Cozy fall breakfasts - Maple & Apple Baked Oatmeal

It's mid October and getting chilly around here!  We haven't had frost - yet... but the nights are cold and we've had the woodstove on a handful of times already in the past few weeks.  I even used a hot water bottle last night!  Mornings are especially chilly getting out from under the warm nest of blankets, and so, on the mornings when we need an extra special warm up we've taken to creating some cozy breakfasts in place of our regular yogurt and granola.  Since we are in southern Ontario, in peak of apple season and still enjoying the maple syrup of this year's harvest, we love to combine apples and maple into many of these warming breakfast dishes.

Cozy simple healthful and hearty breakfasts we love - and plan to have lots of this fall and winter.  These are some of the favourite ones we have served often in our B&B, and for our own family on chilly mornings:

~ warm quinoa with bananas, currents and maple syrup
~ warm oatmeal (oats soaked overnight) with apples, cranberries & cinnamon with organic cream
~ giant baked apple pancake (our favourite huge German pancake baked in the oven)
~ potato-greens frittata (with spinach, chard or kale, over fried potatoes, topped with eggs and cheddar)

And maple-apple baked oatmeal.  Here's the recipe:

Maple-Apple Baked Oatmeal
1/4 cup butter
2 cups whole oats
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 cup milk or rice/soy milk
1 large egg
1 large juicy apple (we like Empire) chopped or shredded
dash of cinnamon
1/4 cup chopped nuts (pecans, walnuts) and /or hemp seeds/sunflower seeds for the top
serve with organic cream, yogurt and/or maple syrup

1) Soak oats overnight in the milk to help provide optimum digestability.
2) Preheat oven to 350F. 
3) Add butter into large cast iron frying pan or baking dish and heat in oven until just melted.
4) Combine all the rest of the ingredients in a large bowl.  Stir well.
5) Pour into cast iron pan or baking dish, smoothing the top. Sprinkle with chopped nuts/seeds.
6) Bake at 350F for about 25 minutes. 
7) Serve warm with organic cream, plain yogurt and more maple syrup as desired.

Enjoy a warm and cozy morning!