The baked oatmeal

Everyone who's anyone in the food blogging world is making this, the baked oatmeal from Heidi Swanson's new cookbook, Super Natural Every Day, I suspect because the recipe also appeared in the May 2011 issue of Martha Stewart's Whole Living magazine.

And hey! It's also on the Whole Living website. You can find it right here.

I made a few changes to the recipe:

1. I used pecans (it's what I had), toasted in a dry skillet and chopped by hand.
2. I used So Delicious coconut milk (original flavor) for the milk (because I don't do the milk thing).
3. I used frozen blueberries instead of fresh (again, it's what I had).

It occurred to me while mixing things up that you could easily make this vegan by substituting virgin coconut oil for the butter (I came THIS CLOSE to doing that, but didn't) and whatever it is vegans use in place of eggs (ground flax seeds? or something? which I also have ... hmm). We're not vegan and I suspect most of my readers aren't either, but you know. The option is there for you, if you're into that sort of thing.

But the important thing is how it tastes! And I'm here to tell you ... it's pretty darn good! I should confess that I'm not a HUGE oatmeal fan. I like oats just fine, in granola or cookies or whatever, but actual cooked oatmeal and other porridgey things are not really my bag, baby. If I made this again I think I'd bake it just a bit longer because it came out a little more custardy than I was hoping (the coconut milk substitution probably contributed to that). Also my fruit wasn't particularly sweet, so I found it really needed the maple syrup for serving.

All that being said, as far as oatmeal goes, this is pretty much the best darn oatmeal I've ever tasted. If that's damning with faint praise, then so be it.