Eats: Cinnamon-Apple Baked Oatmeal

Hello! I usually have a smoothie for breakfast, but when it's cold and snowy out, somehow that doesn't do much for me. So I turn to oatmeal instead. 

But as nice as a steaming-hot bowl of oatmeal can be, sometimes I like to make baked oatmeal for a change of pace. I've tried a few recipes, and here's the one I made recently:

Cinnamon-Apple Baked Oatmeal(adapted from Gooseberry Patch Christmas Pantry)

1/2 cup applesauce
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
3 cups quick-cooking oatmeal
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup milk
1 cup apple, peeled, cored and chopped
A few drops maple extract(optional)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease an 8x8 pan. 

Combine applesauce, sugar and eggs in large bowl until well blended. Add next five ingredients (and optional maple extract if desired)and beat well. Fold in apples  and pour mixture into prepared pan. Bake for 30 minutes. 

Notes: I used a bit less than the specified 3/4 cup sugar and still found it too sweet. I'll used less sugar next time, probably 1/2 cup. Maple extract wasn't mentioned in the recipe at all, but I added a bit and it turned out to be a nice addition.

So that I could sleep in a bit longer in the morning, I cooked the baked oatmeal the night before, then refrigerated it overnight. Then all I had to do in the morning was reheat my serving. To that end, I baked it for only 25 minutes, figuring that reheating it in the microwave would cook it further. The baking/reheating worked fine.

And speaking of servings, the recipe made no mention of the yield, but I cut the finished baked oatmeal into six pieces. Yes, I said "cut" - it baked up firm enough to slice. 

Here's one serving:

The recipe suggests serving this with brown sugar and milk, but as I'd said, I found it plenty sweet on its own, so I just used milk. 

I still like traditional oatmeal better, but this is a nice option. Give it a try if you'd like a change of pace from your usual oatmeal too!