Baked Oatmeal

One of the coffee shops near our house sells baked oatmeal. Personally, I find regular oatmeal to be too heavy and sticky, and frequently I feel a little sick after eating it. Baked oatmeal is perfect, though. It provides great nutrition, fills you up for a long time, can be made in advance, is not time consuming, and is able to be modified to your heart's content. Plus, my family loves it, especially LE.

I searched the internet and my favorite food sites for a promising baked oatmeal recipe, but my search came up a little short. I ended up combining a few recipes and techniques from many places to come up with my recipe.

Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 25 minutes

Preheat your oven to 350.

Gather your ingredients:

• 3 cups old fashioned oats
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons of ground flax seed (optional; added for nutrition only)
• 3/4 cup chopped, toasted walnuts
• 3/4 cup dried cranberries or other dried fruit
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup whole milk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/4-1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted (or substitute unsweetened applesauce for part or all)
• 1/4 - 1/3 cup agave nectar (I prefer just 1/4 cup... use even less if you're using applesauce; substitute brown sugar or honey, if desired; Remember that you can always add sugar when you serve it.)

Take 7-8 ramekins or one square glass pan (8x8 or 9x9). If using butter: Pour enough butter into each ramekin or pan to coat the bottom and edges. Reserve excess butter. If not using butter: Spray each ramekin or pan with cooking spray.

Pour excess butter into next ramekin.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper to catch spills when baking, and place ramekins or pan onto the baking sheet.

In a large bowl, use a rubber spatula to combine the first 5 ingredients (oats, baking powder, flax, salt, cinnamon); then add the next 2 (nuts, cranberries) and stir again. {If using a dry sweetener instead of agave or honey, add it here.} 

In a separate bowl, slightly whisk the eggs. Then, add the rest of the wet ingredients (milk, vanilla, remaining butter or applesauce, agave nectar or honey) and whisk to combine. 

Make a little well in the middle of the dry ingredients bowl, and pour the wet ingredients into it. Mix, using the rubber spatula, until everything is just combined.

Pour about a 1/2 cup of the mixture into each ramekin (or the whole thing into the square pan). Gently even out the tops a little.

Place the ramekins/pan with the baking sheet into the oven on the middle rack. Bake for 25 minutes or until the tops are starting to brown.

Cool slightly; serve in the ramekin with some milk poured over it.

This will keep in the refrigerator for up to one week with each ramekin covered with plastic wrap. Zap in the microwave for one minute or reheat in the oven at 325 for about 10 minutes or until warm throughout. {I don't preheat the oven when I reheat it.}

Enjoy!!