Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread Baked Oatmeal

Happy Almost Labor Day, Jillian's Kitchen Fans. I hope you have all had a nice summer so far. I have obviously been taking a bit of a hiatus from posting and can't guarantee that I will be posting tons and tons of recipes anytime soon but I will be trying to post more often then I have been. This fantastic recipe came from a friend of mine who wanted to modify her baked oatmeal to include Zucchini, which I know if you have a garden at home, you are probably overrun with! I thought this was a great idea and offered many possibilities. I think I'm seeing a cinnamon raisin version in my near future! For those zucchini haters, I promise, you won't have any clue you are eating zucchini! Thank you so much Iris for this great recipe.



Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread Baked Oatmeal: Serves 12-18

4 Eggs
3C Milk (I use Fat Free)
3C Zucchini - Shredded and squeezed (discard excess liquid from squeezing)
2tsp Baking Powder
1tsp Salt
1tsp Vanilla Extract
2tsp Cinnamon
4TB Cocoa Powder
1/2C Brown Sugar (optional/change to suit taste)
6C Oats - Old Fashioned, not quick cook!
1C Mini Chocolate Chips - I used Semi Sweet

Mix the eggs and milk together then add all remaining ingredients. I let it sit for 5 minutes so the oats can absorb some of the liquid and stir again. Pour into a greased 13×9 or 10×15 pan and bake at 350° for 60-70 minutes until the top of the oatmeal is evenly cooked. Remove from the oven and let it cool on the counter, then slice into 12-18 slices, and refrigerate until you are ready to eat. I personally like to eat them plain, with a tsp of butter, a TB of cream cheese, some honey or some maple syrup, I really haven’t found a way that I don’t like baked oatmeal!

Other Baked Oatmeal's to Try:

Cherry Baked Oatmeal
Gingerbread
Blueberry Lemon
Strawberry Banana
Banana Bread
Apple Pie
Pumpkin Pie

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WW: 8 Points Plus / serving @ 12 servings
5 Points Plus / serving @ 18 servings

Sourdough Bread

Hi Everyone, sorry for the blogging hiatus! I am still cooking, just haven't had a ton of time to put together posts. I appreciate the emails asking if I am okay and when I will be posting again. This recipe is one I saw on pinterest from The Italian Dish that looked so good and promised to be super duper easy so I had to try it. I must say it was such a success that I have already made it twice! The beauty of this recipe - it takes less than 5 minutes to make the dough, within 2 hours it is ready to cook, you only cook what you want and put the rest of the dough in the fridge for use later (that's right....you can have fresh bread at every meal if you wanted!), the dough lasts up to two weeks in the fridge and the taste only gets better (more sourdough like) with time. I made a half batch of what was called for on The Italian Dish, which makes approximately (2) 8-10" loaves about 4" in diameter. Because you decide the size of your loaf cooking time may vary depending on what size you decide to bake. I love that I can do dinner rolls as easy as I could do a full loaf of bread for sandwiches. (this recipe is for the full batch, works well as a half batch as well!)



Sourdough Bread

2 Packets Instant Yeast (~1-1/2 TB)
3C Lukewarm Water
1-1/2TB Salt
6-1/2C Flour (I used King Arthur Brand - White All Purpose)

Instructions...get ready to be blown away. Put the yeast, water and salt in a large plastic bowl, mix together for a few seconds. Add in the flour - yes you can really just dump it all in there, no you don't sift it!, mix with a wooden spoon. Just mix until all of the water is incorporated into the flour and you can't see any dry pieces of flour. Totally fine that there are lumps and bumbs. Let it sit on the counter for 2 hours then put in the fridge until you are ready to use. You do want to put a lid on it but make sure the edge is off of it as the bread needs to breathe. (I just laid my lid on lopsided so the corners were open).

