In the continual effort to eat healthier, I’m always on the hunt for ways to work in more fruits and vegetables into our family’s daily diet. Try as I might, the one meal that seems to elude me in this quest is breakfast. I’m happy to put berries on a waffle or possibly whip up a smoothie, but my imagination for fruit at breakfast seems to end right about there. So when I realized that baked oatmeal with fruit was a thing, I was pretty stoked. For awhile now I’ve been making this baked apple-cinnamon oatmeal with great approval from both my kids and my husband. It’s basically as easy as baked oatmeal can get–mix all the ingredients in a baking dish and pop it in the oven for 45 minutes. You don’t even need a mixing bowl. Fool-proof! Since I don’t generally have 45 minutes to wait for oatmeal to come out of the oven on any given morning (who am I kidding, I barely have an extra 45 seconds on school days) I like to make it the night before and reheat individual portions in the microwave. So let’s review: easy, unprocessed, filling, and full of fruit? I’ll take that any day!
Easy as Apple Pie Baked Oatmeal
(Adapted from Betty Crocker)
Ingredients:
2 Tbsp. butter
2 2/3 c. old-fashioned oats (gluten-free, if necessary)
4 c. milk
1/3 c. brown sugar
generous 1/4 tsp. salt
1 1/4 tsp. cinnamon
Pinch nutmeg
2 apples, peeled and chopped
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a 2-quart baking dish, melt butter in the microwave. Add all remaining ingredients and mix well.
3. Bake uncovered 40-45 minutes.
Serves 6-8.
