The Secret World of Zoats?

Autumn in New England means everything warm and fuzzy – from sweatshirts and scarves and thick wool socks to comforting flavors like pumpkin, spice, apple, oats, etc. Now, the clothing aspect isn’t likely to put a dent into your healthy eating (though there is something that makes junk food magically more alluring when you’re at home wearing sweatpants, a sweatshirt, and fuzzy socks). The pumpkin and spice and raisin and oatmeal and chocolate and peanut butter foods, however, are another story.

 Everyone who matters knows that the pumpkin donuts and pumpkin muffin and pumpkin coffees at Dunkin Donuts are wonderful, beautiful, evil things. Why?

1 pumpkin munchkin = 60 (and NO ONE eats just a couple)

1 pumpkin donut = 360 kcal

1 pumpkin pie donut = 380 kcal

1 pumpkin crumb cake donut = 450 kcal

1 pumpkin muffin =550 kcal and 24 grams of fat!

Let’s paint a common scenario. The air is crisp and cool. Maybe you’ve been apple-picking or pumpkin-hunting and your belly has a hankering for some warm, rich flavors…but you definitely don’t want to be loosening the drawstring on those sweatpants in a few weeks to satisfy those cravings.

What do you do? MAKE ZOATS.

I discovered these on Instagram and an Internet search wasn’t terribly helpful. Are these some sort of secret or something? They really shouldn’t be and you can thank me for this later!

Essentially, zoats are a combination of shredded zucchini and oats. Oats are great; let’s be honest, it’d be great to sit down to a huge sinful bowl of oats. But at 140 calories per ½ cup, that adds up quickly.

Enter – the best thing ever. Okay, I concede, maybe not ever. But really close.

The zucchini bulks it out (it doesn’t taste like zucchini, promise!), the egg white adds protein and makes them nice and fluffy, and the oats make it hearty and happy.

Another awesome thing is that they are completely customizable. Want chocolate? Add cocoa powder. Want banana? Add banana. Caramel sauce, coffee, peanut butter, berries. The world is your zoat-oyster.

Although I’ve been making Chocolate Peanut Butter Zoats lately, I satisfied my fall flavor craving tonight and made Maple Cinnamon Zoats with Apple and Raisin. If you want them creamier, you can use almond milk or a dairy product instead of water.

Maple Cinnamon Zoats with Apple and Raisin

Now look at this beauty. I’m about to go make this again right now because, man, it hits the spot.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Zoats. Made with cocoa powder and topped with sugar free Hershey’s syrup and PB2 powder.

This is how easy it is:

Ingredients:

• 13g oats

• 175g zucchini, shredded finely on a box grater

• 1/8 cup sugar-free maple syrup – or anything similar you are comfortable with

• 50g apple, finely diced

• 4g raisin (just a sprinkle)

• 1 egg white

• cinnamon, nutmeg, pumpkin pie spice, to taste

• dash of vanilla extract

• ¾ water

• sweetener is optional (sugar, nectresse, splenda, whatever you like)

Directions:

In a small sauce pan, bring your water to a boil. Whisk in the egg white and watch it turn all fluffy and frothy. Then, add everything else! Adjust the strength of the seasonings as you see fit. Cook down until it is the consistency you like. The longer you cook it, the smoother the zucchini will be in the mixture. I let mine simmer for about 10 minutes, being sure to stir it often.

I poured it into a little dish and topped with a few of the apple bits I reserved, another dash of spices, and the tiniest dash of syrup again.

Warm, very filling, and the perfect fall treat; and this comes in at 140 calories for the entire bowl. That’s about half of one donut. Sorry Dunks.