If you want to make it right away it is ready to bake after the 2 hours on the counter or anytime after you put it in the fridge. Just cut off a hunk of dough (or use the whole thing if you want a super huge loaf), coat your hands in flour and dust a bit on top of the dough so it doesn't all stick to you and gently fold it in on itself until it has a nice smooth top and all the edges are under the loaf. Place it on a piece of parchment paper on top of a cookie sheet and let it sit on the counter for about 30 minutes. While the dough is resting on the counter preheat your oven to 450°. After the dough has finished resting slice the top in a few spots (I usually do a slash through the dough every 2-3" about 1/2" to 1" deep - kitchen scissors work great for this). Place the pan in the oven and bake for approximately 30-35 minutes, the loaf will come out and nice and golden brown with a very nice crust to it.

Cut open, try not to burn your fingers on the deliciousness, serve and enjoy!

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WW: 75 Points Plus / Batch ** - Note a batch should easily make (4) 8-10" loaves that are 4" in diameter. If made into 4 loaves, each loaf would be 19 points. Each loaf could easily have 8 slices, each slice being approximately 2 Points Plus.

Red Velvet Cupcakes - Fourth of July Fun!

One of the summer interns in my office makes great baked goods and today was no exception! She made us wonderful red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting and blue sprinkles and I just had to share with you. If you are looking for a sweet treat to take with you to a Fourth of July Party or you just want to have some fun with your kids give this recipe from food network a try.



Red Velvet Cupcakes: 24 Cupcakes

Cake:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil **
1 cup buttermilk - room temperature
2 large eggs, room temperature
2 tablespoons red food coloring
1 teaspoon white distilled vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Icing:
1 pound cream cheese - softened **
2 sticks butter - softened **
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 cups sifted confectioners sugar **

(** - see the points calculations for some possible substitutions to lower point values!)

To make the cakes sift all of the dry ingredients together in one bowl and in another bowl mix all of the liquid ingredients. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet, mix completely until the mix is nice and smooth. Pre-heat your oven to 350°, put 24 cupcake liners in your cupcake tin and fill to 2/3 full. Once the oven is heated up place the cupcakes in and bake for 20-22 minutes, half way through the cooking process rotate your pans 180 degrees so your cupcakes cook evenly.

While your cupcakes are cooking you can make the icing (my favorite part!). With a mixer beat together the cream cheese, butter and vanilla until nice and smooth, slowly add the sugar and incorporate it into the wet mix, turn the speed up to high and beat until nice and fluffy.

Once the cupcakes have finished cooking and have cooled off then spread the icing on top, if you want to get really fancy you can put the icing into a bag, snip the end off and pipe onto the cupcakes.

Now to make Fourth of July Special Cupcakes add some blue sprinkles to the top and enjoy!

Happy Fourth Everyone!

- Jillian's Kitchen

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WW: 12 Points Plus / cupcake **

** Note, the points above are for the recipe as is....I would suggest trying the following to reduce points: swap 1.5C of applesauce for the vegetable oil, and change the icing to 8oz of 1/3 less fat cream cheese and 2C of confectioner's sugar with a teaspoon of vanilla - yes you read that right....no butter and halving the rest of the ingredients! This will reduce the points to: 4 points per cupcake - I haven't tried this as I just had the real thing today, I will have to give it a shot though!

Cherry Baked Oatmeal

I know I know...another Baked Oatmeal. Well I love them, so you are stuck reading about them! This has really changed my breakfast routine over the past year, I make a pan once every two weeks, slice it into 18 pieces and have it for breakfast almost every morning and before a yoga class to tide me over as I find myself not eating dinner until 9:30/10:00 on those nights. Really you can make any variation of baked oatmeal you want, I tend to go to the frozen fruit section and find whatever is on sale that week. I saw frozen cherries and just had to try and I am glad I did!



