I’ve come to believe that a few days in bed isn’t necessarily a bad thing. I recently had knee surgery. I was told I’d be fine if I took it easy and faithfully did the physical therapy exercises. Over the years I had seen the range of knee surgery patients—from those who hadn’t bothered with the physical therapy exercises to those who had pushed way too hard (if five repetitions is good, then fifty must be better).
I listened. The first three days I lay around like a woman with a box of bonbons, which meant I had more time than usual to plan the upcoming brunch for our out-of-town visiting family. As I pondered the meal, I was bored with my current repertoire of morning crowd pleasers. Or did all that time on my hands make me want to create new brunch food?
I hoped to develop two new dishes—one sweet, the other savory. For the sweet one I settled on baked oatmeal, both do-ahead and healthy, which was fine for weekday morning breakfast. But this was Sunday brunch. My baked oatmeal needed a naughtiness factor.
The result: Baked Blueberry Oatmeal with Walnut Streusel Topping—healthy on the bottom, party on the top! The oatmeal, moistened with nut milk, sweetened with blueberries and brown sugar, and flavored with cinnamon, orange zest, and vanilla, is almost saintly. The little walnut crumble topping nudges the oatmeal towards dessert.
Maggy was with me when the dish came out of the oven. One bite and she said, “You nailed it. No need to change a thing”
And that’s what happens when you have a few days in bed.
(New savory brunch dish to come next week.)
- 3 cups old-fashioned oatmeal
- 1½ cups brown sugar, divided
- 1½ teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon finely grated orange zest (zest of about 1 orange)
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon, divided
- 3 cups almond milk (we used Califia Farms Toasted Coconut Almond Milk)
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2 eggs
- 2 cups fresh blueberries, divided
- ¾ cup all-purpose bleached flour
- 6 tablespoons butter, melted but not hot
- ½ cup coarsely walnuts
- Adjust oven rack to center position and heat oven to 375 degrees. Mix oatmeal, 1 cup brown sugar, baking powder, salt, orange zest and 1½ teaspoons cinnamon in a medium bowl. In a separate bowl whisk milk, vanilla, and eggs. Stir milk mixture, then 1 cup of blueberries into oatmeal mixture; turn into a 13- by 9-inch pan; Bake until oatmeal is just starting to set, about 20 minutes. Meanwhile, mix flour, butter, walnuts, and remaining brown sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Crumble mixture over just set oatmeal, scatter remaining blueberries, and continue to bake until oatmeal is just set and crumble is golden brown, about 20 minutes longer. Serve
Looks yummy. Not crazy about walnuts though, what substitute would you recommend? Thanks so much!
Hey Jean,
I can’t think of a single nut I wouldn’t use in the crumble topping–pecans, almonds, hazelnuts, pistachios–all good, I think.
In true Pam Anderson form, I used this method with what I had and made a few changes – it was so good! I halved the recipe, used lemon zest, 2% milk, rinsed/drained frozen blueberries (all) folded in & the rest as written. I served it in a bowl with a generous splash of half & half. I also plan to make it as written when I can plan ahead. Yum!
Hope you’re doing okay and that Dave waited on you hand and foot! (or should I say hand and KNEE).
This looks fantastic! Is there a reason you used bleached all-purpose flour? I tend to have unbleached ap in my pantry. Just curious. Thanks!
For a dish like this, it wouldn’t matter if you used bleached or unbleached, but bleached flour is softer than unbleached, so I prefer it in baked goods like cakes and biscuits.
This looks delicious! I was the lucky recipient of two boxes of just-picked raspberries last night and looking for something to do with them when I came across a recipe for Raspberry Cobbler on ALLRECIPES. When I went to make it, I realized it was one of yours. It was a delicious dessert last night and even better breakfast this a.m. with a bit of frozen greek yogurt to top it off. Hope you’re recovering from the knee surgery and that you enjoyed a few days rest, too!
This looks delicious! I’m craving it right now!
Best wishes on your recovery! I am looking forward to making both the oatmeal and egg recipe you just posted. thanks!
Looks so yummy and uses such healthy ingredients. Thank you. I’m going to try this one out this weekend.
Can you mix this all together the night before, then pop in oven in am? Worried the oatmeal will absorb all the liquid and get gooey.
Hey Kathryn,
It’s totally fine to make it the night before. Just don’t put the crumble on until the oatmeal has set in the oven. Love this recipe!
Could you use frozen blueberries in this recipe? This looks delicious!
Oh my goodness I love it! Healthy on the bottom, party on top! So great. Must try soon!
Genius! I made baked oatmeal fairly often before. This is in a class by itself. It’s the streusel topping that takes it to another level. Thanks for sharing!