Seasonal Ontario Food

There are a lot of recipes out there for baked oatmeal, it seems, and I keep tripping over them on Pinterest. They vary widely, from the frugal and dietetic, to much richer versions I would consider too sweet even for dessert; and not just now, but back in the day when I was eating sweeter things.

Even with the fairly modest amount of sweetener I opted to put into this, I do regard it as a dessert and not as a breakfast dish, but you could. Certainly you could. You could increase the amount of sugar too, but I have to say I think anything more than twice as much as I used would be excessive.

This isn't usually described as a pudding, but I do think that's exactly what it is. It is solid and dry enough in spite of the butter and apples, that it needs some milk or cream poured over it when it is served. Custard seems a little over the top, somehow, and yet I can picture ice-cream doing very well here.

Note: Edited 04/03/2020 to fix errors in ingredient list and instructions. 

6 to 8 servings
1 hour - 20 minutes prep time - and do let it cool some


Mix the Dry Ingredients:
2 cups rolled oats (large flake or quick cook)
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
about 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Measure out the oats; you can leave them in the measuring cup and just pile the salt and spices on top. Set aside until needed.

Pre-Cook the Apples & Finish:
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 large cooking apples
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon molasses
1/2 to 2/3 cup milk
1 large egg
milk or cream to serve

Butter an 8" x 10" shallow baking (lasagne) pan or similar which holds 1 1/2 to 2 litres/quarts. 

Wash and peel the apples. Grate them and discard the core, putting the grated apple into a reasonably large (2 l/qt) pot. Add the butter, sugar, and molasses. Bring up to a simmer, stirring frequently, until everything is well mixed, the butter melted, and the apples bubbling and exuding juice; this won't take more than 5 minutes or so.

Remove from the stove. Mix in the dry ingredients, then mix in the milk or cream. Mix in the egg.  You should have a soft batter-like texture; add a splash more milk if it seems too firm. Scrape the mixture into the prepared pan and smooth it out evenly.

Bake for 35 minutes, until firm and lightly browned. Let cool to warm or room temperature, and serve with milk or cream.




Last year at this time I made Braised Steak Goulash Style.