Oatmeal Bake

Oatmeal bake is like eating cake for breakfast. It's delicious, chewy, and baked in a cake-shape. Everyone in my family likes it, requests it, and asks for seconds. There are VERY few recipes for any type of meal that EVERYBODY actually likes!

The texture of baked oatmeal is kind of between a nutrigrain bar and a cake. It is chewy, cakey, crispy on the edges a little, just sweet-enough, and delicious. It is not mushy or runny like traditionally cooked oatmeal.

You could probably make this healthier by using honey or maple syrup to sweeten this. Or just leave out the sugar all together. The original recipe has quadruple the sugar that my modified recipe uses. But it was just too sweet for breakfast. Yikes!

Ingredients:
6 c oatmeal (I use regular oats, but quick cooking will work. Steel cut will not.)
1/2 c packed brown sugar (more sugar if you prefer very sweet. Joe likes it with 2 c)
1 Tablespoon baking powder
4 eggs
2 c milk
1 c applesauce
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray the bottom of a 9 x 13 pan

Mix all ingredients together. (Yeah, it's really that hard.) Pour into the 9 x 13 pan. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the center is set.

Top with fruit, raisins, chocolate chips, etc. My kids usually eat this with milk or applesauce poured over it, and chocolate chips. (A bag of mini chocolate chips will last us months, because a teaspoon goes a LONG way on the top of this.) I usually top it with fruit (bananas are great.)

Some variations:
I have replaced the applesauce with pumpkin and the spices with pumpkin pie spice
I have used pureed banana instead of the applesauce
I have (accidentally) doubled the applesauce and halved the milk
I have used fresh apples, peeled and diced instead of some of the applesauce

This isn't a picky recipe. You could add fruit to the mix and bake it in, but some of my family would balk at the cooked fruit. You could probably use soy or almond milk or even water instead of the milk. It's pretty yummy no matter what!