Apple-Cinnamony, Warm-You-from-the-Inside-Out Oatmeal

We got some snow last night. Enough to make driving a huge pain in the hind-end, but not enough to close schools. I figured that everyone needed a warm breakfast. The kids laid claim to the last of the eggs, so Eric and I had to come up with something else. We had some muffins that I bought from Costco, some apple muffins with maple icing and some double chocolate ones. What besides eggs would go well with them? Oatmeal. Since I have decided to try to lose a few pounds, I wasn't going to have a muffin, but the apple cinnamon flavor sounded so good this morning.

The result of the craving for that apple flavor was Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal. Unlike most of my creations, this one came right out of my head, no real measuring, just eyeballing everything. And it was delicious!

Here is how I threw it together:

Peel, core and chop one large Fuji apple. I chopped mine into about 1/4" x 1/2" pieces. Heat a large sauce pan over medium-high heat. Add about 1 tsp of unsalted butter. When the foaming subsides, add the chopped apple. Cook the apple until the liquid has cooked away and the apples start to slightly brown. Sprinkle in about 1 1/2 Tbsp of cinnamon sugar, 1/4 tsp cinnamon, a pinch of fresh nutmeg and a pinch of salt. Continue cooking until everything looks sticky and caramel-y. Hit it with 3-4 Tbsp of Applejack Brandy and boil it down until it is thick and syrupy. Add 1 1/2 cups of old-fashioned oats and 3 cups of water. Bring it all to a boil and lower the heat to medium-low. Boil, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes. Add brown sugar to taste (I used about 1 packed tablespoon) and serve. This serves 2-3 people.

This oatmeal was pretty amazing. I think next time I make it, I'll cut the oats back to 1 cup and the water to 1 3/4 cups so that there is a bit more apple flavor. Still, a pretty great breakfast for about 10 minutes of work.

If you don't have any Applejack on hand, try using about 1/4 - 1/2 cup of apple juice or 3-4 Tbsp of apple juice concentrate. It may end up a bit sweeter, but you can just cut back on the amount of brown sugar that you add at the end.

Enjoy!