This post is dedicated to my girl, Bekie, who, when I worked with her in SoCal, would eat steel cut oats every morning piled high with brown sugar and drowning in half and half, otherwise known as the only way to eat classic stovetop oatmeal.
xoxo Deb
As a kid I ate oatmeal usually one of two ways 1) like my friend Bekie minus the steel cut oats – I never heard of them until I was an adult – plus a healthy dose of butter or 2) Quaker instant oats in one of my favorite flavors of any fruit + cream (i.e. strawberries & cream, peaches & cream, blueberries & cream, etc.). Admittedly, oatmeal wasn’t my favorite. It’s not like I ever craved it, but on cold Midwest winter mornings when my mom would make stovetop oatmeal, I would pile it with butter, brown sugar and half and half and I didn’t half mind it at all. Oatmeal generally stuck with me for a while.
As an adult, my fascination with oatmeal piqued when I realized there were so many fun ways to eat it. Like warm oat bowls with various ingredients (which is basically stovetop oatmeal with fancy ingredients). But my real favorite way to eat oatmeal is when it’s baked. My first experience with baked oatmeal came when I found a recipe for Belly-Stuffing Oatmeal from Self magazine. When I lived with my roommate Bex (a different SoCal Becky) in Rendono Beach, I used to make it for the two of us all the time. I tweaked the Belly Stuffing Oatmeal recipe and renamed it Oatmeal Puddin’.
Years later, I stumbled upon another baked oatmeal recipe that my Grandma Mo sent me. It actually called for peaches and blueberries but I couldn’t find any frozen peaches at the time and instead subbed mango and thus Baked Oatmeal with Blueberry and Mango was born.
Over the years I’ve stumbled upon other baked oatmeals and taken the basic recipe for baked oatmeal that my grandma sent me and gotten experimental. I’ve not been disappointed by any of the flavors I’ve tried. Particularly amazing is Caramel Cashew and Chunky Monkey, IMO, but really all of them are greaaaaat.
This recipe is for you if you do or do not like oatmeal. If you like oatmeal, you will love this dish. If you don’t really like oatmeal, this dish will make you fall in love with oatmeal in general. I promise. If you don’t like oatmeal because you don’t like the texture, the texture of this oatmeal is completely different. Think of it like a soft and crumbly oatmeal cookie. Make this on a Sunday and reheat all week for a warm, delightful morning treat.
How do I make this vegan? you might be asking yourself. Easy (presumably)! Sub the butter for either refined coconut oil (not melted) or vegan butter presumably of the same amount (I’ve successfully subbed coconut oil for butter in the same amount), egg for your favorite egg replacer and cream for canned coconut milk or your favorite non-dairy milk. I would go for anything on the thicker side since cream is heavier and more indulgent than regular cow’s milk.
ingredients.
- ½ c. butter, softened
- ¼ c. white sugar
- ½ c. brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 ½ c. cream
- ½ to 1 tsp. cinnamon (optional)
- ½ tsp. salt
- 1 T. baking powder (can use gluten-free)
- 3 c. rolled oats (can use gluten-free)
- 10 oz frozen peach slices
- 2 T. Vanilla Sugar or Turbinado sugar
- warm cream (optional)
directions.
- Beat together the butter and sugars. Mix in the cream, eggs, salt, baking powder and oats. Beat well. Add the fruit. Cover with foil and refrigerate overnight.
- In the morning, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8×8 baking dish and sprinkle with vanilla sugar or Turbinado sugar (optional). Bake in preheated oven until set and browning around the edges, about 45 to 60 minutes. Serve hot with warm cream, if desired.
Recipe rating:
Food Snob 