Cherry Almond Baked Oatmeal, extremely delicious and like a crossover of a Cherry Bakewell tart and Almond Fingers.

I was really missing my mum today, it’s one of the downsides of moving overseas and living far away from your family. The distance alone can be tough at times, but throw dementia into the mix, where you can’t just pick up the phone and have a lengthy conversation, then it is even harder.

One thing my mum loves is Cherry Bakewell Tarts and Almond Fingers and of course because of her love of them, I have various memories that go along with it. She would always have some in her cupboard and an evening cup of tea with a Cherry Bakewell or Almond Finger was a regular occurrence. If I was coming for a visit, she would always say “shall I get some Almond Fingers in” and when you looked in her cupboard she would have several packets of the things as if she was planning to feed the whole street, never mind just me lol.

So with a healthy extra b spare, I decided to make a comforting baked oatmeal version and this did not disappoint. It really had all those flavours I was expecting and my mum would totally love it with a cup of tea, which actually made me miss her even more.

Every time I make it, it will remind me of my mum, but a good memory, so not all bad. I think this Cherry Almond Baked Oatmeal might be my new favourite version too.

It actually was really filling too, I struggled to eat the whole serving of this Cherry Almond Baked Oatmeal, so next time I think I will divide the mix into 3 and make 3 little versions that I can space out in the day.

To sweeten I used a mixture of Sukrin:1 and Sukrin Gold ( both natural sweeteners with no aftertaste and my preferred choice when making baked good or wanting to sweeten things). Up until my discovering of these, I would just use honey or maple syrup and syn it, as I hate that aftertaste that certain sweeteners can have, but these really taste good. The Sukrin gold is my fav, as it is pretty close to brown sugar.

For the cherries, I used frozen dark cherries from Costco, fresh are not available this time of year and these frozen ones taste pretty amazing. Then to get that almond flavour I use a little bit of almond extract (you really do not need very much) and then I also sprinkle the top with a few sliced almonds (so good).

To make this gluten free, make sure the oats and baking powder are gluten free varieties. This recipe is also suitable for vegetarians.

Looking for some more baked oats? Check out this Baked Oatmeal recipes