Pie for Breakfast……

Ok, it has to be said, I am freezing! I am drinking a hot cup of coffee, and I almost wish that I could crawl right into it. (Weird, I know.) Every year that we live in a house with wood floors I remember why I dislike the cold weather so much. Even if you turn your heat up, the floors are still going to be cold. Should I be wearing slippers? Of course, and every year I say I’m going to get a pair, and every year goes by and I don’t. So, slippers are absolutely on the top of my shopping list for this coming weekend. Hmmm maybe I should wait until after Thanksgiving because I bet there will be some really good sales. See! This is how I miss getting slippers each year. I think this year will be different. 😉

And with it being cold outside this is where it is important to start your day with a nice warm breakfast. I don’t really care for traditional oatmeal; I find any way I can to help “dress it up”. I’ve done the overnight oats, I’ve eaten hot oatmeal a hundred different ways, and the other day I ran across Amish baked oatmeal. How did I not know about this?! Of course I wasn’t about to copy a recipe, I did my research to find out what ingredients go into baked oatmeal and decided to give it a whirl. I was so happy with how it turned out, and it was really filling. It had soft apples on the bottom, a soft chewy middle, and a crumble like topping, almost like a combination between a granola topping, and an apple crumble topping. Either way it was so yummy!

This morning I thought I would try a more traditional version with more eggs, less oats, and more milk. FAIL! At least in my opinion it was a fail. It isn’t that it didn’t taste good, but I have a serious issue with texture and instead of having an oatmeal texture it had a bread pudding texture. In saying that, that is how I knew I had hit the nail on the head for traditional baked oatmeal because more than one person described it as having the texture of bread pudding. In the end I preferred my version. 😉 I also had some whipped coconut cream leftover from a non-dairy hot chocolate I had made so I decided to put some on top. Win! I didn’t sweeten my cream because I liked the contrast, but if you wanted to you could add a little bit of your favorite sweetener. You can either scoop the cream straight out of the can (You have to use full fat coconut milk) or you can actually whip it into whipped cream like I did. (Actually I used it both ways. Whipped is just better for presentation.) Just make sure that you chill your can of coconut milk overnight upside down in the fridge. (Don’t shake it!) Then when you remove it the next day gently turn it over and pour off the whey. And chill your beaters and metal bowl in the freezer for 30 minutes before whipping the cream. But in the end whether you choose to scoop straight out of the can, whip it, or not have any cream at all this breakfast will get your day started right. So, sit back, relax, and enjoy!

Apple Pie Baked Oatmeal with Coconut Cream

By Angie Gouchenour

1 Serving

Ingredients

½ cup red apple chopped (I used gala. You want a firm apple)

½ cup old fashioned oats

1 Tablespoon brown sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon baking powder

¼ Tablespoon butter, vegan butter, or coconut oil

1 Tablespoon egg whites or a flax egg (1 tsp flax meal + 2 tsp water)

¼ cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk or other non dairy milk

Directions

Pre heat the oven to 375’f

Spray the inside of a 10 ounce ramekin

Dump the apples into the ramekin

In a small bowl combine oats, brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and butter until crumbly

Pour oat mixture over the apples

In the same bowl (I like to reduce dishes 😉 ) combine egg whites and almond milk

Pour milk and egg whites over oatmeal mixture

Place the ramekin on a baking sheet and place in the preheated oven for 20 minutes

Remove and let cool slightly before enjoying

283 calories (Add 25 calories per Tablespoon of coconut cream)