as promised: my baked oatmeal recipe.

I will start out by saying I don't remember exactly where I got this recipe.  It was somewhere on the Internet, years and years ago.  If it was your own personal blog, I apologize for the plagiarism, but know that I am forever indebted to you for bringing this blessing into our lives.

I will follow up by saying this is our breakfast about eight days a week at this point.  We go through spurts; for a while, we were eating eggs most mornings, since they're really super duper cheap and easy (cheaper and easier than baked oatmeal, for sure), but then the kids got sick of that and started rebelling.  One of them started getting diarrhea from too many eggs.  That level of commitment to the cause was astounding, really, so I was forced to back off the eggs, and we circled back around to that perennial favorite, Oatmeal.

Lastly, I will tell you that if you're not a fan of oatmeal, I hear you.  I hear you.  I hate oatmeal with smoldering, red hot, eternal coals of hatred.  I call down curses on the aging parents of Oatmeal for procreating and bringing that mess into the world.  But this... this is enough Not Oatmeal that it flies under my radar.  It's more like a cookie-granola bar hybrid.  (Granookie?  Grookie?  Canola bar?  No, those are all terrible.  Let's just stick with calling it baked oatmeal.)

So.  Here are the key players you'll need to assemble:

Hilariously enough, the container that says "Yogurt" is actually full of raw butter, and the yogurt I made for this purpose isn't pictured.

3.5 cups old fashioned rolled oats
2 cups yogurt (the stuff you made the other day when I told you to, remember?)
4 eggs
1/4 to 1/2 cup sugar or honey (we started with more and I gradually used less)
1/2 cup oil or melted butter
1 Tbsp cinnamon (or more!)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 to 2 cups fruit of your choice (we love frozen berries)


The night before:
Mix yogurt and oats together, and leave out to soak.  If that weirds you out, you can put it in the fridge, but the room-temp soaking actually helps the oats digest better.

The morning of:
1. Preheat oven to 375.

2. Add a little water to the oats mixture to make it 'stir-able.'

3. Add eggs, sugar, oil, cinnamon, salt and baking powder and mix well.  Then add fruit.

4. Spray a 9x13 pan with nonstick spray and pour mixture in.

Uncooked.  Why I decided to take photos of it uncooked rather than cooked is beyond me.  I realize it doesn't look appetizing at all, and you'll have to trust me.

5. Bake for 35-45 minutes, until it's bubbly on top and brown around the edges.  I like to bake it for closer to 45 minutes because I like it more firm, but for softer oatmeal, bake for less time.

6. Divide into 8 or 10 pieces, and serve with milk or cream poured over the top!

You really cannot screw this up.  I forgot the eggs once.  Another time, I forgot the baking powder.  I usually just eyeball everything instead of measuring.  And once, I mixed up my spice bottles and added a bunch of cumin instead of cinnamon.  (Okay, so that did mess it up and I thought it was disgusting.  I still served it to the kids, though - I called it Raspberry Fiesta Surprise, and they gobbled it up.)


I usually either double or even quadruple this recipe.  I only have two 9x13 pans, so if I have extra batter, I just leave it in the fridge until the next time I need to bake some up.  My kids will eat an entire pan in a single breakfast, so I'll bake two at a time and they'll eat one hot that morning, and the next morning they'll eat it cold from the second pan.  They like it fine either way.  I LOVE making these on Saturday morning, because then Sunday's breakfast is already made and I don't have to waste time cooking while I'm trying to get everyone out the door for church.

So if you're trying to eat like a Van Voorst, this would be a great place to start.  You'll already be an honorary member of the family just by making it, if that's incentive at all.  I'll even send you a certificate of authenticity if you'd like.