Apple Pie Baked Oatmeal for Non-Bakers

I used to bake. Back in the day, when I had a semi-functioning metabolism and a ton of time, I would make chocolate chip cookie dough-stuffed cupcakes and cocoa brownies and blueberry cheesecakes for friends. Nowadays, not so much. There’s only one thing I despise more than eating too much sugar and feeling sick, and that’s having to measure super precisely :) Baking is an exact science, and 99% of the time, I just don’t want to deal.

However. If there is one thing baking is good for, it’s making a lot of food at one time. And making a lot of food at one time is great for people who don’t like to cook breakfast in the morning (ding ding! It’s me.)

I wanted to create an easy baked breakfast recipe from the pantry, but I had no flour, baking powder, or you know…anything else I might need. So it was time to get creative. This baked oatmeal with apples and cinnamon is the quadruple-Venn-Diagram overlap point between apple pie, apple cake, custard, and oatmeal. It’s delicious!. But because the pantry contains no leavening agent, it requires two little five-minute bits of elbow grease: 1) whipping egg whites, and 2) making a buttermilk substitute by letting apple cider vinegar sit in some milk (if you have two teaspoons of baking powder to add to the dry ingredients, you can skip this part). The result is a fluffy, custard-y, breakfast-y baked good that will fill you right up. Bake a dish on Sundays, and sail through mornings the rest of the week.

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Apple Pie Baked Oatmeal Recipe

This batch of baked oatmeal is the perfect make-ahead breakfast for a busy week.

Makes: 10 servings

Prep time: 15 mins

Cook time: 45 mins

Ingredients:

• 3-4 medium apples, cored and sliced
• 5 cups quick-cook rolled oats (use certified gluten-free if desired or necessary)
• 1/2 cup chopped almonds plus more for topping
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon plus more for topping
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 4 cups milk (we used 2% regular, but an almond-coconut blend would work)
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• 3 eggs, separated into yolks and whites
• 2/3 cup maple syrup
• 5 tablespoons butter, melted, plus more for greasing
• Optional: more maple syrup for topping

Instructions:

1. Preheat your oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Grease a 15" x 10" glass baking dish with butter, then arrange the apple slices in a single layer at the bottom of the dish.
3. In a large bowl, combine the oats, almonds, cinnamon, and salt. Stir to combine.
4. In another large bowl, whisk the milk and apple cider vinegar together. Let sit for five minutes to form a buttermilk substitute.
5. In a medium-sized bowl, beat the egg whites until frothy.
6. In a medium-sized bowl (yes this is bowl-intensive :)) gently beat the egg yolks.
7. Add the egg whites, egg yolks, and maple syrup to the buttermilk substitute and fold gently to combine.
8. Combine the oat mixture and the milk mixture and fold gently. Fold in the melted butter once combined.
9. Pour the "batter" over the apples and gently jiggle the baking dish to distribute everything evenly. Bake for 45 minutes or until firm and golden-brown. (We broiled for about four minutes at the end for extra toastiness).
10. Slice, serve, and top with extra maple syrup, almonds, and cinnamon as desired.

Notes and Nutrition Information

• If you don’t want quite so much of this recipe, you can adjust quantities based on the square-inchage of the pan you want to use. Half this recipe in a 9”x 9” will work.

• This bake lasts in the refrigerator about four days. You can freeze leftover baked oatmeal up to six months.

• This recipe can be prepared a night ahead of time, refrigerated, then baked in the morning for a fresh breakfast.

• One tenth of this recipe as written contains approximately 316 calories, 13 grams of fat, 43 grams of carbohydrates, 9 grams of protein, 5 grams of fiber, 24 grams of sugar, and 342 milligrams of sodium.