Not Quite Oatmeal Cookies Breakfast

We have quite a few friends who are really good cooks. The last time we were in Akron, two of them. friends Anita and Lynne each served us baked oatmeal. The dishes were slightly different, but each was good enough to qualify for "Best Thing I Ever Put In My Mouth" status. Perhaps I should start typing BTIEPIMM for sake of brevity, but would never be able to remember the acronym. Besides, brevity is not among my strengths. By the time I get around to saying "to make a long story short", that boat has already sailed. Anyway, both friends went to the trouble of printing off their recipes for me, and after all their trouble, I managed to lose them both. I only discovered the problem when I was preparing to make the dish for my pajama party guests, so I went to an expert, Chef Google. I used Google's basic recipe, substituting for ingredients I did not have on hand. After some mind tasting, I came up with my version of baked oatmeal ahd whipped it up for my guests. Thank you Lynne, Anita and Chef Google. For some reason, we P.J. Dems and one LWV neutral person, stood groggily around in the kitchen, eating oatmeal and drinking lots of coffee. Maybe we were too sleepy to find our way to the dining room, or maybe we just could not get that far from the coffee pot. The recipe was such a success that I made it again when our Akron friends, the Hendons, came to visit in January. In fact, by popular demand, I made it twice. If you come down this way, I'll make you some. Baked Oatmeal Serves 6-8 1/4 cup butter 3 cups old fashioned rolled oatmeal 1/2 -3/4 cup sugar (dependiing on sweetness of apple) 2 t. baking powder 1 t salt 1 1/4 cup milk 2 large eggs 2 t vanilla 1 small or 1/2 large apple 1/4 or more chopped nuts 1 T cinnamon You could substitute raisins for the appple, but I don't think it would be as good. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put butter in 8x8 or 9x9 inch pan and melt in oven. Watch carefully or it will burn. Combine dry ingredients into large bowl. Mix wet ingredients in a smaller bowl and grate in the peeled apple. Stir into the dry ingredients. Pour butter from baking dish into bowl and stir until all oatmeal is well moistened. Bake for 25-30 minutes. Edges will shrink from pan and appear brown and a bit crunchy. Serve with warm milk and additional cinnamon. Cookies in a bowl!