Cherry Baked Oatmeal: Serves 12-18

4 Eggs
3C Milk - I use FF or 1%
2-1/2C Unsweetened Apple Sauce
1/2C Brown Sugar
6C Uncooked Old Fashioned Oats
2C Frozen Cherries
1.5tsp Baking Powder
1tsp Salt
1tsp Vanilla Extract

Mix the eggs and milk together then add all remaining ingredients. I let it sit for 5 minutes so the oats can absorb some of the liquid. Pour into a greased 13×9 or 10×15 pan and bake at 350° for 60-70 minutes until the top of the oatmeal is evenly cooked. Remove from the oven and let it cool on the counter, then slice into 12-18 slices, and refrigerate until you are ready to eat. I personally like to eat them plain, with a tsp of butter, a TB of cream cheese, some honey or some maple syrup, I really haven’t found a way that I don’t like baked oatmeal!

Other Baked Oatmeal's to Try:

Gingerbread
Blueberry Lemon
Strawberry Banana
Banana Bread
Apple Pie
Pumpkin Pie

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WW: 6 Points Plus / serving @ 12 servings
4 Points Plus / serving @ 18 servings

White Chocolate Apricot Scones

In my office we have a very nice intern who works holidays and summers and she brought us these wonderful White Chocolate Apricot Scones on her last day over the winter break and I had to have the recipe! I have never been a huge fan of scones because many of the ones I have had were chalky and overly dry. These were delicious and not dry at all and the mix of apricots and white chocolate works very well together. If you are not a big apricot or white chocolate fan you can swap and dried fruit and milk or dark chocolate chips as well.



White Chocolate Apricot Scones: 24 scones

3C Flour - Sifted
2.5tsp Baking Powder
1/2C Sugar
1/2tsp Baking Soda
1tsp Salt
3/4C Butter (1.5 Sticks)
1C Buttermilk
1/2C White Chocolate Chips
1/4C Chopped Dried Apricots

Sift together your flour, baking powder, sugar, baking soda and salt, cut in the butter - I normally start by putting chunks of butter into the dry mix and smashing with a fork but I always resort to my hands to really break up the butter and mix into the flour mix. Mix the butter into the flour mix until it resembles coarse meal - ie: wet sand. Stir in the white chocolat chips and apricots, gradually add the buttermilk and with with your hands just until the dough holds together, you do not want to over mix. Drop the dough onto a greased baking sheet (I would suggest using an ice cream scoop to get even sized scones).

Bake at 450° for 10 minutes, serve and enjoy!

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WW: 4 Points Plus per Scone

Jewish Apple Cake

One of my favorite cakes to have is a Jewish Apple Cake, it is like a wonderful moist coffee cake and hits the spot every time. This recipe is a family favorite and I love to have it even though it does give me some anxiety....Not because it is hard to make but because it is sometimes hard to make come out of the pan! When I made this one I named it the "Franken-Cake" as it came out in two layers....not quite how I imagined. It still tasted good, it just wasn't beautiful! My sister tells me I need to get Pam with Flour in it, then flour or sugar the pam on top of it. I'll have to try that next time! My Aunt also let me know that if you make it in a springform pan (often used for cheesecake) it won't stick as much.

Also note that this cake is much better on the second or third day...so if you can make it a few days ahead of time and it will do wonderful things by the time you serve it.



Jewish Apple Cake: Serves 24

3C Flour
2.5C Sugar
1C Oil or 1C Apple Sauce
4 Eggs
1/2tsp Salt
2.5tsp Vanilla
1/2C Orange Juice
1TB Baking Powder
4-5 Apples - Thinly Sliced, tossed with 2tsp Cinnamon, 5TB Sugar
(I like to use Pink Lady Apples)

Mix together the Flour, Sugar, Salt & Baking Powder in one bowl and the Oil (or apple sauce), Eggs, Vanilla and Orange Juice in another bowl. Now in a stand mixer or by hand, alternate the dry and wet and mix together the batter to make it nice and smooth. Place the batter to the side, then peel and slice your apples and toss with the cinnamon and sugar.

Now we need to prepare our cake pan....here is where you start praying if you are me! Get a bundt pan out, and spray with Pam with Flour (my sister swears this is the secret to success!) Now add either sugar or additional flour to the pan and spin the pan around to coat the Pam with the additional flour or sugar.

