine. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the oat mixture, then gradually add the flour mixture, beating until just combined. Give the mixture a final stir with a rubber spatula and transfer to the prepared baking pan.
• Bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 40 to 45 minutes. Place on a wire rack and cool completely before frosting.
• Make the Cream Cheese Frosting: Using an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and butter on medium-high speed until smooth, about 3 minutes. Reduce the mixer speed to medium-low and gradually add the powdered sugar until it is all incorporated. Add the vanilla extract and salt, increase the mixer speed to medium-high and beat until light and smooth, about 2 minutes. Spread over the cooled cake and serve. Leftovers can be stored at room temperature, covered, for up to 4 days.

Notes

Nutritional values are based on one serving

• Yield: 15 to 18 servings
• Prep: 30 minutes
• Cook: 30 minutes
• Total: 1 hour

Ingredients

For the Cake:

• 1½ cups ( 375 ml ) boiling water
• 1½ cups ( 217.5 g ) raisins
• 1 cup ( 160 g ) speedy-cooking steel cut oats
• 1⅓ cups ( 166.67 g ) all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon ( 0.5 teaspoon ) ground nutmeg
• ½ teaspoon ( 0.5 teaspoon ) salt
• ½ cup ( 113.5 g ) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup ( 200 g ) granulated sugar
• 1 cup ( 220 g ) light brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the Cream Cheese Frosting:

• 8 ounces ( 226.8 g ) cream cheese, cold
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2 cups ( 240 g ) powdered sugar
• ½ teaspoon ( 0.5 teaspoon ) vanilla extract
• Pinch of salt

Method

1. Make the Cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9x13-inch baking pan.
2. In a medium bowl, stir together the boiling water, raisins and oats and let sit for 20 minutes.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt; set aside.
4. Using an electric mixer, beat the butter and both sugars together on high speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Reduce the speed to medium and add the eggs and vanilla extract, beating to combine. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the oat mixture, then gradually add the flour mixture, beating until just combined. Give the mixture a final stir with a rubber spatula and transfer to the prepared baking pan.
5. Bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 40 to 45 minutes. Place on a wire rack and cool completely before frosting.
6. Make the Cream Cheese Frosting: Using an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and butter on medium-high speed until smooth, about 3 minutes. Reduce the mixer speed to medium-low and gradually add the powdered sugar until it is all incorporated. Add the vanilla extract and salt, increase the mixer speed to medium-high and beat until light and smooth, about 2 minutes. Spread over the cooled cake and serve. Leftovers can be stored at room temperature, covered, for up to 4 days.