During the week, mornings are busy. One of my favorite things about the weekend is occasionally having the opportunity to have a nice, slow morning complete with sleeping in a few extra minutes and enjoying a hearty breakfast with a cup of tea or coffee. This isn’t always in the cards, but when it is, it’s so so nice. Is there anything more relaxing than a Sunday morning when you don’t have anywhere to be? Baked oatmeal is one of my favorite breakfasts for slow mornings. But here’s the best part: this dish is prepared and baked in about half an hour. Which means it doesn’t even NEED to be reserved for free weekend mornings. If you are just cooking for one, make the whole recipe and save half for the next morning. It reheats well in the microwave with a splash of almond milk. Let’s talk about the recipe. It’s bursting with fresh blueberries and ripe banana, with a slight crunch from the walnuts. I don’t use any sweetener at all in this oatmeal-the combination of fresh and dried fruit makes it sweet enough. I have also found that this is a GREAT base recipe and substitutions work extremely well. I have made this oatmeal using different fresh fruit, dried fruit, and nuts. In the winter, it’s delicious to sub chopped apples or pears for the blueberries. I have used chopped pecans or almonds as well depending on what I have in the pantry at the time. In this particular instance, I used dried mixed berries instead of raisins. It’s also worth noting that the portion size for this oatmeal is HUGE. You will be so surprised that the whole recipe serves two people. Every time I make this, my husband is always shocked that our bowls are overflowing. It is so delicious and nutrient-packed, you will eat every bite and stay full all morning! I have never tried it, but I’m sure you could easily double this recipe to serve a family of four.
*Note: For Gluten Free, simply sub the old-fashioned oats for gluten free!
Active Time: 10 minutes Total Time: 35 minutes
Serves: 2
Ingredients: 1 cup old-fashioned oats 1 cup warm water 1 ripe banana, sliced 1 cup blueberries ¼ cup raisins ¼ cup almond milk small handful walnuts, broken into pieces
2 tbsp cinnamon
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix oats and warm water in a large bowl and allow to soak for about 10 minutes. Add remaining ingredients, reserving a few blueberries, banana slices, and walnut pieces. Place oatmeal mixture into your baking dish (I use an 11×7 baking dish, but an 8×8 or 9×9 dish is fine as well). Decorate the top of the oatmeal with the reserved fruit and nuts. Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes.
Nutrition Information per serving (without toppings):
Calories: 357 Fat: 8g Carbs: 69g Protein: 8g Sodium: 24mg Sugar: 28g
*Nutrition information is based on the products I used personally in this recipe. Different products may yield slightly different information.
