Baked Oatmeal

I bought all the ingredients for this recipe weeks ago to try out on a Sunday morning, but held off because Ryan eats oatmeal during the week. Plus, the weekends are for frittata and cinnamon rolls. Not that we always have those two things, but you know what I mean. You usually want more than oatmeal for breakfast on the weekends. At least I know I do. Since the captain was over this week, I decided this would be a good time to make it - not only to try a new recipe that I've been wanting to for awhile, but to also spice up his every day oatmeal routine.

Along came 5 am, and the alarm clock went off. Let me say, this seemed way too early. Although, it's not much of a difference from the normal time it goes off - 5:30. Still, that 30 minutes makes a huge difference! Nevertheless, I got up and the captain rolled back over. Oh, what I would do for another 30 minutes of sleep! By the time I shook off the cobwebs and made my decaf green tea, I was ready to whip this up. Let me tell you - it takes just about 5 minutes to prepare this oatmeal. And no I'm not kidding. I think it took more time for my oven to preheat than it did to mix the oatmeal up. I'll take it though. My brain isn't fully awake at that hour for an overly complicated breakfast.

Mix the dry - oats, cinnamon, brown sugar, salt and baking powder and raisins. Mix the wet - eggs, milk, butter, unsweetened apple sauce, and vanilla. Mix the wet with the dry, place into a baking dish and bake for 40 minutes. By the time you are done with brushing your teeth and showering, you will have a delicious and warm oatmeal waiting for you in the oven. Even better, your house will smell like a big warm oatmeal cookie (it tastes like one too!). If that doesn't get you up in the morning, I don't know what will.

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I can't believe I remembered all the ingredients at 5am. go me!

dry

wet

wet + dry

mix

baked until golden brown

serve with a splash of milk and top with slivered almonds and fresh fruit!

Baked Oatmeal (adapted from www.allrecipes.com)

3 c. oats (not quick-cooking)

1/2 c. brown sugar

1 tsp. salt

2 tsp. cinnamon

2 tsp. baking powder

3/4 c. raisins

1 c. milk (I used unsweetened almond milk, but use what you have on hand)

1/4 c. butter, melted 

1/4 c. unsweetened applesauce

2 tsp. vanilla

2 eggs

Slivered almonds, optional

Preheat oven to 350. In a large bowl, combine the oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, salt, and raisins. In a smaller bowl, mix together the milk, butter, applesauce, vanilla, and eggs. Add the liquid mixture to the dry mixture and whisk to combine. Pour into a deep pie plate or an 8×8 or 9×9 baking dish. Bake for 40 minutes or until the top is golden brown. Serve immediately with a splash of warmed milk and top with fresh fruit and silvered almonds.

Since I was curious, I decided to to a calorie count on this recipe. It serves eight and comes in at about 260 calories a serving. Not bad, but for me, I wanted it to be a little bit less. If you add in 1/2 cup applesauce in place of the butter and applesauce and the eggs for egg substitute, you bring it down to about 210 calories a serving. Much better. That and don't forget, you can add in other dried fruit too - apples, dried cranberries, dried cherries!