Remember how I kept bragging about the 1 pound bags of Meyer lemons I kept scoring for $1.50 at my local Kroger?
They’re all gone. 🙁
This was the very last dish I made with the last of my Meyer lemons. No frets, however…this recipe can be made with just your average lemon, too. It may be the better part of a year before Meyer lemons come back around…
I made this baked oatmeal on a Sunday morning to enjoy reheated all week long. Does the photo below not look like the perfect Sunday morning? A healthy, fiber-rich, antioxidant-packed breakfast with a stack of cooking magazines to thumb through and savory the moment…and every bite. Ahhhh. Weekends.
When Monday morning rolled around, I went about my usual morning routine. I packed my lunch…and my breakfast to-go.
I got to work, caught up with emails and ventured to the kitchen to reheat my leftover Meyer Lemon Blueberry Baked Oatmeal for breakfast. One of my coworkers was sitting down eating breakfast and as I proudly and very excitedly pulled my oatmeal from the fridge, I popped off the lid of the tupperware to show-off my breakfast.
Within a split second, my beautiful breakfast had slipped out of my grip and…SPLAT! It was all over the kitchen floor at work.
If I’m being perfectly honest, I considered the 5-second rule. But given that I work in a dialysis clinic and we work with all sorts of body fluids, I quickly decided that was not an option.
I pouted. My co-worker laughed. Eventually, I joined in with a laugh.
I grabbed a cup of coffee in hopes of subduing my hunger until an early lunch, but come 10am, I was growling. The only thing to save me was a slice of cold pizza that was leftover from a meeting the Friday prior.
Let me tell you, that slice of pizza had NOTHING on this oatmeal. But desperate times call for desperate measures. I’ve made several baked oats, and this is certainly one that tops the charts for me. I’m glad to say the remaining servings made it into the microwave…and into my belly 😀
Meyer Lemon Blueberry Baked Oatmeal adapted from Babble by Mo’Betta
1 Meyer lemon, zested and juiced
2 cups nonfat milk
2 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 Tbsp butter, melted and cooled
1 egg
1/3 cup sugar
2 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Spray an 8-inch square baking dish with nonstick spray.
Zest lemon; set zest aside. In a bowl, combine milk and juice from the zested lemon to make “buttermilk”.
In a medium bowl, combine the oats, baking powder, salt, spices, and lemon zest. In a small bowl, whisk together the “buttermilk”, butter, egg, and sugar.
Spoon half of the oat mixture into the baking dish, and then half of the blueberries. Add the remaining oat mixture and scatter the remaining blueberries on to the top, pressing them in slightly. Pour in the milk mixture and place in oven.
Bake for 35 to 45 minutes, or until the mixture is a light golden brown along the edges, and the center has set up.
Yield: 4 large servings.
Nutrition Information (per serving): 399 calories; 10.5 g. fat; 49 mg. cholesterol; 486 mg. sodium; 67 g. carbohydrate; 7 g. fiber; 12.3 g. protein
Result: Filling, packed with fiber, and rich in antioxidants! This is simple to make and reheats great for weekday breakfasts. Enjoy!
[/print_this]I am training my replacement today…bittersweet! It’s hard to believe that our movers will be here two weeks from today…
Have a great week!
Be well,
that looks amazing!!!!! mmmm
Ugh! Spillage is totally the worst. I would have pouted all the way to the cafeteria in my office and made myself feel better with a bagel or something… not that I’ve done that before… 😉
No joke, I WOULD have cried!
This sounds amazing. Can you believe I don’t think I’ve ever had a meyer lemon?? I know they taste different than regular ones, only because I’ve read it on your blog AND Paul Qui mentioned them yesterday (I thought of you, by the way).
Ok, so Friday the 15th, we’re on!
@Gina: Wait, do you know Paul Qui, the Top Chef??
@Nicole This baked oatmeal looks SO good : d
I am definitely a proponent of the 5 second rule in most situations, especially since my grandmother lived with us as a child and kept our floors immaculate.
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Samantha: Gina and I went to a cooking demo by Paul Qui at Gina’s work yesterday. So fun! He’s really nice! And cute 😉
Oooh, I’m so jealous! I loved him on Top Chef. And he is totally adorable. I had a minor crush.
Lemon and blueberries work so well together – no wonder this baked oatmeal turned out amazingggg! I would have freaked if I had dropped this all over the floor. Thank goodness it was just one serving and not the whole pan! 😛
Have a great week, Nicole!
