Baked Oatmeal

Oats are considered an ‘Ancient Grain’, a designation given to grains that have remained relatively unaltered for centuries. Oats date back to Paleolithic times. Today they are consumed in a form similar to their original state 32,000 years ago. As well as being delicious, they are high in fiber, protein, vitamins, and minerals and may help lower high blood pressure and cholesterol.

This is a Ree Drummond (aka The Pioneer Woman) recipe, which I altered a bit as I was going for the flavor of an oatmeal cookie in a breakfast cereal. It’s actually sweet enough that you could serve it for dessert.

Ree’s recipe calls for slivered almonds and fresh berries, which also sounds delicious. The first time I made this recipe I used slivered almonds per Ree’s recipe, but used raisins rather than berries.

The almonds were very good, but didn’t quite taste like an oatmeal cookie so this time I substituted the almonds for chopped walnuts and amped up the cinnamon. I also topped each time with toasted coconut; not something you’d usually find in an oatmeal cookie, but I thought the texture would be a nice contrast, and it was.

Ree did not suggest this, but I decided to separately mix the dry and wet ingredients (minus the melted butter) the night before baking. This made putting together on breakfast morning a cinch!

The ingredients are exactly what you might expect to get from an oatmeal cookie minus the flour.

We get our eggs fresh locally and they are sometimes huge! The original recipe calls for 1 large egg, but I thought it was a bit dry so planned on using 2 eggs, but this one super-sized egg did the trick! The Baked Oatmeal was more moist and tasted almost exactly like an oatmeal cookie.

Start by mixing the dry ingredients together: oats, chopped walnuts, raisins, baking powder, cinnamon, ground ginger, and a little salt.

You most likely do this already, but put the walnuts in a zip lock and pound them gently with a meat mallet. Very easy way to chop them.

Next mix the wet ingredients: milk, maple syrup, egg(s), vanilla extract. If you are not making overnight, at this point you will also mix melted butter into the wet mixture. If you are mixing ingredients the night before, wrap both bowls with plastic wrap and put the wet mixture in the fridge and the dry on the counter, but don’t forget to add the melted butter next morning.

I love that my husband, Jerry likes to sit and watch me cook! 

This is the Greek yogurt topping I made for the Baked Oatmeal.

Stir the wet mixture into the oat mixture to combine. Butter a 2 qt. baking dish. Transfer the mixture into the prepared baking pan. Sprinkle with toasted coconut if you like.

Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven until the oatmeal is set and golden brown, 55 to 60 minutes.

Let cool for 10 minutes before serving. Top with plain Greek yogurt mixed with a little maple syrup and cinnamon. I made more than we needed for 2 servings of oatmeal as I like to have this yogurt handy in the fridge for making parfaits or just adding some apples for a light snack.

This oatmeal is fairly sweet so you may want to cut the maple syrup back to 1/2 cup. My husband is crazy for sweets, so for him it was just fine!

Jerry said he liked this Baked Oatmeal as well as, or possibly better than the traditional Sunday pancakes.

This recipe could easily serve 8 and if you’re making for a smaller crew it freezes well, too. To reheat, thaw completely, top with a little milk, cover with foil and heat for 15-20 minutes in a 325 degree oven.

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Baked Oatmeal

Sweet moist and delicious. Reminiscent of an oatmeal cookie.

Ingredients

• 2 cups Old-fashioned oats
• 1 cup Walnuts, chopped
• 1 tsp. Baking powder
• 1 1/2 tsp. Ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. Ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp. Kosher salt
• 1 cup Raisins
• 2 1/2 cups Milk
• 2/3 cup Pure Maple Syrup
• 2 lge. Eggs
• 3 Tbsp. Melted butter
• 2 tsp. Vanilla extract
• Greek yogurt to serve, optional
• Toasted coconut for the top before baking, optional
• Fresh strawberry garnish, optional

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly coat a 2 quart baking dish with butter.
• In a large bowl, stir together the oats, raisins, chopped walnuts, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger and salt.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together the milk, maple syrup, eggs, melted butter and vanilla.
• Stir the milk mixture into the oat mixture to combine.
• Transfer the mixture to the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle the top with toasted coconut if desired. Bake until the oatmeal is set and golden brown; about 55 to 60 minutes. You may also carefully insert a knife to see if it comes out clean.
• Let the oatmeal cool for 10 minutes. Scoop a portion into a bowl and and serve with Greek style plain yogurt sweetened with maple syrup and cinnamon. Garnish with a fresh strawberry.