Baked Oatmeal

Organic oats in the bulk bins at Super1 are $0.89/lb and a pound goes a long way in our house! This is probably why we've been having oatmeal for breakfast almost daily for the last few weeks. It's also easy to fix, delicious and very nutritious. I have been having my plain old oatmeal with frozen berries and honey; brown sugar and cinnamon; strawberries, bananas and cream; and my newest obsession - with bananas, walnuts and maple syrup! Even with all of the possibilities, I was starting to get a little bored with breakfast so I went out looking for oatmeal recipes and found LOTS to choose from. I've done muffins and granola in the past, but was looking for a different application. I decided to try a baked oatmeal recipe that didn't seem all that different from my usual flavor choices

I really, really liked this recipe and am very excited to share it with you. I scaled down the original from Nourished Kitchen to suit my family's size and what we had on hand in the pantry.

Ingredients 
1/2 lb thick rolled oats
1/2 cup walnuts
1 tbsp whey  for soaking
2 tbsp whole wheat flour
3 eggs
1 cup milk
1/8 cup maple syrup
½ cup raisins
1 generous tbsp cinnamon
1/8 cup butter, plus extra for greasing baking dish

Instructions

1. Pour the oats, flour, and walnuts into a glass bowl.
2. Add whey and enough water to cover. 
3. Cover with a towel or plastic wrap and allow to soak overnight.
4. In the morning, drain off as much water as you can. Don't worry about losing some of your flour, it's job is done.
5. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit and grease a 9 x 9-inch square baking pan with butter.
6. Beat together eggs, milk, and maple syrup.
7. Pour the egg mixture over the soaked oats and nuts, stir to combine.
8. Add raisins, cinnamon and melted butter.
9. Pour into greased baking pan and spread it out.
10. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes or until a knife inserted into its center comes out clean.
11. Let it rest for five to ten minutes before serving.