These look amazing
Do you think they’d work with a non dairy milk and flax egg
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Joy: Absolutely! I would’ve used coconut milk or almond milk had I had some on hand…and the flax egg I never have issues with 🙂
As someone who plans my breakfast well beforehand, I love baked oatmeal. This looks absolutely fabulous and will definitely be made tonight for my breakfast the rest of the week. I love to reheat it and add a splash of milk before eating. Thanks for a great recipe!
I definitely would have cried if this fell all over the floor. At least you got to have the original! It looks delicious.
Next time blueberries go on sale, definitely making this! Sorry that it fell – I’ve had that happen too – one time with a bowl of ramen noodles – I tripped and noodles went flying all over my cubicle that I shared with three other people – it took me 45 minutes to clean it up!
Happy Monday – I am sure these next two weeks are going to fly!
The baked oatmeal looks amazing! I love the lemon/blueberry combo of flavors. I am very fortunate to have a Meyer Lemon tree in my backyard. Believe it or not, our lemons yield anywhere from 1/2-1 cup of juice – they are the size of grapefruit! Could you give the approximate amount of juice you use in your recipe?
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Karen: I’m so jealous!!!!!!! I would say the yield was about 1/4 cup per lemon.
I have definitely used the 5 second rule on more than one occasion….haha! This oatmeal looks like the perfect summertime meal!
I’m so sorry for your (lemon) loss!
Spilling food is so heartbreaking, especially when it’s something you’re so excited about. I would have been devastated.
This looks delicious! Any ideas for modifying it so it doesn’t require the oven? I know, that defeats the purpose of a BAKED oatmeal, but with temps already in the upper 90s and low 100s where I live, I’m trying to avoid turning on the oven at all costs.
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Hmmm!! The grill might be a fun try! You could also try over the stove. It would be a completely different consistency, but not in a bad way!
About two weeks before I gave birth, I dropped my bowl of spaghetti at dinner one night, and I cried and cried. Spilled food is never fun 🙂
Love the giant bites of blueberry in this recipe!!
Loving this oatmeal Nicole ~ the meyer lemon is a great idea!
OMG, this sounds incredibly delish. thanks for sharing it. Hoep you’re having a great week ahead.
Blessigns
Kristy
Oh my goodness, this looks and sounds absolutely delicious! Do you think it could be prepared the night before, and then put in the oven to bake the next morning? I’m always looking for different breakfasts I can make for my husband without having to get up so early in order to have it ready on time. Thanks for the great idea!
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Absolutely this can be thrown together the night before. You may need to add a touch more milk, or decrease the baking time by 5-10 minutes, but I see both of those as perks to making ahead 🙂
I want to try this on the weekend. I’ve made a few baked oatmeals before, but I think this one will be a keeper. Too bad about the oatmeal on the floor – I bet your lunchroom smelled wonderful though!
Yum! I love baked oatmeal and I really love the flavor combo. I seriously would have cried if that happened to my oatmeal. There’s nothing more disappointing than looking forward to eating something yummy and then… 🙁
Holy crap that looks good! I have been looking around for easy, portable breakfasts to take with me to class and this is the clear winner. I MUST make this! Hopefully my dairy free substitutions will work…
I knew I would find something perfect when I checked your blog. 🙂
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Bakkah: Dairy free should work great! 🙂 Enjoy!
Mmm, I’ve been loving baked oatmeal recently and yours looks delicious! I’ve never considered putting blueberries inside, what a great idea. Can’t wait to try this recipe!
this looks awesome! I love breakfast you can make on the weekend and enjoy in a hurry all week long. Thanks for the inspiration; can’t wait to give this recipe a try (:
This was really wonderful Nicole. The blueberries are a burst of sweetness.
I made half a recipe, and I’m really glad I did – the full size portions must be huge! For anyone else who might halve the recipe… it made 4 completely full ramekins, baking for 20-25 minutes.
Thanks for a great breakfast!
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I’m so glad you enjoyed it! The portions are VERY generous, yes…I just always have a hard time getting an 8×8 pan into 5 pieces 😉 And, breakfast is probably my biggest meal of the day. Thanks for the feedback and for the ramekin adaptation – I will definitely use that! 🙂
I am trying this with blueberries, a regular lemon, and peaches. I doubled the fruit, but nothing else since I usually half topping ingredients in cobblers and such. It is in the oven right now. Will let you know how it turns out. Smells awesome. Found you through Pinterest.
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Hi Beth! Sounds delicious! Baked oatmeal is so adaptable – I’m sure it’ll turn out great! Thanks for your sweet note 🙂 Hope you find some other recipes you love!
