Baked Oatmeal

I spent last weekend at a great women's retreat where they served baked oatmeal for breakfast! My mother in law and I were both pretty excited about the delicious hearty breakfast dish. I found many recipes online, but I used Brown Eyed Bakers for a starting point. I changed almost everything about the recipe to suit my tastes. The biggest alterations I made were eliminating the sugar completely and extending the baking time to get a drier, crisper top layer. But those are my personal tweaks. Optional changes are listed at the bottom of the ingredients. 

This recipe is quick to throw together and it bakes while I'm showering. When I'm ready for breakfast it's ready for me--hot and warm and hearty. The perfect way to start a fall morning!

It's really easy to double or triple this recipe for a larger crowd (using a 9x13 inch pan) or cut it in half for breakfast for 2. And even if you have leftovers, they're yummy reheated the next morning. 

inspired by Brown Eyed Baker and Cooking Light.

Serves 3-4 adults

Ingredients

2 cups uncooked oats

1 teaspoon baking powder

1½ cups milk

½ cup applesauce

2 tablespoons butter, melted

1 large egg, beaten

Cooking spray

optional: you may choose to add up to 1/2 cup packed brown sugar and 1/3 cup raisins to the mixture prior to baking. I found that this is delicious without any sugar at all. And I prefer to sprinkle on raisins after baking.

optionally optional: Next time I shall chop some apples and mix it in with the oatmeal to bake. Yum! You could do this with almost any fruit of your choice. Strawberries, bananas and peaches would be especially perfect.

Directions

Preheat oven to 375°. Combine the first 5 ingredients in a large bowl. Combine the milk, applesauce, butter, and egg in a separate bowl (when I cut the recipe in half I could fit all of the liquid ingredients in one 2-cup measuring cup). Add milk mixture to oat mixture; stir well. Pour oat mixture into an 8-inch square baking dish coated with cooking spray. Bake for 20-40 minutes (I know that's quite a gap. The oatmeal is cooked and delicious at 20 minutes, but I would prefer the longer time as I like the top of the oatmeal to be a bit crisp. If you cut the recipe in half, bake for 15-20 minutes.) Serve warm with added brown sugar or raisins and milk if desired.