This recipe is more like an oatmeal soufflé. Or a gooey oatmeal cookie that you can legitimately eat for breakfast and not feel guilty about. While I wouldn’t give it 5 stars on the healthy scale, it’s not all that bad. Compared to your typical baked oatmeal, it does an great job of substituting the extra butter and sugar with some applesauce without sacrificing the fluffy texture. The best part is, it’s extremely easy to prepare and only takes 20 minutes in the oven. Makes for amazing leftovers too. Throw on a splash of milk, reheat, serve it over some sliced strawberries or bananas, and you’re set for the week.

The original recipe calls for raisins, so if you love oatmeal raisin cookies, that’s the way to go. Me, not so much. I just replaced the added raisins with extra walnuts and slivered almonds instead. Didn’t hurt at all. The second time I made the recipe, I even added ground flaxseed, and it was just as delicious. And, of course, in my house, you can’t make oatmeal without some cinnamon. It’s the perfect recipe for a lazy Sunday or a 90+ degree day when you’re home with a head cold (ugh). At least this oatmeal cookie breakfast soufflé is guaranteed to make you feel better. It’s also guaranteed to make my dog extremely jealous while staring at me with those I-haven’t-eaten-in-days-please-gimme-some little eyes. Enjoy.

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Baked oatmeal

Adapted from Cooking Light magazine and myrecipes.com

Ingredients

2 cups uncooked quick-cooking oats

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/3 cup chopped walnuts

1/3 cup slivered almonds (optional)

4 tablespoons ground flaxseeds (optional)

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)

1 1/2 cups fat-free milk

1/2 cup applesauce

2 tablespoons butter, melted

1 large egg, beaten

Cooking spray

Directions: Preheat oven to 375°. Coat an 8-inch square baking dish with cooking spray and set aside (mine was 9×13, but it worked fine). Combine the first 7 ingredients in a medium bowl and stir together. In a separate bowl, add the milk, applesauce, butter, and egg, and stir to combine. Add the milk mixture to oat mixture and stir well. Pour into greased baking dish and bake at 375° for 20 minutes. Serve warm. If desired, serve over fresh strawberries, bananas, blueberries or any fruit you choose to make it even more delicious.

So my banana cream pie set and apparently the world stopped. I stopped writing. Stopped cooking. Stopped obsessing over food. It’s almost as if that one simple accomplishment was the pinnacle of everything I could handle up until that moment. My banana cream pie set. Subsequently, my brain turned to mush.

It was simple, really. I used whole milk and heaped tablespoons of corn starch instead of level ones. So I admit. Sometimes, when baking, it’s wise to embrace fat.

Truth is, if you buy good quality organic whole milk, many actually argue that it’s better for you anyway. With whole milk, the nutrients aren’t stripped away and then added back in the form of fortified vitamins and minerals (which essentially makes it more processed, and it’s no secret that processed foods are bad). You can also argue that calories are not always as important; it’s the nutrients you get from food that really matter.

Now, I’m all for good quality ingredients, and I understand this logic, but I still can’t seem to make the switch to whole milk. I can’t help loving recipes that make small changes to up the health factor without altering the flavor, especially when it comes to baking. Whole milk to skim is usually one of those obvious changes. And if you remember the banana cream meltdown post, (written nearly ages ago) you’ll know that the skim milk did not make it any less delicious.

Bottom line: if you’re making a banana pudding not to ever be used in a pie, skim all the way (and I would still recommend getting organic, but that’s just me).

If it’s texture you’re after, then use whole milk (even though it is not specified in this recipe) and chalk those extra calories up to presentation.

I promise you this. If I can find a way to get this pie to set with skim milk and without excessive amounts of corn starch, you’ll be the first to know. Just don’t expect a new post anytime soon. I’m officially banana creamed out.

Julia Child said never to apologize for your cooking, but I can’t help myself with this one. It was a sorry excuse for pie. But, truth is, Julia was right. That sorry excuse for pie set a record. No dessert I’ve ever made has been devoured so quickly. Within 5 minutes, it was gone. Not only were people licking their lips and begging for more, they were saying it was the best thing they’ve ever eaten. My sister-in-law came back to scrape the remaining pudding off the bottom of the pie dish. My husband was tempted to lick the plate clean (sadly he got stuck with expediting duties and didn’t score a slice). Not a single person cared about the texture or look of the dessert plopped on their plate.

I think it’s an understatement to say that everyone loved it. Chances are, I’ll be making this pie at every function from this day forward. Luckily, that gives me plenty of time to perfect the recipe. This humbling experience may prove that looks don’t matter. But this delicious disaster is also a challenge to make something even better. Pretty pie can taste good, too.

Next time I make it (which will likely be this weekend for my niece’s Christening), I’ll make sure to let it set. Overnight. Hello, recipe. Why couldn’t you just say that to begin with? Sure, I probably should have figured that out on my own. This is not my first pudding pie rodeo. But I didn’t. The directions in the recipe, which simply say ‘refrigerate until cool’ don’t exactly cut it. Unless, of course, your family can look past the mush on their plate and dig into the delicious banana pudding, homemade whipped cream covered bliss that awaits them.

If you want to check out the original recipe, click here. Once I make it again to test the proportions and timing, I’ll write up an updated recipe to share.

(photo c/o www.morguefile.com)

Looking for recipes is one of my favorite things to do. When I’m preparing for a party or deciding what to bring for a holiday feast, I could spend hours browsing through blogs and collecting ideas. I have Googledocs that are hundreds of pages long, brimming with recipes I can’t wait to try. But the truth is, it would be nearly impossible to make every single one. So I thought it would be much more fun to share. Here’s the list of 15 Easter dessert ideas I put together when deciding what to make. Let me know if you end up trying one of these recipes. I’d love to hear how it turns out. Enjoy!

• Lemon drizzle slices
• Carrot Cake fit for a crowd
• Pecan pie bars
• Purple sweet potato chiffon cupcakes
• Italian Easter bread
• Lemon meringue bars
• Raspberry plum crumb tart
• Crispy Easter eggs
• Fresh orange cream tart
• Limoncello cupcakes
• Banana cream pie
• Carrot cake truffles
• Rice Krispie Easter eggs
• White fudge dipped Easter Oreos
• Blueberry tart

Happy baking and happy holiday!