Just when you thought oats had reached their limit, here are a few uses that you may not have considered.
If you look at some of your expensive bath salts and scrubs, you may be surprised to find oats in the ingredient list. They are sometimes referred to as colloidal oatmeal. The great news is you don’t need to go to a chemistry class to make it; all you need is a strong blender or a spice or coffee grinder.
Finely ground oats added to a bath are soothing to dry or sunburned skin and can even alleviate itching, which makes it great to have on hand in the winter. You can use it as is or make the Soothing Lavender Oat Bath Soak to leave you (and your bathroom) smelling beautiful!
I like to use the Oatmeal Cookie Scrub on my dry hands, but it’s delightful to use on your whole body in the shower. The best part is that you probably already have the ingredients you need to make the scrub right in your kitchen!
Some of the better doggie cookies have oats as a main ingredient. I have a gluten-free cookie recipe, as well as recipes featuring peppermint for better breath and culinary grade lavender and chamomile for calming your energetic pup.
You will not believe how cheap these are to make at home. In fact, if you start making oat milk on a weekly basis, you’ll find yourself with a surplus of oat pulp. Instead of just throwing it away, use it in a recipe like the Calm Pup Cookies. You could replace some of the banana with it in the other doggie cookies as well.
I couldn’t leave the kitties out, so there’s also a recipe that includes catnip. After all, your cats need a little fun and relaxation, too!
Itchy skin is no fun, but relaxing in a warm and moisturizing bath of Lavender Oat Bath Soak certainly is. Just chalk up another point for oats!
2 cups (184 g) rolled oats
½ cup (110 g) baking soda
2 tablespoons (28 g) lavender buds
2 tablespoons (30 ml) olive oil
2 tablespoons (10 ml) rosewater
Grind the oats, baking soda and lavender into a fine powder using a blender or spice grinder. Add in the olive oil and rosewater. Store in an airtight jar and use ¼ to ½ cup (60 to 120 ml) per bath.
Make variations by using other herbs and extracts.
This scrub is gentle and moisturizing, and it uses ingredients that you have on hand. It can also be tucked in a mason jar with a ribbon for a quick and easy present.
1 cup (92 g) rolled oats
¾ cup (165 g) brown sugar
¼ cup (240 ml) olive oil
1 tablespoon (15 ml) vanilla extract
1½ teaspoons (4 g) ground cinnamon
Grind the oats into a fine powder using a blender or spice grinder. Mix all the ingredients in a bowl using a fork or your hands to distribute the moisture evenly. Store in an airtight jar.
Lavender and chamomile can be a stressed doggie’s best friend. Instead of spending a fortune on tinctures, make some of these cookies to relieve a little of your own stress. My dogs love these. They really help my high-strung pup relax.
½ cup leftover oat pulp (from making oat milk or creamer—here)
1 tablespoon (7 g) ground flaxseed
2 small bananas
1 tablespoon (4 g) crushed dried chamomile flowers
1 tablespoon (14 g) culinary lavender
1½ cups (140 g) rolled oats
1¼ to 1½ cups (160 to 195 g) whole wheat flour (*use gluten-free baking mix)
Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Oil 2 cookie sheets or cover with parchment paper.
In a mixer or a large bowl, mash the pulp, flaxseed and bananas until the mixture is relatively smooth. Add in the herbs and oats, and then incorporate the whole wheat flour a ½ cup (65 g) at a time. You may have to knead in the last bit of flour with your hands.
Flour a large cutting board and roll out the dough. Take care to keep the board floured as you go along so that it’s easy to get the cookies off. Roll the dough to about ¼-inch/0.6-cm thick and use either your favorite cookie cutter or a pizza cutter to cut out fun shapes.
Move the cookies to the cookie sheets as you go along. Gather any remaining dough, roll out, cut more cookies and repeat until all the dough is used.
Alternatively, if you don’t have the time or energy to roll out the dough and make cute cookies, just press the batter evenly on the cookie sheet with your hands. Take a dough scraper or knife and score the dough.
