Oat

With this recipe in your repertoire, you’ll be tempted to start a weekend tradition of serving waffles for a special breakfast treat. Double the recipe when you have guests or so you’ll have waffles to freeze for quick breakfasts later on.

Assemble the ingredients for this oatmeal in the slow cooker before you go to sleep, and a heart-healthy breakfast reminiscent of apple pie will await you in the morning. Unless you have a large family, you’ll even have enough left over for another breakfast later in the week.

The more subtle flavors of raisin and oatmeal allow the maple to shine through, and a tinge of coconut adds a final unexpected note to this cozy combination. This pie is so simple to make, and it’s a great dessert for a chilly fall night. I recommend serving this with a scoop of cinnamon ice cream or a dollop of Maple Whipped Cream (page 194).

At Michele’s Pies we have pies for peach fans, apple junkies, pineapple aficionados, and lemon lovers. But what about raisins? Just to be sure we had something for everyone, this pie combines raisins, sweet butterscotch, and crunchy oats and pecans to create an almost candylike dessert that will hit your sweet tooth just right. This pie is delicious served warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a drizzle of Caramel Sauce.

This easy dessert can also be made in eight six-ounce ramekins—simply divide the filling and topping evenly among the dishes. The baking time will be the same.

These rolls can be stored in an airtight container for up to two days.

These classic drop cookies are large, soft, and chewy. Look for grade B maple syrup, which has a deeper flavor than grade A.

Feel free to substitute other dried fruits for the apricots. We particularly like using sour cherries, cranberries, golden raisins, or chopped figs.

Pies and tarts filled with Swiss chard, pine nuts, and raisins are common in southern France and Italy, where they may be served for dessert, sprinkled with confectioners’ sugar or toasted almonds. Goat cheese and anchovies make this galette decidedly savory, while the crust departs from the standard with wholesome oats and whole-wheat flour.

Complete comfort food . . . Layer these with our Cinnamon Ice Cream (page 143) and savor the spicy-sweet goodness of this sandwich. Try using freshly grated nutmeg instead of ground—you’ll be surprised by the difference.

In one batch, find the flavors of two bakery classics: chocolate chip cookies and banana bread. Chopped walnuts and rolled oats add texture and more layers of taste. Use a ripe banana, which has more concentrated flavor, and is easier to mash, than an unripe one.

A glass of milk is the ideal accompaniment to these drop cookies. Besides white chocolate, the cookies are also chockablock with oats, coconut, golden raisins, and walnuts.

Toasted wheat germ and a generous amount of raisins make these cookies hearty. You can substitute an equal measure of dried cranberries, sour cherries, or chopped apricots for the raisins. To make oatmeal–chocolate chunk cookies, substitute 12 ounces good-quality chocolate, coarsely chopped, for the raisins.

These bars are more rustic than traditional dried fruit bars, since they are covered with a crumbly oat topping before baking. You can substitute chopped dried figs or dates for the raisins.

This chunky bar cookie recipe presents a perfect opportunity for improvisation, as you can use whatever flavors of jam and granola you have on hand.

The applesauce in this recipe keeps the cookies moist; maple syrup flavors the simple white icing that gets drizzled over the tops.

These are like tiny inside-out carrot cakes, with the signature cream cheese frosting on the inside and spiced “cake” on the outside.