Cranberry Orange Baked Oatmeal

  

I know a recipe is a keeper when my 80-year-old mom asks, “Are you going to make it again anytime soon?”

The one she requested this week was for Cranberry Orange Baked Oatmeal. 

Do you horde fresh cranberries during the holidays? I do. Bags of those little red flavor bombs are primarily stored in the freezer to make my favorite Cranberry Orange Walnut Bread well beyond Christmas.

One cold morning in January, I wondered if I could take those same flavors and put them in baked oatmeal, which is one of our favorite breakfast dishes. After a couple of tries, I came up with this version. I enjoy it with a spoonful of plain Greek yogurt on the side.

Don’t have a stash of fresh cranberries? No worries. This dish tastes lovely using either fresh or dried cranberries. 

Don’t like cranberries? No problem. Earlier this week, I made the recipe by swapping out the cranberries for blueberries and the orange zest and juice for lemon. The result was equally tasty! 

The Chewiest Oatmeal Cookies

  

At the beginning of the Covid pandemic, when everything started to close and my fears were at their highest, I discovered two delicious things. The first was the chef and author David Lebovitz live streaming cocktail hour from his Pairs apartment each evening (early afternoon here in Kansas) on Instagram. Soon I was hooked on his posts and stories, especially the ones where he unpacked his purchases after trips to the market, complete with details of what was happening on the Paris streets during the lockdown. As he pulled cheese, apricots, plumbs, lettuces, and herbs from their paper bags, I dreamed of experiencing life and eating like a true Parisian.

My daily visits to Chef Lebovitz’s posts lead to my second discovery—his recipe for Cranzac Cookies. I love cookies so full of goodness you can justify eating them for breakfast. Oatmeal, coconut, and dried cranberries tossed with flour and dark brown sugar and then held together with a little (for a cookie) melted butter and golden syrup. Lovely!

 

I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve made these cookies. I also mix things up by using raisins, dried blueberries or dried cherries instead of dried cranberries. Sometimes a mixture of all three. Mini chocolate chips were also an excellent addition. 

You can find David Lebovitz’s Cranzac Cookie recipe here.  

While I was more than happy with the recipe, I knew many of my friends and family wouldn’t like the coconut. As an experiment, I decided to leave it out and double the amount of oatmeal instead. 

Eureka! The perfect, chewy oatmeal cookie! I went with traditional raisins and added chopped walnuts. I also decreased the amount of brown sugar by 1/4 because the original amount made the cookies a little too sweet for my tastes. 

This all-oatmeal version is now my go-to cookie recipe. The ingredients are pantry staples in my house. No mixer is needed, and the dough comes together in minutes.  Humm, I wonder how diced dried apple would taste? Or maybe dried apricots and pecans? There are so many possibilities… 

Yield: 22 to 24 cookies

Author: Linda Ditch

The Chewiest Oatmeal Cookies

This is an all-oatmeal version of David Lebovitz's Cranzac Cookies. While the recipe calls for raisins and walnuts, you can use any dried fruits and nuts you like.

Ingredients

• 2 cups (190 g) old-fashioned oatmeal
• 3/4 cup (185 g) packed dark brown sugar
• 1 1/4 cup (175 g) all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 cup (60 g) raisins
• 1/2 cup (60 g) chopped walnuts
• 3 to 6 tablespoons of water
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 1/4 cup golden syrup

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
2. Place the oatmeal, brown sugar, flour, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl. Mix to combine, breaking up any clumps of sugar. Toss in the raisins and walnuts. Add the melted butter, golden syrup, and 3 tablespoons of water. Stir until combined, adding more water to moisten the dough so it holds together when scooped. (I typically use 5 to 6 tablespoons.)
3. Scoop out about 1 1/2-inch ball of dough (approximately 2 tablespoons) onto the prepared baking sheets. (I use a spring-loaded cookie scoop that looks like a miniature ice cream version.) Since the cookies don’t spread a lot, I can get 12 on a sheet about 1-inch apart. Then use your hand to flatten each scoop of dough about halfway down.
4. Bake until the cookies are golden brown, about 14 to 16 minutes, making sure you rotate the pan halfway through baking. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the pan for 2 to 3 minutes. Then transfer the cookies to a rack to finish cooling. The cookies will keep for 5 to 7 days in an airtight container. (I use a gallon zippered plastic bag.)

Notes:

I use Lyles Golden Syrup, also known as light or golden treacle in the UK. Chef Lebovitz’s original Cranzac Cookie recipe suggests substituting with 2 tablespoons agave nectar, rice syrup, or mild-flavored honey, noting it would change the flavor somewhat. I would go with honey since the consistency is very much like golden syrup. However, you can find golden syrup in the import food section of some grocery stores. I buy mine on Amazon.

Note #2: I measured my dry ingredients with a food scale instead of measuring cups.  While I give amounts for both methods, I highly recommend using the scale for the best accuracy. Oxo makes my favorite scale.

Banana Nut Oatmeal Bread

I always tinker with recipes. This banana bread is one of them. I posted the original recipe here in the early years of this blog.

For this version, I cut the sugar from 1 cup to 1/4 cup, and I cut the butter in half and used Land O’ Lakes light butter. I also added some Greek yogurt and unsweetened applesauce, which makes this bread super moist. If you want sweeter bread, you could up the sugar to 1/2 cup, but I like this less-sweet recipe instead.

