Peanut Butter and Honey Baked Oatmeal

I've never been keen on oatmeal. I remember having to eat it as a kid, to sustain us through the frigid prairie winter mornings...it was ok but I preferred Fruit Loops, you know? As an adult, I have only experienced the packet-version of oatmeal, those sugary sludgey boil-in-a-cup things that I never found very sustaining at all. I wondered what all the hoopla was about oatmeal being so filling and whatnot. Then I realized those packets were not really oatmeal at all; well only as much oatmeal as, say, cheez whiz is cheese. Time to try some of the real stuff.

I've been seeing a lot of baked oatmeal recipes around lately, and that sounds better to me than the gluey potfuls I remember from childhood, so I thought I'd give one a go. I ended up using several recipes and creating a hybrid of them. My very own Franken-oatmeal. All it needs is a brain and it is ready to take over the world, muah ha ha! It's hearty and filling and warms the belly, and the brown sugar crust gives each spoonful a hit of sweetness without the whole dish being over-sweetened. And it totally passed the late-morning hungries test. I didn't even notice it was lunchtime until 12:30! That doesn't happen often for me. So two thumbs up on the Baked Oatmeal: one for taste, one for sustainability.

This recipe makes two hearty portions. If you prefer a smaller breakfast, you could easily make this into three portions instead.

Peanut Butter and Honey Baked Oatmeal

1 C wild or rolled oats
1 tsp cinnamon
1 egg
1 C milk (I used 1%)
1/2C water
2 Tbsp peanut butter
2 tsp honey
2 tsp demerera sugar

Preheat oven to 375F and spray two large ramekins with cooking spray. In a large bowl, beat egg, milk, water, peanut butter, and honey together. Add oats and cinnamon and combine well.Pour into ramekins, dividing evenly, and bake for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and turn on broiler. Sprinkle each ramekin with 1 tsp demerera sugar and broil until sugar melts and bubbles, about 90 seconds. Serve with extra milk.

Nutritional values: 430 calories, 13.5g fat, 19.6g protein, 60.2g carbs, 7g fibre, 176mg sodium.