"oatmeal" news and stories

Where's the maple? McDonald's may have gotten itself in a sticky mess with the Vermont Agency of Agriculture (VAA), who says the company's new Fruit & Maple Oatmeal menu item does not actually contain any maple product. That's a violation of Vermont's stringent maple law, and could mean that McDonald's will have to change ingredients or labeling.

"What we understand, is there is no actual maple in the [McDonald's] product being advertised. Vermont maple law and regulations are very specific for how the term maple is used in advertisements," Kelly Loftus, VAA spokesperson told Slashfood. "It is illegal to use the word maple on a product unless the sweetener is 100 percent pure maple. Artificial maple flavoring should be clearly and conspicuously labeled on the principal panel with the term 'artificial flavor'."

McDonald's Fruit & Maple Oatmeal ingredient list includes whole grain rolled oats, brown sugar, food starch-modified, salt, natural maple flavor with other natural flavor (plant source), barley malt extract, and caramel color.

In a written statement, McDonald's says they are "currently in discussions with the State of Vermont to ensure that we meet any applicable state standards."

Back in September, we reported on a new item joining the menu at McDonald's -- oatmeal! -- but the company wasn't quite ready to reveal all the details. Well, Nation's Restaurant News reports that the new "Fruit & Maple Oatmeal" will be available "all day long, with or without brown sugar, for $1.99" starting on January 3rd at more than 14,000 locations.

Other chains have recently adopted the comforting breakfast dish, including Starbucks, Caribou Coffee, Ja mba Juice and Prêt à Manger, notes Nation's Restaurant News, so a McD version of oatmeal isn't a shocker.

Their version contains "five grams of dietary fiber and two-thirds of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's recommended daily allowance of whole grain." Not bad, golden arches. The dish will also come with half a cup's worth of "red and green apples, dried cranberries and golden and regular raisins." This amounts to 290 calories of sugar (260 without the added brown sugar) largely from the fruit, of course.

Each Thursday, we round up a selection of scrumptious links from our friends over at YumSugar. Here's what they've got cooking this week:

• It's about time famous toques do the tipping.
• Comparing one apple-cinnamon oatmeal to another.
• Starbucks had a baby, and its name is Roy Street Coffee & Tea.
• Making chorizo at home is easy, even if you don't have a meat grinder.
• When life gives you strawberries, make strawberry vodka cocktails.

Happy Oatmeal Cookie Day!

Filled with the savory crunch of oats, oatmeal cookies -- like the Marshmallow-filled version pictured here -- are a simple-yet-sophisticated childhood favorite. Says blogger Boastful Baker of these sweet treats, "These are a lot like the Little Debbie oatmeal sandwich cookies that millions of us inhaled as children. The cookie is soft and full of oatmeal. The filling is buttery and marshmallowy."

The Boastful Baker tweaked the cinnamon-heavy recipe, adapted from The All-American Cookie Book by Nancy Baggett. Try it yourself today!

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Cooking steel-cut oats may take a bit more time than a packet of instant oatmeal (OK, about 20 to 30 minutes longer), but the chewy texture and nutty flavor of these freshly milled whole grains will make all the difference.

Stir in a touch of brown sugar and cinnamon, and top with fresh mixed berries, as in the recipe photographed above, and you'll have a sweet eye-opener that's also good for your heart. And if you're not an early riser, you can put the ingredients in the pot the night before and let them cook overnight using your slow cooker.

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