This recipe is more like an oatmeal soufflé. Or a gooey oatmeal cookie that you can legitimately eat for breakfast and not feel guilty about. While I wouldn’t give it 5 stars on the healthy scale, it’s not all that bad. Compared to your typical baked oatmeal, it does an great job of substituting the extra butter and sugar with some applesauce without sacrificing the fluffy texture. The best part is, it’s extremely easy to prepare and only takes 20 minutes in the oven. Makes for amazing leftovers too. Throw on a splash of milk, reheat, serve it over some sliced strawberries or bananas, and you’re set for the week.
The original recipe calls for raisins, so if you love oatmeal raisin cookies, that’s the way to go. Me, not so much. I just replaced the added raisins with extra walnuts and slivered almonds instead. Didn’t hurt at all. The second time I made the recipe, I even added ground flaxseed, and it was just as delicious. And, of course, in my house, you can’t make oatmeal without some cinnamon. It’s the perfect recipe for a lazy Sunday or a 90+ degree day when you’re home with a head cold (ugh). At least this oatmeal cookie breakfast soufflé is guaranteed to make you feel better. It’s also guaranteed to make my dog extremely jealous while staring at me with those I-haven’t-eaten-in-days-please-gimme-some little eyes. Enjoy.
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Baked Oatmeal
Adapted from Cooking Light magazine and myrecipes.com
Ingredients
2 cups uncooked quick-cooking oats
1/2 cup coconut sugar
1/3 cup chopped walnuts
1/3 cup slivered almonds (optional)
4 tablespoons ground flaxseeds (optional)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)
1 1/2 cups almond milk
1/2 cup applesauce
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 large egg, beaten
Cooking spray
Directions: Preheat oven to 375°. Coat an 8-inch square baking dish with cooking spray and set aside (mine was 9×13, but it worked fine). Combine the first 7 ingredients in a medium bowl and stir together. In a separate bowl, add the milk, applesauce, butter, and egg, and stir to combine. Add the milk mixture to oat mixture and stir well. Pour into greased baking dish and bake at 375° for 20 minutes. Serve warm. If desired, serve over fresh strawberries, bananas, blueberries or any fruit you choose to make it even more delicious.