Bake for 40 minutes. You can leave them like this and have softer cookies with a crisp bottom, or you can break the pieces off, turn them upside down and spread onto 2 large cookie sheets and bake for an additional 10 to 15 minutes.
Dogs are developing allergies as quickly as people are these days. Both of our dogs have food allergies, so I have a recipe for you to try if yours do as well. These are full of banana, sweet potato, coconut oil and parsley—all things that make a good doggie feel even better.
2 very ripe bananas
¾ cup (135 g) sweet potato purée (can use pumpkin instead)
⅓ cup (69 ml) coconut oil
2 tablespoons (3 g) parsley (fresh or dried)
2 cups (240 g) buckwheat flour
1 cup (92 g) rolled oats
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup (158 g) brown rice flour
Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Spread 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper or spray them with oil.
Combine the bananas, sweet potato purée, coconut oil and parsley in a mixer until smooth and creamy. Add in the buckwheat flour, mix, then add the oats, baking soda and cinnamon.
Mix some more, then add the brown rice flour ½ cup (75 g) at a time.
The dough will not be stiff enough to roll out, so use a tablespoon cookie scoop and place dollops about 1 inch (2.5 cm) apart. Smash them flat with the palm of your hand or the back of a wooden spoon.
Bake for 10 minutes. When you take them out of the oven, flip them on the cookie sheet and let cool. This will cook the tops a little more and increase their shelf-life.
Repeat until all the cookies are baked. Store in an airtight container. If you don’t want that many cookies all at once, you can pack up some of the dough in wax paper and freeze it. When you are ready, cut thin slices of the dough and bake for a quick good-dog treat.
I also call these Quiet Cookies because I used them to teach my pups to stop barking. Now, when I ask if they want a Quiet Cookie, my dogs come to me silently and sit patiently for their tasty treat. Their minty-fresh breath is just an added bonus!
1 cup (208 g) coconut oil
¼ cup (112 g) ground flaxseed mixed with ½ cup (120 ml) warm water
2 ripe bananas, broken into small pieces
½ cup (127 g) unsweetened applesauce
2 teaspoons (10 ml) peppermint extract
3 cups (375 g) white whole wheat flour
2 cups (160 g) rolled oats
1 teaspoon salt
Oil a large cookie sheet and preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C).
Cream the coconut oil, flaxseed mixture, bananas, applesauce and peppermint together in a mixer (or mash together using a pastry cutter) until the banana is mashed well and the coconut oil is thoroughly incorporated.
Add the salt, 2 cups (200 g) of the white wheat flour and 1 cup (80 g) of the rolled oats. Mix well, then add the oats and remaining flour.
Press the batter evenly on the cookie sheet, spreading it into each corner. Take a dough scraper or knife and score the dough.
Bake for 40 minutes. You can leave them like this and have softer cookies with a crisp bottom, or you can break the pieces off, turn them upside down and spread onto 2 large cookie sheets, baking for an additional 10 to 15 minutes.
If you have a mixed-species household like I do, you better be bringing the cats a treat if the dogs are snacking. Irma, my older cat, has a special evil look if there’s no cookie for her!
2½ cups (232 g) rolled oats
2 tablespoons (12 g) nutritional yeast
¼ cup (114 g) dried and crushed catnip
⅔ cup (150 g) nondairy yogurt
Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C) and spray a small cookie sheet with oil.
Blend the oats, yeast and catnip until the oats are ground as fine as flour. Pour into a mixing bowl and stir in the yogurt to create the dough.
Press the dough out about ⅛ to ¼-inch (0.3 to 0.6-cm) thin on the cookie sheet and score the dough so it’s easier to break up into tiny treats when finished baking.
Bake for 20 minutes. You can stop here if you want chewy treats; just make sure to store them in the fridge. If you do not, the moisture will make them go bad faster at room temperature.
If you want crunchy treats, bake for the original 20 minutes and then let cool until comfortable to the touch. Then break apart into individual treats and bake for an additional 5 to 10 minutes. They should be fairly hard—like biscotti.
No yogurt? You can use nondairy milk, broth or even water in its place.