Next we can start building the cake. Start with 1/3 of the batter in the bottom of the cake pan, then layer 1/3 of the apples, 1/3 batter, 1/3 apples, the last of the batter ending with the last of the apples. Your pan should be pretty full right now!

Place in a 350° oven for approximately 80 minutes. The top of the cake should be nice and golden. Place on a counter to cool and once it is cool start praying again and flip it over onto a nice plate. This is when I normally start going "ut oh" and sliding a butter knife around the edge of the pan. I promise even if it comes out in two ...or three pieces your family will still love it!

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WW: 7 Points Plus / serving - made with oil
4 Points Plus / serving - made with apple sauce

Lemon Cream Pie

We always have Christmas with my Dad's side of the family a few days after Christmas and I found this wonderful recipe on Pinterest from MyRecipes.com for a Lemon Cream Pie and just knew I had to make it! I love all things lemon and felt this would be a great dessert after a large sit down meal.



Lemon Cream Pie: 12 Slices

Crust:
1C Graham Cracker Crumbs - I used Light Honey
3TB Powdered Sugar
3TB Butter - Melted

Filling:
6 Egg Yolks
(2) 14oz Cans Sweetened Condensed Milk
1TB Lemon Zest
1C Fresh Lemon Juice

Topping:
1C Whipping Cream
2TB Powdered Sugar

First make crumbs of your graham crackers! I used my ninja mixer which I absolutely love and was able to add the powdered sugar and butter to that to mix up. Once all three have been mixed together press into a pie plate and bake in a 350° oven for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before adding the filling.

To make the filling whisk the egg yolks together, then add the condensed milk, lemon zest and lemon juice and whisk until fully incorporated. Pour into the cooked crust and bake at 350° for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for an hour on the counter, then cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or until ready to serve.

Right before you are ready to serve place the whipping cream and powdered sugar in a large bowl (or stand mixer) and beat with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form and you have whipped cream. (I like to test for stiff peaks by holding the bowl upside down and seeing that the whipped cream stays in the bowl instead of on top of my head....this is a step for the daring but not necessary!). Dollop the cream on top of the pie, serve and enjoy!

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WW: 11 Points Plus / serving

Christmas Treats

I love the Holiday season, the decorations, the lights, the niceness of total strangers. I was in Target the other day and had a wonderful conversation with a lovely woman who immigrated from Germany in 1949, all because she asked my help in getting a clock off a high shelf. People seem so much more willing to say hi and be friendly during this time of the year. Then there are the holiday movies: The Santa Clause, Prancer, Home Alone and White Christmas are my personal favorites to see each year along with the plethora of Hallmark movies that make you tear up every time. But lets be honest...what everyone loves about this season are the goodies! Other than the Mint Oreo Truffles I have really been slacking this year on making sweet treats ahead of time so I am showcasing the cookies I made this time last year for you! I will have to make sure to make some new treats this weekend - I have candy cane Hershey Kisses so I'm sure I'll come up with something to share with you.

Drop Sugar Cookies - This is a recipe that my mom found that reminded her of her mothers sugar cookies, they are a great cookie to make with kids, an easy dough that you dollop onto a sheet pan, then smush with a buttered glass dipped in colored sugar.



Peppermint Swirl Cookies - I made these for the very first time last year and loved the beauty and taste of them, they look very professional and will really jazz up that plate of cookies for Santa! If peppermint isn't your favorite you can use any flavored extract and can change the colors of your swirls to anything you want.



Spritz Cookies - a wonderful cookie that brings back many memories of my childhood. We loved the different shapes of the cookies and as they are small you never felt guilty having 3 or 10 of them!

Gingerbread Baked Oatmeal

A great breakfast (or even dessert!) for Thanksgiving would be this Gingerbread Baked Oatmeal. I still haven't figured out how I like this oatmeal best....hot with some butter melted on top, cold with some cream cheese or just plain and on my plate! Like my other baked oatmeal recipes it is great at keeping you full and provides a lot of wonderful flavor. I love Gingerbread cookies and this definitely reminds me of them. I hope you enjoy.



