Baked Oatmeal

We are lovers of breakfast at our home.

Most mornings, the boy's breakfast of choice is waffles, sometimes with maple flavored sausage. My breakfast is usually a bowl of oatmeal, skim milk and a hot cup of coffee. Lately, I have been enjoying Fiber One but learned that eating huge quantities of said cereal is not a wise choice.

Unfortunately, the computer can't send you the wonderful fragrance of the baked oatmeal that just came from the oven. My friend, Ann, is a fantastic cook and she passed the recipe to me a few years ago. I have changed it up a bit to suit our tastes as well as a means of incorporating ingredients that I have on hand.

Last year, I made a huge quantity of homemade apple butter and found that it is an excellent substitute for some of the oil. Applesauce would likely work well, but eliminating all the oil will result in a dense, sponge-like texture.

Tonight I threw in a peeled and chopped D'Anjou pear. We have a bowl full of VERY juicy, delicious pears and I think pears are an excellent complement to the tart cranberries and apples.

1/2 cup apple butter or apple sauce

1/4-1/2 cup oil

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

3 1/2 cups oatmeal

1 Tbs. baking powder

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 1/2 cups milk

2 large tart apples, peeled, cored, chopped

1/2 cup dried cranberries, cherries or raisins

1 cup fresh cranberries

Mix all together and place in greased 9 x 13 pan. Bake at 400 degrees for 25-30 minutes, until center is set.

*This is a great recipe to freeze after you bake. We just microwave in the morning for a quick breakfast.

For more yummy sweet recipes, there is an excellent blog called:

www.tastingmysweetcreations.blogspot.com