Baked Oatmeal

 I hope you had a wonderful holiday season!  

I wanted to share one of my favorite breakfast recipes.  This is an adaptation of a recipe from a cookbook I have called Super Natural Every Day and it's a deliciously warm and healthy start to the day.  Lately I make it just about every weekend and when we have company too.

 I've eaten oats all my life but I don't think I've ever eaten them baked until trying this recipe.  I love the addition of the fruit, both a bottom and top layer and have found that either blackberries or raspberries are my favorite.  You can use either frozen or fresh, although I actually think I prefer frozen as the berries can be crumbled a bit.

I make mine dairy free by using coconut oil and almond milk, but you can easily use butter and cow's milk.   If you haven't cooked with coconut oil before, it's one of my favorite alternatives to butter with all kinds of health benefits.  I buy this huge tub at Costco and use it every day. 

The oatmeal is so easy to put together and it frees up time to accomplish other tasks while it's baking in the oven (like unloading the dishwasher - always a morning chore in our house!).   I cut the recipe in half when it's just the four of us and there's rarely a bite left (but if there is, you can easily reheat in the oven the next morning). 

 While I think it's plenty enough sweet as is, you can always add a little maple syrup to your serving.  I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!   

Baked Oatmeal

(Adapted from the cookbook Super Natural Every Day)

2 cups rolled oats

1 tsp. baking powder

1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. fine sea salt

 1/3 cup pure maple syrup

2 cups milk

1 or 2 eggs (I use 2 small)

2 Tbsp. coconut oil or butter, melted

2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

1 1/2 cup berries (raspberries, blackberries, etc)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Mix together the oats, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.  In another bowl, mix together the maple syrup, milk, egg, coconut oil and vanilla extract.  Arrange half of the berries on the bottom of a baking dish (I use a 9" pie plate).  Cover the fruit with the oat mixture and then drizzle the milk mixture over the oats and fruit.  Arrange the remaining half of the berries across the top.  Bake for 35-40 minutes, until golden and set.