I know, it is such a common trope. As soon as Labour Day comes around, everything must contain apples, pears, or the dreaded pumpkin pie spice. Hey, I didn’t make the rules, I’m just following them.

This recipe is an easy answer to the question “What’s for breakfast?”. You can make it ahead of time and it will wait patiently in your fridge until you are ready for it, and you barely even need to open your eyes to grab a scoop while you pour your coffee. As a bonus, the flax and chia seeds let you pretend to be a health-nut, while secretly you are eating pie for breakfast.

Makes: 1 8′ square pan

Ingredients:

• 1 cup steel-cut oats
• 2 tbsp chia seeds
• 2 tbsp ground flax seeds
• pinch salt
• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 2 apples, chopped into approximately 1cm (1/2 inch) cubes, you can peel them if you want but it is not mandatory
• Optional extras: 1/2 cup of chopped nuts, raisins or other dried fruit
• 2 cups milk of your choice (my favourites are oat milk or almond milk, should be unsweetened)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees f
2. Stir together oats (1 cup), chia seeds (2 tbsp), flax seeds (2 tbsp), salt (pinch), cinnamon (1 1/2 tsp), nutmeg (1/4 tsp) and cloves (1/4 tsp)
3. Stir chopped apples (and any optional extras) into dry ingredients
4. Pour in milk (2 cups) and stir together
5. Pour mixture into an 8″ square baking dish
6. Bake 50-60 minutes, until the edges start to brown and the centre has firmed up a bit
7. Let cool before serving

Notes:

• This is also great in muffin tins, then you don’t even need to get a spoon dirty on the way out the door. Just keep a close eye while you are baking these and start checking them after 25-30 minutes.
• Add a couple of teaspoons of maple syrup if you prefer things a little sweeter.
• It would not be a mistake to have this with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, just sayin…