Gingerbread Baked Oatmeal: Serves 12-18

29oz Pumpkin Puree (Large can)
4 Eggs
3C Milk - I use FF or 1%
1/2C Molasses
1/2C Brown Sugar
1tsp Ground Ginger
2tsp Ground Cloves
2tsp Allspice
2tsp Cinnamon
1tsp Salt
2tsp Baking Powder
7C Oats (Old Fashioned)

In a large mixing bowl whisk together all of the ingredients except for the oats. Once these ingredients are thoroughly mixed together fold in the oats and pour into a greased 13×9 pan. Bake in a 350° oven for 30 minutes, then rotate and continue to cook for another 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and either serve immediately (on its own, or with milk & maple syrup, or some butter!) or refrigerate and have later.

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WW: 5 Points Plus / serving @ 18 servings
7 Points Plus / serving @ 12 servings

Pumpkin Eclair Cake

Yesterday I showed you the traditional Eclair Cake recipe from my Aunt & Girly Obsessions. As soon as my cousin reminded me of this wonderful recipe I started thinking about different ways to make it and immediately thought of a Pumpkin Eclair Cake. This is a delicious way to get that Pumpkin Pie flavor without the guilt.



Pumpkin Eclair Cake: Serves 9

12 Graham Crackers - I used Low Fat Honey Graham Crackers
3.3oz Sugar Free Fat Free Vanilla Pudding - Instant
1.75C Skim Milk
4oz Lite Cool Whip
1/3C Pumpkin Puree (not pumpkin pie filling!)
1/2tsp Cinnamon
1/2tsp Cloves
1/4tsp Ground Ginger

First mix the pudding package with the milk for 2-3 minutes until nice and thick, add in the spices, cool whip and pumpkin and continue to whisk until completely incorporated. Next put a large spoonful of pudding into the bottom of a 9x9 pan and spread it around - this will help the graham crackers to not get stuck to the bottom of the pan. Next layer 4 Graham Crackers on the bottom of the pan and top with a 1/3 of the pudding mix, repeat graham, pudding, graham and ending with the remainder of the pudding mix.

Refrigerate for at least 30-60 minutes before serving, this can be made a day or two in advance. The graham crackers turn into an almost lady finger like texture.

Enjoy!

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WW: 5 Points Plus / serving

Eclair Cake - Girly Obsessions Style

Growing up my Aunt would make this fantastic Eclair Cake that had layers of vanilla pudding, graham crackers and a wonderful chocolate icing. I thought it was the coolest thing ever as it was something that my mom never made so I only got it once or twice a year. My cousin over at Girly Obsessions posted the recipe with step by step directions and she even lightened the recipe up for us!

You know me...as soon as she posted this recipe we started chatting about other alterations we could make, she is excited to try a Christmas Version with Gingerbread & Candy Canes and I wanted to do a Pumpkin Version for Thanksgiving! Check back to Jillian's Kitchen Tomorrow for my version (which is so delicious my pan is almost empty already!)

Roasted Cinnamon Maple Apples

I love fall, I know we aren't quite in it yet but we have had some cooler days, the watermelon and cantaloupe of summer are now out of season and the thought of apple pie, apple dumplings and apple everything are seeping into my thoughts. I cannot make myself apple pies weekly or I would have to do a lot more yoga! I was so glad I had inspiration the other day when I wanted apple pie to just bake some apples with cinnamon and maple syrup. The apples were nice and soft, deliciously sweet and with the first bite they tasted of apple pie. This is a great way to have a sweet treat with almost no guilt.



Roasted Cinnamon Maple Apples: Serves 1

1 Apple - I prefer pink/green combos - honeycrisp, gala, pink lady, fuji
1/2tsp Cinnamon
1TB Maple Syrup

Peel the apple then slice and/or cube it into equal size pieces and mix with the cinnamon and maple syrup until they evenly coat the apple pieces. Place in a small greased baking dish and bake at 400° for approximately 20-30 mimnutes until the apples are easily pierced by a fork. Remove from the oven, give the apples a stir, let them cool down for a few minutes then serve and enjoy!

