how to get the morning off to a good start

{image credit: Elsbro}

Public service announcement: a while ago I posted a recipe for baked oatmeal. Toss it. This one is so much better.

Why? First, a higher milk-to-oats ratio. This gives it a more tender texture than the other; though it isn't gloppy like stovetop oatmeal (thank goodness), neither is it dry, nor quite so much like a dense and crumbly cake. Once cooled it becomes a bit more cakelike, but stays softer than the original recipe. Love that.

And it has fruit! Rather than spooning fruit on top, you get it stirred right in. The recipe calls for berries, and I would recommend a combination of blueberries and cranberries. You may of course use other fruit instead. Apples, pears, strawberries, peaches, even craisins or golden raisins. Mix things up however you want.

There is less added sugar in this recipe but then the fruit gives its own natural sweetness. (Besides, who wants a sugar bomb for breakfast? Except Calvin and Hobbes.) If you are used to very sweet oatmeal you may want to start with 1/2 cup honey and work your way down. I have even made it with 1/4 cup and it's very tasty. It depends what you're accustomed to.

Note: We like baked oatmeal but if that's all we eat in the morning, ye olde stomach starts rumbling before long. Gimme mo' protein, it says . . .  and a rumbly tumbly does not a good morning make. So when I do baked oatmeal for breakfast, I serve it in smaller portions than usual and add a large scoop of Greek yogurt on top or a few pieces of turkey sausage on the side. This works out much better. :)

Baked Berry Oatmeal
(a combination of ideas from this, this, and this)

2 cups rolled oats
1 cup steel-cut oats*
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1/3 cup mild honey
1/2 cup butter, melted
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups mixed berries (fresh or frozen)
1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

1) Stir together oats, milk, yogurt, honey, and melted butter in large glass bowl. Cover with a clean towel and let sit on the counter for 8-24 hours.
2) In the morning preheat oven to 350 and grease a 9x9 baking dish.
3)Whisk eggs into wet ingredients; add baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and vanilla, and whisk well. Stir in berries and nuts.
4) Pour into prepared pan and bake for 45-50 minutes, until set in the center and golden brown on top. Serve warm with milk, yogurt, additional fruit, sausage, bacon . . . refrigerate leftovers.

*If you do not have steel-cut oats, use another cup of rolled oats. I just happen to like the texture of steel-cut.