Baked Oatmeal

Back when I lived in the suburbs of Milwaukee, I used to frequent a little restaurant called Heinemann's.  One of the dishes that the (now defunct) restaurant was known for was its baked oatmeal.

At the time it was almost impossible to find the recipe but my sister-in-law worked hard to find a suitable alternative.  When she did, she carefully wrote the recipe out for me on a note card.

And then I not-so-carefully lost it.
(Oops.)

Not wanting to admit that to her, I Googled some baked oatmeal recipes and came up with one that I liked.  I thought it came from Quaker.com, but it turns out my version is slightly different from Quaker's (so I'm not exactly sure where it came from).

Regardless of its origins, it is a delicious breakfast treat and when my cousin came for a visit last week, her daughter requested that I make it.  (Far be it for me to deny the request of a child ;)

And here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

1. 2 3/4 cup Old Fashioned oats
2. 2/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
3. 3/4 cup raisins or Craisins--my kids don't like them so I leave them out :(
4. 1 tsp ground cinnamon
5. 1/2 tsp salt (optional)
6. 3 1/3 cup skim milk
7. 4 egg whites (lightly beaten)
8. 1 T vegetable oil
9. 1 T vanilla

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Spray glass baking dish with Pam.

In large bowl, combine first five ingredients.  Mix well.

In a medium bowl, combine last four ingredients.  Mix well.

Add wet ingredients to the dry ones and mix until blended.  Pour into baking dish.  

(I often do all of these steps the night before, refrigerate it, and then bake it in the morning.)

Bake 55-60 minutes or until center is set and firm to the touch.

My kids like it with syrup.  I enjoy it with fresh berries on top.  (Let's face it, any way you eat this stuff, it's gonna be great.)

Bonus!

In doing my "research" for this post, I discovered a  Heinemann's copycat recipe (which may actually be the one my sister-in-law so lovingly wrote out for me...)  You can find it here.  

(Just try not to lose it.)