Baked apple oatmeal is my breakfast friendly version of apple crisp.  With reduced fat and sugar, and more oats, I scoop a portion of this into my cereal bowl each morning, give it a quick zap in the microwave to heat it up, and pour milk over it for a highly satisfying start to the day.  I’d also recommend eating it cold with a few slices of sharp cheddar cheese.

Ingredients:

• 4 – 5 peeled and sliced Apples or a quart of Apple Sauce (homemade is best, that way you can control the level of sweetness and spice)
• 3/4 cup Whole Wheat Flour (for a great gluten free alternative grind up a few oats into a flour)
• 4 cup Oats
• 1/2 – 1 cup Brown Sugar (if you are using sweetened apple sauce a 1/2 cup of sugar should be plenty, but if you are using a tarter variation of fresh apples you may want to coat them in a 1/2 cup sugar and a pinch of spices before incorporating them into the dish)
• 1/4 cup melted Butter
• 1/2 cup Orange Juice
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• 1 tbsp Cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp Cloves
• 1/2 tsp Allspice

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 F (~191 C).
2. Grease a 9×13 baking dish.
3. Arrange the apples or apple sauce evenly along the bottom of the baking dish.
4. Stir the dry ingredients together.
5. Combine the melted butter and orange juice, and pour it over the dry ingredients.
6. Stir the mixture until the ingredients start to come together into small crumbs.  If the mixture is to dry add a little more orange juice until it is wet enough to clump.
7. Use your hands to crumble the mixture over the apples.
8. Bake for about 45 minutes.