Baked oatmeal for a snowed-in weekend

By the time it heads out to sea, the powerful storm churning up the Eastern seaboard is expected to affect 40 to 50 million people. That’s roughly one in six Americans, most of whom will have to deal with it tomorrow and Monday. There’s nothing like hot oatmeal after shoveling and sweeping snow.

Unfortunately, maddeningly, I’m under a blizzard warning now and something I said shortly before leaving New Hampshire (or as I call it, The Little Snowball) haunts me. I can still hear myself telling a friend, “You watch. Now that I’m going back, Washington will be clobbered with snow and have the purple spots on the Weather Channel map, and New Hampshire won’t get a flake.” Well, I called that, didn’t I? If I were half as prescient with roulette or lottery tickets, I could take us all to Lyon for the meal of our lives.

I’m a stinkin’ snow magnet. It hasn’t snowed here in two years and hasn’t snowed this much in more than a century. And this is the second snowstorm here in as many weeks. Words can not express how much I loathe snow after several winters and about 1,000 inches of it in New Hampshire. Truly I haven’t been in such a foul mood since realizing that one of my moving men is the only person on earth who knows where my box of signed First Editions is.

So it’s time for kitchen therapy. If you want to wake up to oatmeal tomorrow morning and you have a slow cooker, get it going before heading to bed tonight. Just spray or butter the crockery insert, add the appropriate amounts of rolled oats (not instant or quick), milk and salt. Stir it well, put the cover on, set it to low and sleep well, knowing it will be waiting for you in the morning. Too.

But I’ve got a quicker, better version in the oven and with about 10 minutes to go, I smell the applesauce in it and the brown sugar and my stomach’s growling. This is my slimmer version of a terrific recipe that came to me on a mailing list about 15 years ago. It bakes up like a cake and is firm enough to cut but remains creamy as oatmeal should. Sometimes I add a handful of raisins or dried cranberries, but it’s excellent without them and I made them without this morning. I love oatmeal — and it’s so good for us — and if there’s any consolation to snow that tumbles from the sky at a rate of two or three inches per hour, it’s this marvelous breakfast.

Ella’s Baked Oatmeal

2 cups/ 160g old-fashioned rolled oats
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
2 large eggs, beaten, room temperature
1 cup/ 8 fl oz skim (fat-free) milk, room temperature
1/2 cup /100g light brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup/ 8 TB applesauce, smooth or chunky*
1 polite handful raisins or dried fruit – very optional

Toppings - also optional but I do like these:
cinnamon
plain or vanilla yogurt
cream

*I used my quick homemade applesauce. It’s even more divine that way.

Set a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 325F/165C/Gas 3.
Grease or spray an 8″ x 8″ brownie pan, baking dish or other medium baking dish. Set aside.

In a large bowl, stir together the rolled oats, baking powder and salt. Add the eggs, milk, brown sugar and applesauce and mix well. Stir in optional dried fruit, if using.

Scrape into the prepared pan and bake for 45 minutes, until firm to the touch on top and coming away from the sides of the pan as a cake does.

Cut and serve hot with optional toppings.

Serves 4

For a crowd: Double the recipe and bake in a 13″ x 9″ baking pan for the same amount of time.

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Tagged as: easy, healthy recipes, slow cooking