Egg-free Baked Oatmeal #2

This is my second version of egg-free baked oatmeal. It's not an improvement over the first version as much as the creation of a different flavor. Instead of using maple syrup, this recipe calls for brown sugar and applesauce. As you can see from the picture, I like to pour heated blueberries over mine. I just never seem to get tired of blueberries. Fortunately, the girls are happy to eat lots of blueberries, too, although for them it's almost as much because of the purple color as it is because of the taste.

Egg-free Baked Oatmeal #2
serves 4 adults

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups Bob's Red Mill gluten-free rolled oats.
  
• 1 1/3 cups almond milk. I use Blue Diamond brand because it has added calcium.
• 2 Tbsp. brown sugar
• 2 Tbsp. canola oil
• 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. cream of tartar
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• pinch of sea salt (no more than 1/8 tsp.)
• frozen wild blueberries, if desired

Instructions:

The night before, measure the oats into a small bowl. Warm the almond milk in the microwave and pour over the oats. Stir and cover the bowl with a plate.

In the morning preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Add the brown sugar, canola oil, applesauce, baking soda, cream of tartar, cinnamon, and salt to the bowl and stir until combined. If desired, stir 1/2 cup of frozen wild blueberries into the oat mixture. Pour the mixture into four 7-ounce ramekins. (If you don't add the blueberries, it's a little more than 1/2 cup per ramekin.) Place the ramekins in the oven and bake for 20 minutes. Remove the ramekins from the oven and let the oatmeal cool for a couple of minutes before serving. Slide a knife around the edge of the ramekins to loosen the oatmeal. Then gently shake each ramekin upside-down over a bowl to transfer the oatmeal.

You could also try baking the oat mixture into an 8"x8" Pyrex pan if you don't want to use ramekins. You may need to decrease the oven temperature and increase the baking time, but I'm not sure since I haven't tried baking the oatmeal this way.