Frugal Foods: Baked Oatmeal for 16 Cents Per Serving!

Oatmeal is not always a favorite breakfast food.  The texture can be mushy and it turns people away from eating it.  This recipe is for Baked Oatmeal.  It is cheap to make and it tastes good.  It almost feels like eating an oatmeal cake or cookie for breakfast.

Here is the recipe I made up:

1 1/2 cups Quick Oats (can use rolled oats if needed, but quick oats make a smoother batter):
1/4 cup brown sugar 
1/4 cup white sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg (optional)
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
1 cup milk
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
3 Tablespoons melted butter or margarine, or you can try oil if you don't have either of the others

Basic Instructions:

Mix oats, white sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, nutmeg, cinnamon and salt in a bowl.

Add egg, milk, vanilla and melted butter.  Stir until well mixed together.

Add any chopped fruit, nuts or dried fruit at this time.

Place in greased square pan and bake at 350 for 30-45 minutes.

Cool and enjoy.  Can refrigerate leftovers for a couple of days or freeze to eat at a later date.

If you add the cinnamon and nutmeg, it enhances the flavor, but if you don't have it or don't like it then just skip it.

This is a good recipe to add fruit like apples and berries, nuts, or dried fruit such as raisins, Craisins, etc.  Other possible additions:  Caramel sauce

The cost using Walmart's regular prices:

Oats - 52 cents
Brown Sugar - 10 cents
White sugar - 6 cents
Baking Powder - 4 cents
Nutmeg - 3 cents
Cinnamon - 2 cents
Salt - 1 cent
Egg - 20 cents
Milk - 18 cents
Vanilla - imitation is 3 cents, pure is 75 cents
Butter - Margarine is 8 cents, Butter is 28 cents

Total Cost:  $1.27  with imitation vanilla and margarine  (add 92 cents if you use real vanilla and butter)

Recipe makes 8 servings

Cost per serving:  18 cents with imitation vanilla and margarine
                              27 cents with real vanilla and butter

Optional Cost of Caramel Topping if you choose to make it:

Brown sugar - 10 cents
Butter - 11 cents if using margarine, 37 cents if using butter
Water - free