Apple and Cranberry Baked Oatmeal

I like butter, sugar, cream and chocolate. It’s no secret. Unfortunately/fortunately my parents take a different stance when it comes to their calorie intake. So over the weekend while visiting my parents I took it down a notch. Instead of buttery scones or gooey cinnamon rolls, I made low-sugar baked oatmeal. And get this – I actually liked it. Maybe there is hope for me after all. Maybe like my nose, I’ll grow into it as I get older. Maybe a sensible diet is attainable despite my love affair with sugar. Nahhhh…that’s highly doubtful.

2 apples, cored, pealed and roughly chopped
1 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
3 cups quick cooking oats
4 cups skim milk
1 egg
1/2 cup maple syrup
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup chopped nuts
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9x13” pan with cooking spray, and set it aside.

Mix together all your ingredients and pour into your prepared pan. Bake for 45 minutes.

This recipe can be made the night before if covered and refrigerated.

Pear and Pecan Crumble

It’s beginning to really feel like fall, so of course I’m craving the flavors of the season. That means plenty of pumpkin lattes, spice cake and oatmeal cookies. While I’m at it, I may as well add pear and pecan crumble to the list. Pears are one of my favorite fruits, but I’ve never actually baked with them. They don’t typically last that long enough around my kitchen, but today I made a conscious effort to deny myself from biting in to one of these ripe suckers and waiting until it was time to bake. It was definitely worth it!

Ingredients

For the fruit layer:
5 large, ripe pears (Bosc preferred)
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt

For the crumble:
1-1/2 cup flour
1/3 cup white sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar (packed)
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ cup chopped pecans
1 stick butter, melted

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 8 inch x 8 inch baking pan with cooking spray and set it aside.

Peal, core and chop your pears into bite-size pieces. In a large bowl, stir together the chopped pear pieces and the sugar and salt. Set this aside while you prepare the crumble topping.

In another bowl, whisk together the flour, both sugars, and cinnamon. Finely chop your pecans and add them to the bowl as well. Remove your butter from its paper, and melt it in the microwave (using a microwave-safe bowl) for two bursts of 20 seconds each.

Slowly drizzle the melted butter into the flour mixture while using a fork to combine until small clumps form.

Place the pear/sugar mixture in the bottom of the baking pan. Evenly cover the fruit layer with the crumble mixture.

Place the pan in the oven for about 35-40 minutes until the fruit bubbles around the edges and the topping becomes slightly brown.

Remove the pan from the oven and allow the pear crumble to rest/cool for about 5 minutes. Spoon into bowls and top with vanilla ice cream while it’s still warm!

Adapted from thepioneerwoman.com

Pumpkin Spice Oatmeal Cookies

In looking back through my recent posts, I’ve noticed something very important about myself. I am a lazy cookie maker. Apparently, I like making the dough and eating the cookies, but I get impatient with scooping out the cookie dough, waiting for two pans of cookies to bake and then repeating the whole process one or two more times. It just takes to darn long, which is why I’ve inadvertently and subconsciously decided to turn every cookie recipe I have into cookie bars. It’s just so easy! Just throw it all in the pan, and you’re done! This recipe didn’t even mention making the cookies into bars. I just did it anyway. And you should too. These came out super moist and thick…just how I like my cookies!

Adapted from Mybakingaddiction.com

Ingredients

2 cups flour
1 ½ cups oats
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter; softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup dried cranberries

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Spray a 9 inch x 13 inch pan with non-stick cooking spray, and set the pan aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, oats, baking soda, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice and salt. Set this aside as well.

In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and both sugars until completely incorporated. Next, stir in the egg, canned pumpkin and vanilla.

Add in the dry ingredients (1/3 at a time) until a thick dough forms. Lastly, mix in the chocolate chips and cranberries.

Spread the cookie dough out in the pan and pop it into the oven for about 25to 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Remove the pan from the oven and allow the cookies to cool. Cut into squares a serve.