Apple Baked Oatmeal with Roasted Apples

This was a filling breakfast. For real. I woke up with a mission, a mission from God. Not necessarily but you get the idea. And so I put my sweat and blood into this oatmeal and the results were good. This is special because it normally takes a few hours for me to function properly. Emotions run high during the morning hours. There have been several times when I have cried because there was no milk. I lead a simple life clearly.

A quarter of this puppy was stashed in the fridge and was eaten the next day and it was perfect. I may just go make another batch before I go to bed if one Barney Stinson and one Marshall Erikson don't keep me.

Apple Baked Oatmeal

2 cups oatmeal

2 tbsp brown sugar

1/2 cup raisins

1/4 cup dried cranberries

1 tbsp cinnamon

pinch of allspice

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

2 eggs

1/4 cup pure maple syrup

1 1/3 cup milk

2/3 cup apple sauce*

2 tsp vanilla

4 tsp butter, melted

Preheat the oven to 350º. In a bowl, combine the dry ingredients which is oatmeal through baking powder. In another combine the wet ingredients which is the egg through to butter. Add the wet ingredients and stir to combine. Pour the mixture into a butter 8 x 8 pan. Bake in the oven, rotating halfway through, for 20 minutes until golden brown on the surface. Serve with milk and roasted apples (recipe below). Makes 4 servings.

Roasted Apples

4 large granny smith apples, peeled

4 tsp fresh lemon juice

4 tsp pure maple syrup

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 350º. Slice the apples into 1/4 inch slices lengthwise. In a bowl, toss the sliced apples with the lemon juice, maple syrup and cinnamon until the apples are fully coated. On a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, spread the apples out. If they are cramped they will steam and become soft not roasted. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes, flipping halfway through. Serve with baked oatmeal.

* I used my homemade applesauce recipe but only cooked the apples for about 5 minutes so that the apples wouldn't be fully cooked. It allowed the oatmeal to have bits of apple slices in it.