We eat a lot of oatmeal around here, but never the soupy kind in a bowl. I know there is a bit of convenience with the store-bought instant kind, but when I look at the ingredients, I see maltodextrin, hydrogenated oils, artificial flavors, and some other weird things. (The peaches and cream variety contains no peaches??)
My solution is baked oatmeal. I prep it the night before, and I make a large batch that lasts all week. I wish I had a real photo I took with a real camera and edited, but I leave my house at 7:30 with two kids in tow. So that would never happen at the breakfast table. I don’t even have a cell phone picture, so you will just have to make it yourself to see what it looks like. You won’t regret it!
The recipe is so simple, and I wanted to share it. I’ve tried a variety of baked oatmeal variations, and I eventually blended a few different recipes to create this one. It is flexible and can be changed to suit whatever you have on hand. Right now, it is my absolute favorite breakfast, and my four-year-old will ask for seconds and thirds! I’ve started buying the huge box of oatmeal at Costco to keep up with our habit around here. It does contain eggs, so I’m not technically in line with my VB6 attempt when I eat this, but I usually make it with almond milk so that it is dairy-free.
Basic Baked Oatmeal
3 cups rolled oats
3/4 cup sucanat (or brown sugar)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 eggs
1 cup milk (or almond milk if making dairy free)
1/2 cup melted coconut oil (or butter if you’d like)
at least 1 cup fruit of choice (I use whatever is on-hand – bananas, blueberries, peaches, apples. Fresh or frozen. I occasionally add shredded coconut or a few pecans if the baby isn’t going to eat it.)
**optional: 1/2 cup Chia seeds (great tasteless source of Omega-3)
The night before:
Combine oats, sucanat, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon in a large bowl. In another bowl, whisk eggs, milk, and coconut oil. Combine wet and dry ingredients and then stir in fruit and chia seeds. Spoon into a baking dish. (I use my long pyrex pan most of the time, but square would work, too.) Place dish in the refrigerator.
The following morning:
Preheat oven to 350, and remove dish from refrigerator. Bake for about 40 minutes, and it’s perfect. You can eat this plain or with milk on top (how Jude likes it). Enjoy!
Mama the Reader 