Apple Oatmeal Bake

This dish is gluten free, oil free, refined sugar free and dairy free.  What it is not is taste free.

I start with rolled oats, and it’s important that you don’t swap them out for another kind of oat such as quick cooking or steel cut, since the results will not be the same.  There are brands out there that make gluten free oats, like Bob’s Red Mill (not sponsored—I wish I was, are you listening Bob?), so if gluten is an issue for you, I’ve got your back on that.  You can buy oat flour; there are several brands that sell it, but you can also just put some of the rolled oats in a blender and zip, zap, zip…oat flour!  I make it in batches and store it in tightly sealed (mason jar) containers so that I don’t have to make it each time I’m baking.

To add flavor, there is cinnamon, raisins and walnuts and then a bit of caraway seeds, which are totally optional, but tightly recommended.

The moisture comes from the grated apple and applesauce.  I choose a sweeter apple like gala, fuji or honey crisp, but you can definitely make this a bit more tart by choosing a Granny Smith if that is to your taste.

The sweetness comes from maple syrup, but make sure you are using pure maple syrup and not one with added sugar.

After you add the wet ingredients to the dry, you will think to yourself, “Self, this is not enough liquid for all these oats and flour.”  But you’d be wrong.  Just keep stirring and have a little faith.  It is a very thick batter, but that is what you want.  This dish is a hearty oat dish, but you can definitely add a little liquid if you really feel it is too dry. It will come out moister than you think, and you can always add a dollop of yogurt to the top for breakfast or ice cream if this is your dessert.

This recipe comes together quickly and it’s pretty much a two bowl (you could make it one if you want) recipe, so minimal cleanup. I baked it in a 9.5×6.5 baking dish for one large container, but it is totally adaptable  to smaller dishes or even muffin tins.  Just adjust the baking time accordingly.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1  1/4 cups oat flour
• 1 Tablespoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1.5 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/4 cup raisins
• 1/4 cup chopped walnuts
• up to 1 Tablespoon caraway seeds (optional)
• 1.5 cups grated apple (about 2 large apples, plus one more for slicing)
• 1/3 cup applesauce
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1 Tablespoon melted butter

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375
2. Combine the oats, flour, baking powder, salt, caraway seeds and cinnamon and stir well.  Add the raisins and walnuts and stir well to coat them.
3. In another bowl, combine the grated apple, applesauce and maple syrup.  Stir well.
4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir to combine. Pour into a lightly greased 1.5 Quart casserole.
5. Thinly slice the last apple and lightly toss in some melted butter. Arrange it on top of the casserole.  Put in oven and bake for 25-30 minutes, till golden and a toothpick inserted comes out mostly dry.

Enjoy!