Baked Apple Oatmeal

‘Tis the season for all the apple foods! We apple picked and are eating them in lots of forms. I usually head towards savory breakfasts but this baked oatmeal was an exception and loved the crunch of some slightly cooked apples.

Baked Apple Oatmeal - The Three Bite Rule

I warmed it to eat it a few different mornings and froze a portion for another time.

Baked Apple Oatmeal
Ingredients:

2 cups old fashioned oats
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
dash of salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 1/2 cups milk
1 egg
1/2 cup applesauce
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons melted butter
2-3 apples

Directions:
In a large bowl, mix together the oats, sugar, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.
In another bowl, mix the milk, egg, applesauce, vanilla extract, and butter.

Baked Apple Oatmeal - The Three Bite Rule

Preheat the oven to 350-degrees.
Chop the apples and mix together the dry, the wet, with half of the apples.

Baked Apple Oatmeal - The Three Bite Rule

Add the remaining apples and put into a 9×9 baking dish sprayed with non-stick spray. Then pour the mixture into it.
Bake for 30-40 minutes.

Baked Apple Oatmeal - The Three Bite Rule

Enjoy! Or drizzle with caramel sauce or maple syrup. Warm individual servings with a splash of milk.

Baked Apple Oatmeal - The Three Bite Rule

I like the texture old fashioned oats have – especially when baked. I’m not always into the softness of instant or quick cooking oats but some warm, cooked apples with cinnamon would be a great alternative to a whole batch of baked apple oatmeal too!

Loaded Savory Waffle

These waffles have everything: sausage, eggs, cheese, hash browns, and everything bagel seasoning- all wafflized! They’re fluffy and filling with a nice crunch.

The Three Bite Rule - Savory Waffle

I wake up first wanting coffee, then ready for a savory breakfast. I don’t usually want pastries or anything sweet. I loaded up these waffles with the savory elements I love and made them a handheld form for an on-the-go breakfast that eggs and hash browns don’t usually lend to.

Loaded Savory Waffles
Ingredients: (makes 3 waffles, 6 servings)
waffle mix
4 sausage links
2 eggs
2 hash brown patties (or ~1 1/2 cups tots)
~4 slices of cheese (I used half American, half white Cheddar)
everything bagel seasoning

Directions:
Preheat waffle iron and mix up waffle batter according to package. Cook the hash browns, eggs, and sausages and chop everything.

The Three Bite Rule - Savory Waffle

Spray the waffle iron and sprinkle in everything bagel seasoning, then ladle just enough waffle batter to fill the wells halfway. Working quickly, top with 1/3 of the sausage pieces, 1/3 of the hash brown pieces, 1/3 of the eggs, and 1/3 of the cheese.
Spoon on another ladle of batter just to cover the fillings. Sprinkle with everything bagel seasoning and close and flip to cook. Mine takes 4 minutes to cook.

The Three Bite Rule - Savory Waffle

Slice in half and enjoy!

These are so good. They freeze well and are perfect to pop in the toaster for a weekday breakfast!

Savory waffles are fluffy with great bites of hash browns and juicy sausage bits and melty cheese. There’s a slight saltiness and I loved every bite. These are nicely filling but not over the top – 2 eggs, 2 hash browns, 4 sausages, 4 slices of cheese becomes 6 servings.

The Three Bite Rule - Savory Waffle

What I Ate: Pumpkin Muffins

I’m about to rock your socks off. And if you’re not wearing socks because it has been lovely at 63-degrees & sunny here in Boston then I’m going to rock your shoes off. I made the fastest and easiest muffins ever. I’m about to have muffins on hand all the time.

Ready for 2 ingredient muffins? Two. Count ‘em.
Pumpkin Muffin

Ingredients:

1 box Spice cake mix
1 can pumpkin

Directions:

Mix together
Bake

See? Omg. Totally the easiest thing ever. I added cinnamon chips because I love them. These were super easy and gave me some baking courage. I drizzled some maple glaze over the top. Somebody was taunted by my photo staging set up:
Pumpkin MuffinGood thing those chair spindles aren’t any wider apart! Isn’t he just the cutest?! You know what I say to that?

Aww MUFFIN!

Enjoy the weekend! I’m home from Santa Barbara, and from LA, and from NYC! Woohoo! I have lots ‘o blogging to catch up on so stay tuned for some picture heavy posts coming up next week! This doesn’t count towards my fall foods list, but I have a pumpkin post to prep that will count on my list, for sure!

Cheese Danish Squares

So you know that I’m not a great baker, right? I’m trying more often. I recently made lemon squares which came out pretty decent and now I made these Chess Squares or Gooey Butter Cake and it was 50% successful.

