Food Friday--Baked Oatmeal

It's cold and snowy here today.  We got about a foot of snow yesterday, so I put my cat in her harness and took her outside to play in it.  She had a lot of fun until she realized it was wet, then she begged to come back inside.  The ferret had a lot of fun in the snow, too, but soon got cold and wanted to get warm.

I actually made a nice warm breakfast yesterday to fortify people about to go play in the snow.  It was oatmeal, something I don't normally eat.  I don't mind the flavor of oatmeal, but the texture is offensive to my mouth.  THIS oatmeal, though, is almost like an oatmeal cookie and I actually ate two servings because it was good.  It takes about 45 minutes in the oven, so it's not something you whip up when you are in a hurry, but on a lazy morning, it's worth the wait, especially with a cup of hot chocolate on the side (or hot tea if you are a tea addict like me).

Baked Oatmeal
(Adapted from Taste of Home Kid Approved Cookbook)
What you need:

3 cups quick-cooking oats
1 cup milk (I use fat-free, but milk with fat in it would make this taste better, I'm sure)
1 stick (1/2 cup) melted butter (I use unsalted)
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
(the original recipe calls for 1 teaspoon of salt which I omitted.  You may choose to add it if you would like.)
Additional milk for serving

What you do:

Preheat your oven to 350, and spray a 9 inch square baking dish with non stick spray, or butter it, either one.

In a large bowl, combine the oats, brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt if using.  In another bowl, combine the melted butter, eggs and milk and whisk thoroughly.  Carefully pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix well.  (Or do what I did and combine the wet ingredients in a large bowl and then just add the dry in one thing at a time as you measure it, and stir it REALLY well after everything is in).

Pour into your greased baking dish and pop it in the oven.  Bake for 40-45 minutes, remove from the oven and let it cool for about 3-5 minutes, cut into 9 squares and enjoy in a bowl with more milk.

It kind of fell apart when I was serving it, so it tastes better than it looks!  

(Also, if one is feeling adventurous, one could soak some raisins in some rum overnight and then stir the rum-soaked raisins into the oatmeal before baking.  I wish I had thought of that sooner!)