Baked Oatmeal

I love my overnight oats, but I have been ready to change up my morning routine, so I decided to try out baked oatmeal.  Typically, baked oatmeal is a mixture between an oatmeal bar and oatmeal.  It usually has eggs in to help bind, but I made mine without (using 'flax' eggs, instead) and it turned out exactly how I wanted it to.  It also typically has quite a bit of sugar and butter, I've changed that up as well, to make it healthier and yet, still really tasty.

I also made my oatmeal in individual sizes that I could then freeze them and pull out what I want for my breakfasts, this way also gives you flexibility in what you can mix-in to the oatmeal. But, you can also make this in a 9X13 pan and have it for a brunch dish.

This batch of oatmeal I used applesauce, maple syrup, with Sunbutter, and mix-ins of peaches, apples, pecans, macademia nuts, pistachios and chocolate chips...really the possibilities are endless when making this oatmeal.

You can eat it straight up or how I eat it...I place it in a bowl and pour a little bit of nondairy milk in with it and drizzle it with maple syrup or honey and eat it with a spoon....it is definitely comfort food when eaten this way!

This post is featured on Allergy Friendly Fridays.

Baked Oatmeal

2 tablespoons ground flax seeds
6 tablespoons warm water
3 cups gluten-free rolled oats
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce (or mashed bananas, pumpkin puree, etc)
1/4 cup maple syrup (or agave nectar or honey)
1/2 cup nut butter (peanut, almond, sunbutter, etc)
1 cup nondairy milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1-2 cups mix-ins, such as nuts, berries, chopped apples, bananas, chocolate chips, etc.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F. If making individual portions, line muffin tins with cupcake liners or grease very well.  If making a large family dish, grease a 9X13 baking dish and set aside.

Place the ground flax seed in a small bowl and add water to it.  Mix it together and let it sit until it thickens and gets goopy (like egg whites).

In a medium sized mixing bowl, mix together oats, cinnamon, baking powder and salt. In a separate bowl combine all the liquid ingredients, including the flax egg, and then add the mixture to the oats and stir well.

If you are making a large family-sized dish, you can add you mix-ins now, if you are making individual ones with different mix-ins wait until after you place them in the muffin tins before you add the mix-ins.

Pour the oat mixture into the baking pan or muffin tins (I used just over a 1/4 cup per tin).  Add the mix-ins to the individual portions (I pushed the fruit in, and sprinkled the nuts on top). 

Bake at 350F for 20 minutes for individual portions or 40 minutes for a large pan or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Allow the oatmeal to cool for a few minutes removing from the muffin tins and serving.  You can freeze these by cooling completely then placing in a ziploc bag and freezing them (much like freezing muffins).