Orange and Vanilla Bean Baked Oatmeal

By CorbettCook

Since I love oatmeal, I decided it was time for a special breakfast – baked oatmeal. What made this batch a little more indulgent than normal was the use of vanilla bean. Anyone who has purchased them before knows they are pricey, usually reserved for special occasion recipes and rare instances when the ingredient will absolutely shine. However, sometimes it’s fun to celebrate an ordinary weekday as if it were a special occasion and there seemed no time better than now to put a vanilla bean to use.

And it’s worth it in this recipe because it really does shine. When combined with the citrus it makes for a delicately flavored oatmeal that has a cleaness to it that I associate with spring. I put more of my orange confit to use in this recipe, but you could easily opt for some orange marmalade instead. However, I would potentially reduce the marmalade to 1/3 cup since it tends to be so concentrated in flavor. It’s also worth noting that on the spectrum of baked oatmeal textures this recipe is more on the cake-like side so it’s a perfect on-the-go breakfast.

Ingredients

• 2 -2 cups rolled oats
• 1/2 -1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 -1 teaspoon baking powder
• -Pinch salt
• 1 1/2 -1 1/2 cups low fat milk
• 1 -1 large egg, beaten
• 2 -2 tablespoons melted butter
• 1/2 -1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 -1 2-inch piece vanilla bean, split lengthwise
• 1/2 -1/2 cup chopped orange confit

Details

Servings 4

Preparation

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Combine the oats, granulated sugar, salt, and baking powder in a medium bowl. In a separate bowl, combine the milk, egg, melted butter and vanilla extract. Scrape the seeds of the vanilla bean into the egg mixture reserving the bean for another use. Stir the oat and milk mixtures together and then fold in the chopped orange confit.

Pour mixture into a 9×9-inch square baking dish that has been coated with cooking spray or greased lightly with butter or oil.

Bake for 30-35 minutes, until a nice crust has developed and the oatmeal is lightly brown around the edges. Serve warm.