Blueberry (Banana) Oatmeal

Everybody knows that breakfast is an important meal: it gets your body going in the morning! I love breakfast! In fact, I love it so much that I could eat breakfast foods at any time of the day and in place of any other meal, example: cereal for dinner.

Zach does not.

It is hard to get him to eat breakfast, although he has gotten better about it. His breakfast of choice is a granola bar and some coffee. Or occasionally a greek yogurt. (We've recently discovered greek yogurt and how delicious it is! He loves the fruit on the bottom feature and I love the protein content!)

Last week I found a blueberry oatmeal breakfast recipe on Pinterest, followed the link to the original recipe, gave it a whirl, and LOVED IT.

Loved the blueberries and bananas.

Loved the oatmeal & nuts.

Loved that it tasted like I was eating blueberry crisp!!!

Loved the low sugar. Only 1/4 cup maple syrup in the whole pan!

I recommend you make it today!

Blueberry Baked Oatmeal
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Bake time: 35-40 minutes
Serves: 6

Ingredients:
1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
1/4 cup chopped walnuts, divided
1/2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
Pinch of salt
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 cup milk (I used 2%)
1 large egg, lightly beaten
2 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2-3 ripe bananas, peeled and sliced
1 cup blueberries or raspberries, fresh or frozen, divided

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375F.

2. Lightly grease a 2-quart baking dish. (I used a 1.5-quart dish because I wanted a thicker finished product) In a medium bowl, mix the oats, half of the walnuts, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Stir to combine. In a liquid measuring cup, combine the syrup, milk, egg, butter, and vanilla.

3. Spread the sliced bananas in a single layer over the bottom of the baking dish. Top with half of the berries. Sprinkle the dry oat mixture over the fruit in an even layer. Pour the liquid ingredients evenly over the oats.

4. Sprinkle the remaining nuts and berries over the top. Bake for 35-40 minutes, until the top is browned and the oats have set. Let cool 10 minutes before serving.

I made up a pan of this on Monday and ate it for breakfast every morning last week. YUM! If you're making it for a whole family it will probably be gone in one sitting. Since Zach doesn't stray from his usual breakfast foods, he didn't see this in the refrigerator until there was only one serving left. Which he tried and LIKED (even though it contained bananas, which he doesn't like) since it tasted like dessert.

Here is the link to the original recipe. 

Try it out!

Sarah