I like to toast my piece in the toaster oven and then smear a little light butter on top. Yum!

Yield: 1 loaf

Author: Linda Ditch

Banana Nut Oatmeal Bread

A lighter version of traditional banana bread.

Ingredients

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup light butter (I use Land O’ Lakes)
• 1/4 cup non-fat Greek yogurt
• 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 2 large eggs
• 3 ripe bananas, mashed
• 1/2 cup old-fashioned oatmeal
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, sift together the flours, soda, and salt. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Add the yogurt, applesauce, and eggs, and whisk until blended. Then whisk in the bananas.
3. Next, stir in the flour mixture until just blended. Fold in the oatmeal and walnuts. Pour the batter into a loaf pan sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.
4. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean. Remove from the pan and cool on a rack.

Cherry Oatmeal Muffins

A true sign of a food lover is how long it takes them to explore a new food shop. For me, it can take an hour or more depending on the size of the store. I go up and down every aisle looking carefully at what is offered. Most of the time I purchase way more stuff than I intended, but I leave happy with a multitude of recipe ideas spinning around in my mind.

When I visit Mom at her Sedalia, Missouri apartment, we often venture a few miles to the east on U.S. Highway 50 to Tipton and the Dutch Bakery and Bulk Food Store. Owned by a Mennonite family, the store has been around for more than 25 years.

This place is ingredient heaven. Besides the bakery, with its delicious aromas filling the air, and fresh produce section, there are aisle after aisle of bulk food items, already bagged and ready to buy. I always come home with a grocery sack full of ingredients—some I need and some I want to play around with in recipes.

Dried cherries and pecans from my last visit inspired this recipe for Cherry Oatmeal Muffins. It is based on a basic oatmeal muffin recipe I got from the parent of one of my preschool students in New Hampshire many, many years ago. I added dried cherries, chopped pecans and cinnamon to the mix, with tasty results.

What I like most about this recipe is it makes not-too-sweet muffins. For me, this is the perfect breakfast muffin, as opposed to the more common ones that are almost like eating cake. (Actually, I have eaten cake for breakfast before, usually the morning after my birthday. Isn't that a rule?)

The recipe is easy to mix up, making it possible to bake a batch while the coffee brews. Served with milk, tea, or coffee, these Cherry Oatmeal Muffins are a delicious way to start the day.

Cherry Oatmeal Muffins

Makes 12

 

1 cup milk

1 cup old-fashioned oatmeal

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/3 cup sugar

3 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 egg, well-beaten

1/4 cup oil

1 cup dried cherries (chopped if the cherries are very big)

1 cup chopped pecans

Pour the milk into a measuring cup or small bowl. Add the oatmeal, stir, and let stand for 15 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray the cups of a muffin tin with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. To the milk-oatmeal mixture, add the egg and oil, and stir to combine. Pour the liquid mixture into the flour mixture and stir until the ingredients are just combined. Then fold in the dried cherries and pecans.

Spoon the mixture into the muffin tin, filling each cup about 2/3 full. Bake for 18 to 25 minutes, until the muffins are golden brown. Serve warm.

Baked Apple Oatmeal Pudding

I have craved apples ever since the first hints of autumn began to change the leaves from green to russet, gold, and orange. So I was thrilled when W. W. Norton and Company sent me a copy of The Apple Lover’s Cookbook by Amy Traverso. All you could possibly want to know about apples can be found in this book, from the history and a primer on what apples work best in particular dishes, to cider tasting notes and where to buy mail-order apples.

Plus, Traverso has included a large recipe selection, both sweet and savory. You should see all of the Post-It flags sticking out of my copy. I’ll be making apple dishes well into winter!

My first selection was Baked Apple Oatmeal Pudding, primarily because I was hungry for breakfast at the time. This recipe is similar to bread pudding, except old-fashioned oatmeal is used instead of bread. The flavor was wonderful. I tried it first served warm with a dollop of plain Greek yogurt, as the recipe suggested. It was good, but I liked it even better the next day warm with a bit of half and half poured over the top. Just reheat a bowl full in the microwave and then pour on the half and half. Cream would also be lovely, whipped or not.

My only recipe adjustments were to increase the amount of cinnamon and add a little nutmeg. Plus I used walnuts instead of the called-for pecans, only because that’s what I had on-hand.

Yummm! Now I have a warm, delicious and satisfying breakfast for the entire week.

Baked Apple Oatmeal Pudding

Adapted from The Apple Lover’s Cookbook by Amy Traverso

Serves 6

2 cups rolled (old-fashioned) oatmeal

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/3 cup chopped walnuts
1/3 cup roughly chopped dried fruit (I used regular and golden raisins.)
1 3/4 cup diced firm-sweet apples (I used Red Delicious from the farmers market.)
2 cups milk (I used non-fat.)
3 large eggs
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Butter the inside of a 2-quart baking dish and set aside.

In a medium mixing bowl, stir together the oatmeal, baking powder, salt, walnuts, dried fruit, and apples. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the milk, eggs, brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Stir in the oatmeal mixture to combine.

Pour the batter into the prepared baking dish. Place into the oven and bake until the center is set and the top is golden brown, between 50 to 60 minutes. Serve warm.