Southern Eats: Warm Cranberry Casserole!

Cranberries are a wonderfully versatile food…tart and sweet, great in cold salads or dried as a snack. I had never eaten them hot until a few years ago when I got a fabulous church cookbook with this recipe in it. I haven’t made it yet this year, but I will. It’s one of those dishes that you can justify eating for breakfast because it has oatmeal in it. Just not too many days in a row if you want your pants to fit.

Hot Cranberry-Apple Casserole

• 3 cups of peeled, cored and chopped apples
• 2 cups whole, raw cranberries
• 1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 1 1/3 cups quick cooking oatmeal
• 1 cup chopped walnuts (or pecans…or no nuts at all)
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 stick melted butter

Heat oven to 325 degrees. Grease a two-quart casserole dish. Place in it the mixture of the chopped apples and whole cranberries. Sprinkle with the lemon juice and sugar. In a medium-size mixing bowl, blend to moisten the oatmeal, chopped walnuts, brown sugar and butter. Pour crumb mixture over fruit mixture. Bake uncovered for 75 minutes. Serves 10-12 (at my house 6-8).

Here is an extreme close-up of the ooey-gooey deliciousness! Trust me, if you make this, everybody will want the recipe!