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WW: 1 Points Plus / serving

Blueberry Lemon Baked Oatmeal

I am officially in love with Baked Oatmeal, to think I used to eat cereal every morning for breakfast! This is much more filling and I have tried many different varieties, pumpkin, apple, strawberry banana, banana bread, blackberry, mixed berry, blueberry, peach, etc. A few weeks ago a reader mentioned adding fresh lemon juice and some zest to her batch of blueberry and when I was getting ready to make my batch today I remembered that! Unfortunately I didn't have any fresh lemons but I did have some lemon extract. This is such a delicious and fresh oatmeal and someday I am going to try it with the fresh lemon.



Blueberry Lemon Baked Oatmeal: Serves 12-18

4 Eggs
3C Milk - I use FF or 1%
2-1/2C Unsweetened Apple Sauce
1/2C Brown Sugar
6C Uncooked Old Fashioned Oats
2C Frozen/Fresh Blueberries
1.5tsp Baking Powder
1tsp Salt
1tsp Vanilla Extract
1tsp Lemon Extract

Mix the eggs and milk together then add all remaining ingredients. I let it sit for 5 minutes so the oats can absorb some of the liquid. Pour into a greased 13×9 or 10x15 pan and bake at 350° for 60-70 minutes until the top of the oatmeal is evenly cooked. Remove from the oven and let it cool on the counter, then slice into 12-18 slices, and refrigerate until you are ready to eat. I personally like to eat them plain, with a tsp of butter, a TB of cream cheese, some honey or some maple syrup, I really haven't found a way that I don't like baked oatmeal!
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WW: 6 Points Plus / serving @ 12 servings
4 Points Plus / serving @ 18 servings

Peach Waffles

I love breakfast and often have it for dinner. One food I have never tried to make was waffles and one day I decided that had to be changed. I ordered a Belgian Waffle Maker off of Amazon (I had no idea I could get one for less than $30!) and immediately started making waffles. I found a recipe from Alton Brown that I like (and have modified slightly) and as I do with my pancakes I added fruit to the batter and was very happy with my peach waffles. The recipe below is for 6 waffles but I have put the amounts for a single serving in (-) next to it for those of you who are like me and only need one at a time!



Peach Waffles: 6 Waffles

2C Flour (1/3C)
1/2tsp Baking Soda (pinch)
1tsp Baking Powder (1/6tsp)
1tsp Salt (1/6tsp)
3TB Sugar (1.5tsp)
3 Eggs (1/2 egg - scramble one and pour half out)
4TB Melted Butter (2tsp)
2C Milk (1/3C)
3 Peaches - Peeled & Chopped (1/2 Peach)

Mix together all ingredients and pour into your waffle maker (mine requires a light spray of Pam, but your waffle maker may not). Cook per the instructions on your waffle maker, mine take approximately 5-6 minutes. Remove from the pan, give it a second to cool off, then top with more peaches, syrup, honey, butter, whatever you like!

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WW: 8 Points Plus / Waffle

Strawberry Banana Baked Oatmeal

For the last few months I have been having baked oatmeal for breakfast almost every morning. I absolutely love it, I never get sick of it, I eat it cold, I eat it warmed up, with butter, with maple syrup with cream cheese or just plain. I have yet to find a way I don't like this! Needless to say I am always experimenting with the different flavors and this time I had brought home some fresh strawberries and couldn't wait to add them to my Banana Baked Oatmeal base, what a wonderful breakfast or snack!



