Yellow Cake Baked Oatmeal with Peaches and Blackberries

Author: Cravings by Chrissy Teigen

Ingredients

2 cups quick-cooking or old-fashioned oats (just don’t use steel-cut)
5 cups whole milk
2 cups yellow cake mix, homemade or from a box
¼ tsp kosher salt
4 large eggs, beaten
½ tsp vanilla extract
1 stick (8 tbs) unsalted butter, melted
1 large or 2 small peaches, pitted and sliced
6 oz. blackberries (raspberries would be great if you prefer)

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 350 F. Grease a 9x13” baking dish.
In a microwave-safe bowl, combine the oats and milk. Microwave on HIGH for 5 to 6 minutes, stopping to stir once about halfway through. Let the oatmeal sit on the counter to thicken for 10 minutes, but no longer.
Once it’s thickened, stir the cake mix into the oatmeal mixture, then add the salt, eggs, vanilla extract, and melted butter. Pour batter into the prepared baking dish. Drop the peaches and blackberries on top of the batter. They’ll sink a little but it’s fine.
Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the edges are set and the center is jiggly but not liquidy. Let cool until warm but no longer piping hot, then spoon into bowls and eat warm.

Notes

The baked oatmeal is from Cravings by Chrissy Teigen (her first book). It’s a genius idea that Teigen insists was the product of sober brainstorming. We believe her. Basically you will mix 2 cups of dry yellow cake mix into parbaked oatmeal, then make a beautiful baked oatmeal casserole thing with fresh fruit dropped on top. It’s amazing. I made a homemade yellow cake mix from Epicurious because I had the ingredients on hand, but honestly, box mix is fine. Use your favorite brand. Feel no shame! I added the vanilla extract because I figured a store bought mix would have that flavor, and even if it didn’t I’ve never objected to a little extra vanilla. You can omit if your cake mix already has it. And on the off-chance it matters that I disclose this, I used blackberries instead of raspberries as originally instructed.