Grandma Elizabeth's Oatmeal Cake

Just in time for Christmas, I'm sharing one of our Grandma Elizabeth's old-fashioned family recipes. This one is straight out of our cherished family cookbook, and it does not disappoint. It's an oatmeal cake with a brown sugar, coconut, and pecan frosting that offers a break from the all-chocolate, all-the-time Christmas treats that you may be experiencing this time of year.

This recipe is truly a treasure, and you might already have all of the ingredients in your pantry to whip it up today!

Grandma Elizabeth's Old-Fashioned Oatmeal Cake

1 1/2 cups water

1 tsp salt

1 cup old-fashioned oats

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup brown sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1 1/2 cups self-rising flour*

2 eggs

1/2 cup oil

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 3 quart casserole dish with cooking spray and set aside.
2. Add 1 1/2 cups of water and 1 tsp of salt to a small pot and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and add oats. Let stand while mixing remaining ingredients.
3. Mix together in a large mixing bowl sugars, cinnamon, and flour. Add oil and eggs and stir until incorporated.
4. Add oats and water mixture and stir until entire mixture is combined.
5. Bake in preheated oven for 35 minutes or until toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean.
6. Remove cake from oven and let cool on a wire rack.
7. While cake is cooling, prepare frosting.

Frosting

1 stick butter, softened

1 1/2 cups brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup milk

7 oz. sweetened coconut

1 cup chopped pecans**

1. Place the butter in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed until fluffy, about 30 seconds.
2. Add the brown sugar, 1/2 cup milk, and vanilla. Blend with the mixer on low speed until the sugar is incorporated, 1 minute. Increase the speed to medium and beat until light and fluffy, 1 minute more.
3. Add coconut and nuts and blend on low speed until incorporated.
4. Frost oatmeal cake while still warm.
5. If desired, put cake in oven under broiler to brown top.

Notes:

If you do not have self-rising flour on hand (I did not), you can make this substitution for the 1 1/2 cups of flour required for the recipe:

Add to one measuring cup:

• 2 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 tsp salt
• enough all-purpose flour to fill the cup

PLUS another 1/2 cup all-purpose flour

You can substitute walnuts in the recipe for pecans if you'd prefer.

If you enjoyed this old-fashioned recipe, make sure to check out the other old-fashioned recipes we've posted:

• Grandma Elizabeth's Applesauce Cake
• Grandma Elizabeth's Magic Fruitcake
• Grandma Elizabeth's Coconut Custard Pie
• Grandma Elizabeth's Cobbler
• Grandma's Old-Fashioned Chicken Soup