Strawberry Banana Baked Oatmeal: 12-18 Servings

4 Eggs
3C Milk - I use FF or 1%
4-5 Over ripe Bananas – Mashed/Blended (should come up to 2.25C once mashed approx.)
3C Chopped Strawberries
1/2C Brown Sugar
6C Uncooked Old Fashioned Oats
1.5tsp Baking Powder
1tsp Salt
1tsp Vanilla Extract
1tsp Cinnamon

Mix the eggs and milk together then add all remaining ingredients. I let it sit for 5 minutes so the oats can absorb some of the liquid then I pour into a greased 13×9 pan and cover with foil, bake at 350° for 30 minutes then uncover and bake an additional 30-40 minutes until the top of the oatmeal is evenly cooked. Remove from the oven and let it cool on the counter, then slice into 12-18 slices, and refrigerate until you are ready to eat.

Here are the recipes for my other baked oatmeals:

Pumpkin Pie Baked Oatmeal
Apple Pie Baked Oatmeal
Banana Bread Baked Oatmeal

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WW: 6 Points Plus / serving @ 12 servings
4 Points Plus / serving @ 18 servings

Banana Bread Baked Oatmeal

Okay, so I have done Pumpkin Pie Baked Oatmeal & Apple Pie Baked Oatmeal - both of which have been huge successes! I know I love them because I haven't not had a pan in my fridge since I made the first batch weeks ago! This is great as a filling breakfast or an evening snack. Well the other day I had a few banana's that had gotten over ripe and in my experience the only thing over ripe banana's are good for is banana bread and banana pancakes. That is when it dawned on me...Banana Bread Baked Oatmeal! I am proud to say this oatmeal tastes a lot like banana bread with no where near the calories! I actually like this best cold as a bar but it is just as good broken into pieces and heated up with some maple syrup to have as a more traditional oatmeal.



Banana Bread Baked Oatmeal: 12-18 Servings

4 Eggs
3C Milk - I use FF or 1%
4-5 Over ripe Bananas - Mashed/Blended (should come up to 2.25C once mashed approx.)
1/2C Brown Sugar
6C Uncooked Old Fashioned Oats
1.5tsp Baking Powder
1tsp Salt
1tsp Vanilla Extract
1tsp Cinnamon

Mix the eggs and milk together then add all remaining ingredients. I let it sit for 5 minutes so the oats can absorb some of the liquid then I pour into a greased 13×9 pan and cover with foil, bake at 350° for 30 minutes then uncover and bake an additional 30-40 minutes until the top of the oatmeal is evenly cooked. Remove from the oven and let it cool on the counter, then slice into 12-18 slices, and refrigerate until you are ready to eat.

Here are the recipes for Baked Apple Pie & Baked Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal!

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WW: 6 Points Plus / serving @ 12 servings
4 Points Plus / serving @ 18 servings

Baked Apple Pie Oatmeal

A few weeks ago I saw a recipe for Baked Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal and to my delight it was delicious and filling and served me well for breakfast for a week and a half! Now while it was great plain pumpkin puree isn't something I can always get my hands on, so I decided to see how it would work if I subbed unsweetened apple sauce for the pumpkin and to my delight it was even BETTER!!! I love when things like that happen. One thing that really makes me happy about this recipe though? It only takes a few minutes to throw together, an hour in the oven and then breakfast is ready for 12-18 days! (see my recipe for the Baked Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal)

Baked Apple Pie Oatmeal: 12-18 Servings

4 Eggs
3C Milk - I use FF or 1%
2-1/2C Unsweetened Apple Sauce
1/2C Brown Sugar
6C Uncooked Old Fashioned Oats
2 Apples (I use Pink Lady) - Peeled & Chopped
1.5tsp Baking Powder
1tsp Salt
1tsp Vanilla Extract
1tsp Cinnamon
1/2tsp Nutmeg

Mix the eggs and milk together then add all remaining ingredients. I let it sit for 5 minutes so the oats can absorb some of the liquid then I fold in the apples and pour into a greased 13x9 pan and cover with foil, bake at 350° for 30 minutes then uncover and bake an additional 30-40 minutes until the top of the oatmeal is evenly cooked. Remove from the oven and let it cool on the counter, then slice into 12-18 slices, and refrigerate until you are ready to eat. I like to break a slice into small pieces and microwave for 1-2 minutes then I drizzle a tablespoon of maple syrup on top. It is quite wonderful!

