Apple Pie Baked Oatmeal

Hey y'all!  Gosh, I am really sorry I've been so inconsistent with posting this week!  Prior to beginning school, I used my lunch break for posting.  Now that I have homework and reading for class, most of my free time at work (when I have any) is spent doing schoolwork.  I'm still figuring out when the best time for me to crank out posts is, and rather than posting something mediocre and random, I've been skipping on days that I don't feel like I have something of good quality to share.

That being said, today I have an awesome treat to share with you!  I heard about baked oatmeal for the first time on Julie's blog and recently noticed it popping up everywhere.  Needless to say, my interest was piqued.  While at my parents' house recently, I found out they had a surplus of oatmeal and my dad and I decided to try it out for ourselves.  I've been eating it for breakfast almost every morning since!  It is delicious.  And easy!  Thanks to Laura, I found out you can freeze the individual servings and have a healthy, delicious breakfast ready in less than two minutes each morning!

Alright, on to the recipe!

Of the different flavors I tried (banana bread baked oatmeal is still in the works!), this one was by far my favorite.  Adjust spices according to what you like and what you have on hand. :]

Apple Pie Baked Oatmeal 

Makes 8-12 servings
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes



Ingredients:
3 cups rolled oats
1 cup milk of your choice (I like unsweetened vanilla almond milk!)
2 chopped Gala Apples
1 1/2 cups applesauce (I use unsweetened)
1/4 cup brown sugar (you can sub this for ~ 20 drops of liquid stevia if you want, but I would add 2-3 tablespoons of maple syrup to the mixture if you choose not to use brown sugar for flavor)
1 egg
1 tsp butter extract
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp cinnamon (yes- tablespoons)
1 tsp salt
Optional spices: cloves, ginger, nutmeg and allspice

Instructions: 

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F. 
2. Combine dry ingredients (oats, sugar, spices) and mix well. 
3. Add milk, extracts and applesauce to the dry mixture and combine well.
4. Whisk egg in a separate bowl and then add to mixture, combining well.
5. Add chopped apple pieces to mixture and combine well.
6. Grease either one large muffin tin (12 muffins) or 8 ramekins and fill with oats mixture. 
7. Bake for 30 minutes.  You can either eat these fresh once they cool a bit or allow them to cool completely before placing in a freezer bag and freezing.  Each individual serving takes about 1.5-2 minutes to reheat once fully frozen and they keep great!

So delicious!! It truly does taste like apple pie thanks to the butter extract and cinnamon.  The chunks of baked apple give it an incredible texture.  It's also good with a smear of peanut butter on top (and the additional protein helps keep you full even longer!).  Happy breakfasting!