Apple Cinnamon Bake

I'm somewhat of a maniac in the kitchen sometimes.

Or perhaps that's a bit strong of a word.  What I mean to say is somethimes I get a bit crazy.  Crazy ingredients, crazy foods, crazy behavior.  

While this specific recipe has no crazy ingredients, and no outragious outcome, I did feel a bit funny while making it.  That feeling probably had to do with the fact that I had next to no idea what I wanted to make.

The only thing I was sure of when I started making this dish was that apples would be involved.  That is it.

Everything else that's in it was just thrown together because of split-second decisions and thoughts of what would be easiest to fish out of my extremely full refridgerator/pantry.  See what I mean by crazy?

I'm just glad I managed to keep track of everything I was dumping into my mixing bowl, because the end product was pretty darn delicious.

Juicy apples baked just until soft, a crunchy oat topping, and a generous coating of cinnamon to top it all of.  Why yes, crazy is a good thing sometimes.

Apple Cinnamon Bake

• 3 apples, cut into cubes
• 1/2 tbsp cinnamon
• 1 tbsp maple syrup
• 1/4 cup rolled oats
• 1 tbsp buckwheat groats
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon (in addition to the 1/2 tbsp)
• 1-2 tbsp applesauce (start with 1 tbsp)

Preheat oven to 380F.  Combine apples, cinnamon, and maple syrup in a large glass baking dish and toss to coat all apple pieces.  In another small bowl, combine remaining ingredients and mix to combine.  If mixture is too dry, add another tbsp applesauce.  Sprinkle oat mixture over apples, trying to make it as evenly spread as possible.  Bake for 20-30 minutes or until the apples are soft but still have a bit of a crunch to them, and the oat topping has browned.  Let cool.  Serve topped with ice cream, whipped cream, or a dollop of greek yogurt.

I find it sort of awesome how my extreme random-ness in the kitchen somehow turned into a mouth-watering masterpiece.  For example, the apple are baked only slighty, and not until really mushy like in other apple recipes, not because I actually wanted them like that, but because I was too impatient to let them cook enough.  And yet, I think I like the apples with a slight crunch much more than how they're normally baked.

It's just fate doing it's thing, I suppose.  I can say for sure, however, that this crazy (and super successful) apple experiment will most definitely lead to more kitchen outragious-ness.  Most likely involving lots of random ingredients thrown together.  I doubt they'll all turn out as good as this, but, hey, you don't know until you try!

Have you ever had a kitchen experiment go fabulously well?

Revisited Recipe of the Day:

Kid-Friendly No Bake Cinnamon Rolls