Easy Baked Oatmeal with Apples & Walnuts

On Facebook, there’s a conversation group for cookbook authors who take on arcane topics like the term-of-art “divided use” and whether to use weights or measures in ingredient lists. Dull stuff, this. Or is it?

Over the years, I’ve honed my own style of recipe writing with two features. I like to think my style makes it easier for both new and experienced cooks to follow my recipes.

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INGREDIENT LISTS Recipe writers say “divided use” to signal that an ingredient is used more than once in a recipe. Ack! I hate this! Worse though, is when there’s no indication that an ingredient is split. Double ack!

Both techniques are easy to miss and worse, keep cooks referring back and forth trying to figure out how much goes in when.

This is why I split ingredients into their working groups. If an ingredient is used twice, it’s listed twice. If a recipe needs water, or there’s a final seasoning with salt and pepper, they’re listed. Why? It’s for you, readers. I know your time is precious, that you want good results the first time.

FIRST SCAN My objective is to provide an instant understanding of how a recipe comes together, just by looking at the ingredient list. I like to visually demonstrate that a recipe is simpler than a longer list of ingredients might suggest. Experienced cooks may need little more than that list, in fact, recipes from long ago were no more than ingredient lists, no instructions at all.
WHILE COOKING I want to provide a quick visual check to answer questions like, Did I get everything? or What’s next?

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WEIGHTS & MEASURES My recipes provide typical American cup measures but also metric weights (in grams) and when it makes sense, weights in U.S. Customary Units (that’s pounds and ounces) for ingredients that come in packages marked with ounces or vegetables, say, which are easily weighed when purchased. Why?

FOR INTERNATIONAL VISITORS Weights in grams helps cooks from outside the U.S. accustomed to ingredients presented in grams.
FOR BAKERS Many bakers rely on the precision of a kitchen scale for baking.
SAVING DISHES But I often show ingredients in grams, even when they’d typically be measured in a measuring cup. Why? To save dishes! For example, for this recipe for Baked Oatmeal, I put a bowl on the scale and add the buttermilk, sweetener, oats and walnuts, all without a measuring cup!

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FEEDBACK So how do these techniques work for you, readers? Do you notice? Do they work for you? inspire confidence in the kitchen? Or not?

For a few weeks now, I've made one batch after another of Easy Baked Oatmeal. The first squares are warm for breakfast on the weekend, after that, they're warmed up in the microwave for a quick, healthy and filling breakfast on the run. Plus, the variations seem endless! There's Easy Baked Oatmeal with Blueberries & Bananas (below) which a least one picky-eater grandkid scarfed down warm with a little maple syrup for dessert a couple of Sundays back. Seconds were requested, nobody knew the difference! There's Easy Baked Oatmeal with Pumpkin & Pears (I'll post that recipe on A Veggie Venture soon). So have fun with this recipe, turn it upside down and make it all your own.