Wild Blueberry Cheesecake Baked Oats
By posting this recipe I am entering a recipe contest sponsored by the Wild Blueberry Association of North America and am eligible to win prizes associated with the contest. I was not compensated for my time.
I get really excited when I learn something new about food, especially when it involves health – good or bad - because I love to spread the word. Thanks to the Recipe ReDux and the Wild Blueberry Association of North America, I learned a lot this month (all good) and I can’t wait to share it!
I’ve always loved blueberries – I eat them for a large part of the year, and I can’t wait ‘til they’re in season so I can stock up and freeze them. They are one of the healthiest fruits because they’re loaded with antioxidants. There’s also a good deal of research, which indicates that they’re good for your heart, brain, eyes, urinary tract, gut, and they may help protect you from cancer. WOW. In my opinion, they’re a superfood!
Well, (here comes the part about what I learned) have you ever noticed that sometimes the frozen blueberries are large and sometimes they’re very small and pea sized? I have, and honestly, I thought the small ones were just younger – I never gave it much thought. But here’s the real story on that.
The small blueberries are wild blueberries, and they really are wildly different from the larger, cultivated blueberries you find in your produce department. They’re grown naturally in Maine, eastern Canada and Quebec, and they have twice the antioxidants of cultivated blueberries. Wild blueberries also have a more intense blueberry taste, and deeper color (and FYI it’s the color that gives them the antioxidants). Because they’re frozen at harvest, these beauties are available all year round.
One more important point. Wild blueberries are 10,000 years old. They’ve never been modified, or meddled with by anyone to make them larger, or easier to ship. I really like that.
I also really like this baked oatmeal dish that I came up with. It combines three of my favorite healthy foods - wild blueberries, oats and Greek yogurt. I often eat them together in my regular oatmeal, but this is a wonderful wintertime (or anytime) twist. It's great for a brunch, or just make a pan and call breakfast done for the week!
If you like fresh produce blueberries, I’m pretty sure you’ll love wild blueberries, because they’re the blueberriest! Look for them in the frozen fruit section.
Recipe
Wild Blueberry Cheesecake Baked Oats
Ingredients
- 12 ounce bag frozen Wild Blueberries let partially thaw while you assemble recipe
- 2 cups old fashioned oats
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup toasted pecans chopped
- 2 eggs lightly beaten
- 1 ½ cups 1% milk
- 4 ounces Greek cream cheese softened
- 4 ounces plain fat free Greek yogurt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 Tablespoons maple syrup
Optional: cream cheese/yogurt topping
- 4 ounces Greek cream cheese - or lite cream cheese softened
- 8 ounces plain Greek yogurt
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup or more to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 8" x 8" baking pan with cooking spray.
- Pour wild blueberries over the bottom of the pan.
- In a mixing bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients and stir to combine.
- In a separate mixing bowl, combine eggs, milk, 4 ounces of cream cheese, 4 ounces of yogurt, 2 tablespoons of maple syrup, and the vanilla, and mix with a hand mixer or stand mixer, so cream cheese is well combined.
- Pour the dry ingredients in with the wet ingredients, and stir well to combine.
- Pour this mixture into the baking pan, over the wild blueberries.
- Bake for 35-45 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.
Optional - Cream cheese/yogurt topping
- With a mixer, combine 4 ounces cream cheese, 8 ounces Greek yogurt, and 1 tablespoon maple syrup in a small bowl.
- Serve baked oats warm, and top with cream cheese/yogurt topping if desired.
Notes
Nutrition information does not include cream cheese/yogurt topping.
Nutrition
Do you like blueberries? Have you ever tried the wild ones?
Eat well!
I regularly make baked oatmeal squares and you just took them to a whole other level with wild blueberries and cheese cake layer -YUM!
Thanks Deanna! I think everything's better with a little cream cheese and wild blueberries 🙂