Just wondering if you have added anything like walnuts or maybe some bananas to the oatmeal? My his and is I obessed with McDonalds Blueberry Banana Walnut oatmeal and I am trying to find something like it to make him. Something healthier and cheaper.
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Jessica: You could definitely add in banana and/or walnuts – yep!
I tried your baked oatmeal recipe today and my 2 kids and I enjoyed it. I changed the recipe a little to make it vegan and sugar free.
I made this yesterday for the first time (immediately after finding it on Pinterest!), and I love it!! I love the blueberry/lemon combo, and I like the texture of the oatmeal. I like regular oatmeal anyway, but I can appreciate that this is a little less slimy & more fluffy. This is a recipe I will be making over & over! 🙂
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Michelle: I have to agree – this is a wonderful recipe and the texture is just perfect. I love that I can eat this throughout the week and add some warm milk…mmM! 🙂
I made this baked oatmeal this morning, but tripled it for my 14 guys. They loved it. I loved it. And it’s gluten-free, which my son needs. Thanks for sharing your recipe and your story!
OK – so I was so excited for this. I pulled out my ingredients and was disappointed that I had just a smidgen of old fashioned oats. However, I did have steel cut. So – I knew I had to give more moist for less oats. I used 1 c steel cuts oats for the same 2 c of milk. I also added about 1/4 c of flour to give it some structure. I also knew, just my preference, I didn’t want too many berries so I cut that back to 1 c. It turned out amazing!! Kind of like your bowl of oatmeal met a dish of cobbler. The flavor was out of this world. Thanks for sharing!!
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I love the improv! Sounds like it turned out perfectly! 🙂
Love this recipe! Will be linking back to this in my upcoming post 🙂
This is the best baked oatmeal we’ve ever made. So, so delicious!!! Thank you for sharing. We liked it so much that we included it in our favorite recipes list.
http://www.bloodtypeanddiet.com/2013/01/blood-type-recipe-favorites.html
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Thanks!! I agree ….delicious!
This is about to go into the oven….I’m using Splenda instead of sugar and a regular lemon instead of Meyer (I don’t think I’ve ever had a Meyer lemon). Hope it’s still yummy even with my changes. 🙂
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Hi Elizabeth! I’m sure it’ll be delish! 🙂 Enjoy!!
LOOKS super good! can I put something else in it instead of sugar?
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You can certainly try splenda or stevia but no promises on the results!
Whoa! This was great. My 6yo made it with me before bed, so that it’d be microwave-ready for an early breakfast the next morning. It was a hit. Even my oatmeal-hatin’ 5yo son gobbled down two servings!
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I’m so glad it was such a hit 🙂
This sounded so good and I had a lemon that needed to be used and some frozen mixed berries. Unfortunately I was short on the amount of oatmeal. Added farina to make up the difference. It worked, although not quite as wonderful as it would have been without.
Hi there,
I saw your recipe on pinterest and tried it this morning at work, for my colleagues. I’m not sure where I went wrong but it turned out like dried porridge and nothing like the delicious granola type oatmeal in your picture! I doubled the recipe and I used porridge oats, I don’t know if these are different than old fashioned rolled oats. Can you shed any light on my disaster?
Thanks.
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Oh no! Roseann, I believe porridge oats are steel cut oats. They’re VERY different from old fashioned. I feel pretty confident that if you tried this again with the correct oats, you’d love it 🙂 I’m sorry!
Yum!, could I substitute a cup of almond meal for oat flour / oats? Thank you!
These look great! Almond meal in place of some oats?
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Kathleen, you could certainly try…not sure it would work super well, though.
I am not find of blueberries, what could I use instead????
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Apple, pear, any frozen fruit (I used frozen blueberries this morning).
Great recipe! The lemon and blueberry are delicious together! I made a slight variation by adding a sliced banana across the bottom of the pan and reducing the sugar to 1/4 cup. Next time I might try using brown sugar or molasses for a slightly different flavor.
i made this recipe this evening. Added some fresh raspberries as well. So tasty! I like it because it’s not too sweet. Will be sharing with a couple of besties @ work tomorrow. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
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I agree! Glad you enjoyed, Leslie!
A follow-up to an earlier comment I made: Tonight is the third time in 3 weeks I’ve made this recipe. I just love it. Perfect for workday breakfasts. Keeps you feeling satisfied until lunch time. A gem of a recipe. Thanks again!
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Thanks, Leslie! Now I’m craving some! 🙂