BAKED OATMEAL
- 3 cups old fashioned oats - not quick oats
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup milk
- 2 eggs (slightly beaten) (just whites works fine or egg beaters)
- ½ cup melted margarine/butter (1 stick)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- Fruit (optional): 2 cups frozen (fresh is fine but not thawed) blueberries; peeled/sliced apples; or 1 can crushed pineapple, partially drained (our favorite is pineapple) ; raisins, craisins, or whatever fruit you want to use). Sometimes I slice a few apples, add a little sugar and put them in the bottom of a baking dish, topping them with the oatmeal mixture, then baking and serving like a thick apple crisp. That works wonderfully and serving it that way is a special treat for breakfast on the first crisp cool autumn day here in Missouri!
We eat this like coffee cake without milk, but my mother-in-law tops hers with milk like regular oatmeal!
I half this recipe and bake it in an 8x8 pan or med pyrex baking casserole dish (without the lid).
I cannot describe to you how wonderful this is. Like a warm oatmeal cookie but not quite as sweet. Even people who don’t like a bowl of oatmeal will like this one! And its even good leftover!
Hint: You can mix this up, cover, and place it in your fridge for baking the next morning. My mornings used to be pretty hectic but I could still pop this in the oven cold without preheating my oven (since the mixture was cold, not using glass, however) and it would be ready after my shower.