Are you a breakfast person? My parents drilled into me at a young age to always eat my breakfast, so I've been a breakfast person all of my life. I feel weird if I don't eat or drink something in the morning within 1 hour of waking up.
My husband, on the other hand is definitely not a breakfast person. It's been snowing (and sticking to the ground) in Vancouver, which is kinda a big deal because it generally never gets that cold!
I've been making my Everyday Green Smoothie for us to drink at breakfast, but I'll admit, I can get a little chilly drinking a cold drink in the morning. I've also made overnight oats before, and same thing -- unless I reheat them in the microwave.
BAKED OATMEAL
Enter baked oatmeal. I had actually never heard of this until recently.
It's basically oats baked into an egg custard of sorts.
Not quite a granola bar, and not quite oatmeal. Almost like a crumble, except it doesn't really crumble.
SERVE IT COLD OR WARM
It sounds strange, but it actually works. And you can serve it cold or warm. (Personally, I like it warmed up). No more cold breakfasts, this Baked Strawberry Oatmeal is the perfect way to fuel yourself with some warm healthy oats. And I've managed to get my husband to eat his warm breakfast with me. Yay!
OTHER POSSIBILITIES
Feel free to experiment and add whatever dried fruit or nuts you have on hand. I've used a little maple syrup for some sweetness and coupled that with some dried fruit.
You could increase the amount of dried fruit and remove the maple syrup altogether if you wanted to make this without added sugar.
In this batch, I used chopped walnuts and added extra dried blueberries but almonds and raspberries would be a great mix.
HEALTHY BREAKFAST MEAL PREP
This would be a great way to do a healthy breakfast meal prep. Make it ahead on a Sunday and keep the portions in the refrigerator for the week.
Pop them in the freezer and reheat in the microwave when you're ready to eat.
If you're looking for other oat-based breakfast/snack ideas, check out my:
Let me know if you try out this Baked Strawberry Oatmeal -- I'd love to see what flavour variations you come up with! Tag me on Instagram @siftandsimmer or leave me a comment below 🙂
Baked Strawberry Oatmeal
For accuracy and precision in baking recipes, use weight (metric) measurements when available.
Ingredients
- 3 ½ C rolled oats
- 2 large eggs
- 1 C mashed banana about 2 ripe bananas
- 2 C almond milk
- ¼ C maple syrup
- 3 tablespoon almond oil or any neutral vegetable oil
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ C dried fruit
- ½ C chopped nuts I used walnuts, but you can sub almonds
- ½ C strawberries fresh or frozen
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F.
- In a medium bowl, add the eggs, mashed banana, almond milk, maple syrup, almond oil, and vanilla extract, and beat together until combined.
- In a large bowl, add the rolled oats, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, dried fruit, and chopped nuts. Stir to ensure everything is mixed thoroughly. Add the fresh or frozen strawberries and mix again.
- Lightly grease a 9" by 13" baking pan and add the oat mixture to the pan.
- Pour the wet ingredients (egg and milk mixture) over top of the oats and gently pat down to ensure all of the oats are covered by the milk.
- Place into the oven and bake for 35-40 minutes, until golden brown and the top is lightly springy to the touch.
- Cool completely and cut into squares.
- Serve warmed up (in the microwave) or cold from the fridge is OK too.
Notes
The nutritional information provided should be considered as approximate and is not guaranteed. Please use your best judgment to ensure food is safely prepared and/or a good fit for your diet.
Mimi
Gorgeous! So these are like granola bars, right? What fun!
siftandsimmer@gmail.com
Thanks Mimi. Sorta like granola bars, but not as crunchy. 🙂