I was never an oatmeal person growing up. Breakfast for me usually involved cereal or buttered toast or even a bagel on my lucky days, but never any oatmeal. I don’t even think my mom knew what oatmeal was but either way, I never really understood the appeal in the mushy bowl of warm oatmeal that everyone else seemed to be eating.

I think my aversion to oatmeal all started with my fifth-grade science teacher, Mr. Feldman. He made us take care of these mealworms and he put them in these little food containers that were filled with oatmeal. It was absolutely disgusting and I think it even scarred me a little bit that we had to take care of these tiny little worms so ever since then, I always associated oatmeal with mealworms. Gross, I know.

But as time went by, I began to like oatmeal raisin cookies. Then I became obsessed with the Nature Valley granola bars (little did I know that granola bars were made of oatmeal). Then I recently fell in love with granola, which got me thinking – maybe I do like oatmeal, even if that stuff is the home for mealworms.

Once that realization hit, I began to make anything and everything that involved oatmeal, like granola bars and oatmeal streusel toppings for muffins and now this baked oatmeal. I was definitely a bit skeptical on how this would turn out because there is no flour in this recipe and I just couldn’t imagine it having a cakey-texture as Megan had mentioned but boy was she right.

The oatmeal turned out to be really light and fluffy, filled with plump blueberries in every bite. I really enjoyed these when they were hot out of the oven so I highly recommend heating up the leftovers for 30 seconds or so in the microwave. It’ll be such a delight to gobble these up in the car on your way to work.

So what I learned from this experience is that there could still be so many more things out there that I hated eating growing up but could still fall in love with right now with my changing adult palate. That being said, I’m excited to experiment with some more of my childhood-hating foods, like green beans and brussel sprouts!

One year ago: Orange Buttercream Cupcake Cones

Baked Oatmeal with Blueberries (adapted from What Megan’s Making):

Yields 9 servings

  • 3 cups old-fashioned oats
  • 1 cup brown sugar, packed
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
  • 1 1/2 cups buttermilk
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup fresh blueberries

In a large bowl, combine the oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, butter and buttermilk.

Cover and place in the refrigerator for several hours or overnight.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly coat an 8×8 baking dish with nonstick spray.

Let mixture stand at room temperature for 5 minutes. Stir in the eggs, baking powder, salt and blueberries.

Spread the oat mixture into the prepared baking dish.

Place into oven and bake for 20 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and the oatmeal has set.

Serve warm.

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