Baked oatmeal made with cottage cheese, yogurt, dried cranberries and a few white chocolate chips for fun.
Are you a meticulous planner or a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants type of person? I’m more of the planning type than the pants flyer, but with one important qualification: my plans rarely work.
Case in point: I first baked this oatmeal several Sunday mornings ago, with a distinct plan in mind. If made baked oatmeal on Sunday, I’d have my breakfasts all prepared for a good chunk of the working week.
The result? The oatmeal lasted until Monday.
Most of the baked oatmeal disappeared when I was out and left the oats sitting unguarded in the fridge. Apparently baked oatmeal is a popular dessert in my house (well, apartment). Especially when it’s served with ice cream.
Luckily, this was one of those rare instances when I was actually pleased to have my plans fly out the window. I’ll take positive recipe reviews over perfectly executed plans any day of the week.
Plus, this gave me an excellent excuse to bake more oatmeal.
I had another plan in mind when making this breakfast: to represent the state of Wisconsin through baked oatmeal. Sounds odd, yes, but I’m enjoying following the US presidential primaries through breakfast foods. (You can find all my election-themed recipes here).
Wisconsin, aka America’s Dairyland, takes its milk and cheese seriously, producing more cheese than any other state (although California isn’t far behind!).
So I’m sorry if you’re lactose intolerant, vegan or otherwise dairy-free, because this oatmeal contains four types of dairy: cottage cheese, yogurt, milk and white chocolate.
Since cranberries are the state fruit of Wisconsin – and, more importantly, I love dried cranberries – this oatmeal is speckled with the sweet ‘n’ tart dried fruit. There’s also some shredded coconut for texture and flavor.
Between the oats, the dried cranberries and the white chocolate chips, this baked oatmeal is almost like a cross between a cookie and a doughnut. Like a giant cookie-doughnut that’s packed with protein, made without butter or oil, and is relatively low in sugar (although this will depend on the brands of yogurt and dried cranberries you use).
Fun Fact: The Badger State isn’t just about cheese – Wisconsin is also America’s top producer of cranberries.
I enjoyed eating this baked oatmeal with steamed (or just microwaved) almond milk. But if you’re a big fan of toppings and fun extras, then you could serve this breakfast with chopped fruit, nuts, maple syrup, honey, melted white chocolate, yogurt or – of course – ice cream.
Since first baking this oatmeal, I’ve made quite a habit of making relatively big batches of baked oatmeal on Sundays. As you may have guessed, they’re almost always gone before Tuesday morning.
So I’ve convinced myself that when it comes to planning and being organized, it’s the thought that counts.
- 1 egg
- ⅓ cup (80g) cottage cheese
- ⅓ cup (80g) Greek-style vanilla yogurt
- 1 tablespoon (15mL) honey
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
- 1 ½ cups (150g) rolled oats
- ¼ cup (20g) shredded coconut
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ⅔ cup (160mL) milk
- ¼ cup (35g) sweetened dried cranberries
- White chocolate chips, for sprinkling
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Grease a 9-inch (23cm) pie dish.
- In a large bowl, whisk the egg with a fork. Add the cottage cheese, yogurt, honey and vanilla bean paste, and whisk until relatively smooth.
- Mix in the rolled oats, shredded coconut, baking powder and salt. Add the milk, and mix until well combined. Stir in the dried cranberries.
- Transfer the mixture to the prepared pie dish. Sprinkle some white chocolate chips over the top of the batter.
- Bake for 25 – 30 minutes, or until the oatmeal is lightly golden and reasonably firm when touched.
- Let the oatmeal cool in the dish for 5 minutes before cutting into slices, if possible. Serve by itself, or with steamed milk and fruit (or even with ice cream).
When done, the oatmeal should ‘spring back’ when touched – if your finger leaves an indent, it’s not done yet.
Yogurt
Any thick yogurt will be fine for this recipe – it doesn’t need to be authentic Greek yogurt. If all you have is plain yogurt, then add more honey to compensate for the lack of sweetness.
Milk
Any kind of milk - cow, almond, etc. - should be fine.
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