Baked Oatmeal with fruit

Frozen peaches, ready to be baked into oatmeal

I may have mentioned this before... I really dislike oatmeal.  I don't like the texture.  But I had a craving today, which could be explained in any number of ways: cookie withdrawal after a full weekend of sweets, an odd hollow in my stomach where my Vacation Breakfast had been sitting (I skipped breakfast yesterday, for the first time in awhile), or an e-mail from my old roommate whose baked oatmeal rendered a compliment from me once, which is saying a lot.  Because I really dislike oatmeal.

Also, it helped that the grocery store had frozen mixed berries, peaches, and blackberries on sale.

The consistency of baked oatmeal is much more pleasing to me than regular cooked oats.  The top is a little browned and crispy, and more like a baked good than a porridge.  There is baking soda and powder, and salt, which gives it a  bit of a cookie-like taste.  Underneath that is a gooey porridge-like layer, but it is much less like snot than traditional oatmeal.  I also like that I sliced this into six pieces and brought them to work, where I can pull out each serving with my hand, plop it on a plate, heat it up in the microwave, and eat breakfast at my desk.  (Or I can eat it cold, like a bar.)  Also, my oven pretty much heats my entire apartment, so baking is my new favorite thing.  For the next six months.  And then I won't turn the oven on once, all summer.

I used flax where most recipes call for eggs, because I've eaten way more eggs and dairy than usual lately and I wanted a change.  But I kept the yogurt - in fact, I was specifically looking for yogurt.  I don't know why, as I usually am not a huge yogurt fan, but I've been eating a ton of it lately.  Also, I've experimented a lot with the amount of syrup - one, two, or three tablespoons.  I really don't think it needs more than one.  Unless you want a super sweet breakfast, which I do not.  (My sister calls this "Oatmeal Cake", and I see her point.  With a proper glaze, it might be accepted as a cake.)

And finally, a confession:  The dough is delicious.  And perfectly edible as a breakfast in itself - raw oats with soy milk, yogurt, flax, spices, and a bit of maple?  It's so delicious.  The baking soda and powder remind me just a bit of cookie dough.  I'm at the point where I don't put all the dough in the pan so I can eat the leftovers.

dry:
2 cups oatmeal (I've used quick and old fashioned, old fashioned is better.  Not sure yet about steel cut.)
1/2 t baking powder
1/4 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1/2 t cinnamon
1/2 t allspice
1/4 t fresh nutmeg (please, buy whole nutmeg and use a microplane grater - fresh nutmeg is so much more delicious.)
wet:
2 T ground flax meal
1/4 c water
1 cup plain greek yogurt
1 cup unsweetened soy milk
2 T maple syrup
bottom:
1 1/2 c sliced frozen peaches (or half a bag of any frozen fruit)

Mix dry ingredients.
Whisk together flax seed and water.  Measure 1 cup of soy milk into a 2 cup measuring cup, add yogurt until you get to 2 cups, add flax mixture and maple syrup and stir until smooth.
Mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients.
Layer frozen peaches at the bottom of your pan.  (You can stir them into the batter, but then your pan will be much dirtier and the baked oatmeal squares won't come out as easily.)

Cover with foil and bake 20 minutes at 350, than remove foil and back 20 more minutes, or until brown and juices are bubbly.  (I generally over-bake, because then it is less like oatmeal and more like cake.)

Makes 6 servings.