School Morning Breakfast

 Make ahead breakfasts are perfect for school mornings. You can do all the work the night before and send the kids off with plenty of fuel for a busy morning of learning.

Baked oatmeal is so easy to mix up, cover and refrigerate on a school night and then all you have to do is pop it in the oven the next morning.

I make several variations on this recipe.
Here's the original:

Ingredients

• 3 cups rolled oats
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup milk
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup melted butter
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup dried cranberries

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, mix together oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt. Beat in milk, eggs, melted butter, and vanilla extract. Stir in dried cranberries. Spread into a 9x13 inch baking dish.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 30 - 40 minutes. 

Instead of cranberries this time I chopped up a couple of apples. I thought that was perfect for back-to-school.  I usually bake it in a 9"x9" pan and I cut the sugar back to 1/2 cup.  It makes 6 servings and is a great way to fill up hungry teenagers.