Spiced Baked Oatmeal

The Recipe's Story

Fall is just around the corner. It is my favorite time of year. I get to watch the leaves change, the weather in Seattle is crisp and cool, apples are ripe, and I get to look forward to the holiday season. I won't decorate for fall until September 1st but that does not mean I can't start cooking like fall. Though it was a Monday morning I decided to make a special breakfast. We use a Baked Oatmeal recipe from the lodge where we were married. It has a lots of special memories and it taste like a hearty northwest breakfast should. Normally I make this with cinnamon and put homemade applesauce over the top but this morning I opted for pumpkin pie spice. My little jar has cloves, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg. The house smelled like the season I anticipate and this was a huge hit with my husband.

The base of this breakfast is oatmeal which  has a wide array of health benefits. It is a good source of protein, complex carbohydrates and iron. It is high in fiber and contains magnesium, manganese and iron. It is also a very good source of copper, selenium and zinc as well as B vitamins. Milk and eggs give you protein and the milk calcium. Just one teaspoon of cinnamon, which is found in the pumpkin pie spice, gives you 28 mg of calcium, almost one mg of iron, over a gram of fiber, and quite a lot of vitamins C, K, and manganese. It has also been shown to help stabilize blood sugar.

Spiced Baked Oatmeal

2 cups oatmeal
1/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup 2% milk
2 large eggs
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1/4 cup butter, melted

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8x8 inch baking pan.

2. In a medium bowl, mix ingredients together. Pour into prepared baking pan.

3. Bake for 45 minutes. Serve warm or cooled for soft baked snack.

Servings: 9
Calories: 163 per serving