Baked Oatmeal

I wasted too much of my life not making this and not eating this. I hadn't even heard of it until we moved to Pennsylvania in 2004. Q had it at a breakfast meeting and came home and raved about it to me. It sounded amazing...so how do you make it? We noticed it was often on the menu at restaurants so we figured it must be a Pennsylvania thing. So I got the recipe from my friend Dawn. I love to make this for our overnight guests or take a pan of it unbaked along with a dinner for a family in need [so they can put it in the oven for breakfast the next morning]. We also sold this at our coffee shop in Krakow, Poland and it was a huge hit. This is another one of those recipes that you can be  creative with and try different variations.

Ingredients:

• 3 cups [quick 1 minute] oats
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• 2 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/4 - 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup milk
• 2 eggs beaten
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup melted butter

Directions:

1. preheat oven to 350 degrees

2. combine first four ingredients in a medium mixing bowl

3. in a seperate bowl whisk together brown sugar, milk, eggs and vanilla

4. add to dry ingredients and mix well

5. Stir in the melted butter last.

6. Pour into a shallow 9x9 baking dish

7. Bake uncovered for 30 minutes

Serve with milk or cream and fresh fruit or berries. It's also fun to experiment with different nuts and I've tried it with about 3/4 cup cranberries cut in half (stir in with the melted butter) adds a wonderful tartness.