Apple Baked Oatmeal

I made this delightful baked oatmeal one morning when we had a surplus of apples around. I believe my mom got the recipe from one of her cousins. It is really easy and tasty. The sweetness comes from the pure, natural maple syrup. No processed white or brown sugars! The downside is that you have to get up early and make it before you actually want to serve/eat it. This is problematic for me because I pretty much want to have my coffee and eat breakfast the minute I wake up. For this reason (and because I forgot to do it the night before) the nuts didn't get toasted before going in. Still tasted great. It does reheat, so theoretically you could make it ahead... However, I think it's better fresh out of the oven. The recipe serves about four people...or three really hungry people!


Apple Baked Oatmeal

Ingredients:
1 cup old-fashioned oats
1/4 cup nuts, lightly toasted (optional) and divided (I used pecans)
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
1 cup organic milk (I used 1%)
1 large egg, lightly beaten
2 TBSP coconut oil, melted
1 tsp natural vanilla
2-3 cored, sliced apples 

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease a 2-quart baking dish.
• In a medium bowl, combine oats, half the nuts, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Stir with fork to combine.
• In a liquid measuring cup, combine maple syrup, milk, egg, melted coconut oil and vanilla. 
• Spread 1/2 of the apples in a single layer over bottom of baking dish. Sprinkle dry oat mixture over. Pour over the liquid ingredients. Sprinkle remaining nuts and fruit over the top. Push fruit into liquid. 
• Baked 35-45 minutes. Let cool a couple minutes so you don't burn your mouth. Enjoy!