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WW: 6 Points Plus / serving @ 12 servings
4 Points Plus / serving @ 18 servings

Baked Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal

Oatmeal is a meal that I have never been a huge fan of, at least in the traditional sense. I have always loved a good oatmeal cookie however! My view of oatmeal started to change though when a reader sent me this recipe for Baked Oatmeal - I liked it so much I have made it multiple times now, often using fresh apples in place of the dried fruit. So when I saw this recipe for Baked Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal on Pinterest I had to give it a shot. Pumpkin Pie is one of my favorite desserts so the idea of getting to have it in a healthier way throughout the year just made my day. What I love about these baked oatmeal recipes is I put in a little bit of work on a Sunday afternoon and I can have breakfast already made all week long.

Baked Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal: Serves 12-18

29oz Pumpkin Puree (Large can)
1/2C Brown Sugar
4 Eggs
2tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice
1tsp Salt
1-1/2tsp Baking Powder
1tsp Vanilla
3C Milk - I use FF or 1%
6C Oats (Old Fashioned)

In a large mixing bowl whisk together all of the ingredients except for the oats. Once these ingredients are thoroughly mixed together fold in the oats and pour into a greased 13x9 pan. Cover the pan with aluminum foil and bake in a 350° oven for 30 minutes, then remove the foil and continue to cook for another 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and either serve immediately (on its own, or with milk & maple syrup!) or refrigerate and have later.

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WW: 6 Points Plus / serving @ 12 servings
4 Points Plus / serving @ 18 servings

Key Lime Pie

Growing up my mom would make this pie and it would be gone within a day or two. It is simple to make and extremely tasty, your family will think you slaved over this dessert for hours when in reality you whipped it together in 2 minutes and after a chill in the fridge you were ready to serve! We had this for on our of Christmas gatherings and it was as good as I always remembered.

Key Lime Pie: Serves 8-12

1 Can Sweetened Condensed Milk
1/2C Lime or Lemon Juice (Fresh or Bottled)
1tsp Vanilla
8oz Sour Cream
(1) 6oz Pre-made Graham Cracker or Nilla Pie Crust
Cinnamon

In a mixing bowl mix the milk, juice, vanilla and sour cream until completely and evenly mixed. Pour into the pre-made pie crust, sprinkle a little cinnamon on top and refrigerate for at least 2 hours prior to serving.

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WW: 9 Points Plus / serving @ 8 servings
7 Points Plus / serving @ 10 servings
6 Points Plus / serving @ 12 servings

Spritz Cookies

Another cookie from my childhood is the Spritz Cookie, they are fun because you get to use a cookie gun with different nozzles to provide different fun shapes - stars, trees, leaves, etc. Any kid will love making these and every one will love eating them! Unfortunately our cookie gun is easily 30 if not 40 years old and we had a hard time getting our shapes to come out right but the cookies still taste delicious and I feel like Santa will be bringing my mom a new cookie gun before next Christmas!

Spritz Cookies: 6-7 doz. Cookies

1C Butter (2 sticks) - Softened
3/4C Sugar
1 Egg
1tsp Lemon Extract
2-1/4C Flour
1/4tsp Salt
1/2tsp Baking Powder

In a mixer mix the butter until creamed, then add the sugar and mix to incorporate, followed by the egg and extract. Mix the flour, salt and baking powder together and add in thirds to the butter mixture and beat well until evenly incorporated. Add food coloring if you so desire and mix once more, then split into two log shaped forms and wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30-60 minutes. Place one log into a cookie gun/press and press cookies out onto an un-greased cookie sheet and bake at 400° for 7-9 minutes until they start to brown. Remove to a cookie rack or wax paper on a counter and let them cool. Serve & Enjoy.

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WW: 1 Points Plus / cookie (at 6 doz/batch)
3 Points Plus / 2 cookies (at 6 doz/batch)
4 Points Plus / 3 cookies (at 6 doz/batch)
5 Points Plus / 4 cookies (at 6 doz/batch)