If I was only 50% successful then why are you still reading? I’m sure you want to know which half worked Well! Tricky, tricky, I split it into 2 pans and brought one to a weekend with the fam in Maine and left one home. Unfortunately I brought the over-done-one to Maine (not pictured) and Mr. J demolished the successful one at home (pictured below).
The Three Bite Rule - Cheese Danish Squares
It didn’t look like it was going to set so I baked one longer (as in too long) and they weren’t as gooey. I think that’s my baking problem. I deviate from the recipe. I need to follow the instructions exactly. I need to trust the system. They were totally edible though and definitely the easiest baked good ever.

Cheese Danish Squares

(Chess Squares by Kevin and Amanda, Gooey Butter Cake by Paula Deen, & anyone else who makes this)

Ingredients:

1 (18 1/4-ounce) box yellow cake mix
3 eggs
8 tablespoons butter, melted
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 16-ounce box powdered sugar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 300 and spray a 9×13 dish with cooking spray.
Mix cake mix, melted butter and one egg to a soft dough.
The Three Bite Rule - Cheese Danish Squares
Press into the bottom of the pan.
The Three Bite Rule - Cheese Danish Squares
Mix powdered sugar, softened cream cheese and remaining two eggs until smooth, about 1-2 mins.
The Three Bite Rule - Cheese Danish Squares
Pour on top of crust.
Bake at 300 for 40-50 minutes until top is golden brown.
The Three Bite Rule - Cheese Danish Squares

They reminded me of a cheese danish so I’m throwing one more name into the mix. I like them as a sweet brunch item but call it another name and you’ve got a dessert.
The Three Bite Rule - Cheese Danish Squares

They were suuuuper easy and would be great to throw together last minute…I mean. ehh. you totally planned ahead. and had everything you needed. and looked as organized as Martha Stewart. and didn’t arrive empty handed like Emily Post taught you.

Hash Brown Crust Bfast Pizza

Wayyy back when, I was making breakfast pizza I was also thinking what else I could do with breakfast pizza. There’s nothing cheaper or easier than bfast. I always have eggs and bacon around so poof! It became pizza topped with “fried” egg. I was wondering about scrambled egg too. My mind then went to crispy hash browns. I know, you don’t want to know where my food-brain goes.

What if the hash brown cakes were the CRUST. I’m a genius. Or this might exist somewhere. I’m not sure. All I know is that I’ve never seen it on a menu and I’ve been to quite a few diners and breakfast spots and I’ve never seen this. Come on people!
The Three Bite Rule - Bfast Pizza

Mr. A recreated the egg one and tweeted it to me. Love it! It got my butt in gear to adapt it for another method.
bfast pizza

Ingredients:

½ bag shredded potato hash browns
1/3 can cream of mushroom soup
8 oz shredded cheddar
4 slices of bacon
3 eggs, scrambled

Directions:

Mix shredded potatoes and soup together.
Then spread it out onto a pan and bake for 30 minutes at 400-degrees.
The Three Bite Rule - Bfast Pizza
Cook bacon while crust is crisping.
When the potato has formed a crispy crust, top with cheddar and return to the oven for 5-10 minutes.
The Three Bite Rule - Bfast Pizza
Cook the scrambled egg (in the pan you cooked the bacon in for some extra bacon flavor!)
Cook the crust until the cheese melts into a delicious melty layer.
The Three Bite Rule - Bfast Pizza
Remove and top with scrambled egg and bacon.
The Three Bite Rule - Bfast Pizza

This was definitely a good pizza! I would have liked the crust to crisp a bit more but I really feared I’d burn the edges. I would recommend being mindful of the thickness. I could have spread it out then squished the edges back in to form the edge/barrier. It also might work better to make individual ones! Smaller ones could be pan fried if potatoes, eggs, and bacon isn’t too much for you to manage at the same time.

If you’re cooking for a crowd or for kids it might be fun to make individual ones that people can top as they like. I’ll make it again, and maybe I’ll even pan-fry the potato cakes…oooo!
The Three Bite Rule - Bfast Pizza

It isn’t a dinner that produces leftovers for lunch the next day. That’s usually a considering factor in my meal planning but hash brown cakes with cheese and bacon would still be good even if the eggs don’t reheat well!

A biscuit crust would be good if hash browns aren’t your thing either! I’d love it as potato crust, topped with cheese, and bacon and finished with a poached egg the very last second. Yum!

Which is your idea of a great start to the day?
The Three Bite Rule - Bfast Pizzaeggpizza_baked_290_200