Sugar Bend Farm

Baked Oatmeal

7:08 AM, 2008-Jan-9 .. 2 comments .. Link

I suppose I have been living under a rock for the last few year, but has anyone else had this awesome tasting breakfast? I accidentely discovered baked oatmeal because I was trying to make a fruit crumble and changed it up some to make it more cake-y. I had peaches and I started mixing oatmeal and other ingredients and covered the peaches and baked it. Well, it turned out delicious! Either that or my body was craving the oats and fruit. Anyway, I ran across a recipe for Baked Oatmeal that sounded similiar to what I had made only with different fruits. So I got obsessed in searching for different versions and looking for the healthiest version. I have collected several that I am trying. I will let you know which turns out best for me. This seems to be the basic recipe, but you can play with it and make it less fat and calorie laiden and use different fruits and nuts. I must say that the peaches were great with it. As I am sure that blueberries and apples would be. Add walnuts or pecans and this is an awesome treat! Of course there are substutions you can make, like applesauce instead of the butter, low fat or fat free milk, egg substitute and I used less sugar and added some honey. Just play with it and find your favorite combinations. Let me know if you have a better version.

Baked Oatmeal
3 cups rolled oats
1 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
2 eggs
1/2 cup melted butter
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 cup dried cranberries

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a large bowl, mix together oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt. Beat in milk, eggs, melted butter, and vanilla extract. Stir in dried cranberries. Spread into a 9x13 inch baking dish.
Bake in preheated oven for 40 minutes.