These oats are a great dessert/breakfast mix that’s delicious, but good for you, too. It’s made clean by cooking the apples using coconut sugar instead of refined white sugar and adding cinnamon and nutmeg for spice. Prep the oats by mixing all the ingredients, then make a date caramel sauce that’s healthier than any caramel sauce you can purchase from the grocery store and so luscious that you’ll fall in love with it.  

For the Cinnamon Apples: 

2 large Honeycrisp or Pink Lady apples,    
     cored, peeled and diced  

2 Tbsp coconut sugar  

⅛ tsp cinnamon  

⅛ tsp nutmeg  

For the Oats: 

1½ cups rolled oats  

1½ cups unsweetened almond milk  

2 Tbsp chia seeds  

1 tsp vanilla extract  

¼ tsp ground cinnamon  

For the Date Caramel Sauce: 

10–12 pitted dried dates  

⅛ tsp sea salt  

½ cup hot water, divided  

 To make the cinnamon apples, combine the apples, coconut sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg in a saucepan, and cook over medium heat for 6 to 8 minutes until the apples are softened, but not mushy. 

For the oats, combine the oats, milk,chia seeds, vanilla and cinnamon in a mixing bowl.  

To make the date caramel sauce, process the dates and sea salt in a food processor until they are finely chopped. Add the water, 1 tablespoon at a time, to the dates until the mixture becomes smooth and resembles caramel. You may need to scrape down the sides of the food processor.  

Spoon half of the oat mixture into the bottom of an 8-ounce jar with a lid or a sealable container, then top with the date sauce and apples. Repeat in a second jar with the remaining ingredients. 

Refrigerate the oats overnight or for at least 4 hours. The oats can be enjoyed cold straight from the refrigerator or heated in the microwave for 1 to 2 minutes. 

Reprinted from Clean-Eating Breakfasts and Lunches Made Simple, by Lacey Baier.