BIRD FOOD: crock pot baked oatmeal

after 4 tries (and 2 complete fails) i think i finally have the right recipe put together for crock pot baked oatmeal.  ​channing loves making this with me since we basically pour everything into the crock pot and mix it up...she is an excellent mixer. 

one of the biggest challenges i've had with this recipe is finding the right combination of moisture to cooking time.  this recipe might need a bit of variation if you are at lower altitude as well...things tend to dry out faster here in colorado so i've added quite a bit of liquid. 

i like mine baked so it is still slightly gooey, not too crunchy, and served with strawberries and vanilla yogurt!

RECIPE

Ingredients: ​

3 cups old fashioned or steel cut oats (do not use instant, they cook too fast.)​

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

2 teaspoons cinnamon

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons flax meal (optional)​

1/2 cup organic sweetened, flaked coconut (optional)

1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts (optional)​

1/2 cup dried cherries or other dried fruit (optional)​

​3 cups milk (if you chose to NOT add coconut or walnuts, you can use 2 cups of milk instead)

2 eggs, well beaten

2 teaspoons vanilla

1/4 cup butter, melted

INSTRUCTIONS:​

combine all dry ingredients in the crockpot.  ​next, add wet ingredients and mix well.  bake on the lowest setting (ours has an 8 hour low setting). i baked the oatmeal on this setting for 2 hours.  then, i turned off the crockpot and let the oatmeal sit in the warm crockpot overnight.  it was perfect in the morning.  (i baked it from 8pm-10pm then left it sit with the power off until 6am)