Salted Brownie Baked Oatmeal

Mmkay. How could anyone see the name of this recipe and NOT be tempted?!

I suppose I owe you that much. It's been over a WEEK since I've posted a recipe. First, I didn't have any of the right ingredients to make a new recipe. Then, I spent the weekend camping with my parents at my grandmother's farm. Then, I was so stressed out with work that I didn't have time to take pictures in the morning. Finally, yesterday I planned to make this recipe and blog it before work...only to wake up an hour late and have to settle for TOAST. :(

But hizzah! Oatmeal for dinner on a Friday night. Oh, and I have a few more recipes to try over the weekend!

The idea of this one has been haunting me for MONTHS. I knew I wanted to make it with applesauce (as opposed to banana), but I rarely buy applesauce. Thus, my fantasy about this baked bowl of perfection had to sit in the waiting room a little longer.

BUT ALAS...here it is! And oh yes, it was worth the wait!

Salted Brownie Baked Oatmeal

Required Ingredients

1/3 cup almond milk*

1/3 cup applesauce or 1/2 a ripe banana, mashed*

1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup regular rolled oats

4 tsp. cocoa powder*
1/4 tsp. baking powder

one LARGE pinch of coarse salt (like kosher)

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F and spray a single-serving ramekin with non-stick spray.
2. Mix together first three ingredients in a large bowl. 
3. Add in dry ingredients: oats, cocoa powder, and baking powder. 
4. Stir well, and then transfer to the ramekin.
5. Top with salt, then bake for 18-25 minutes. Longer time will give you a more traditional brownie texture, but 18 minutes will give you a fudgy, doughy brownie. :)
6. You could eat it plain, or top with various ingredients. Think of the type of stuff that normally goes in brownies, like walnuts or chocolate chips, or you could top with shredded coconut or sliced almonds! I stuck with plain because I really wanted to experience the salt. :)

* Alternatively, you could replace almond milk, applesauce/banana, and cocoa powder with 1/3 cup chocolate milk (I recommend Silk Dark Chocolate almond milk. If you wanted, you could still supplement with an extra teaspoon or so of cocoa powder.

**You can also find hundreds of other oatmeal recipes (as well as tons of other meatless recipes) on my Pinterest account!  Thanks!