Baked Oatmeal

I LOVE oats. Always have. I love their taste. I love their texture. I love them in cookies, smoothies, muffins and granola to name a few.

Good oats are a rich source of carbohydrates and fiber, and contain more protein and fat than other grains. They are also high in many vitamins and minerals.

Oats are a whole-grain food, and in their most whole state take a long time to cook. Therefore, most people prefer to use rolled, crushed or steel-cut oats. Instant oats are the most processed variety, and take the shortest time to cook.

Recently, a cousin shared a recipe using oats that she loves, and well, I loved it too! I’ll share my version here. For the past few weeks I’ve made an 8x8 pan on Sunday night, and divided it into 4 servings to take to work for breakfast each day.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup oats

• 1 - 2 large bananas

• 1 egg

• 3/4 c milk (I have used Dairy and Almond, and both work good)

• 1/2 - 1 tsp vanilla extract

• 1/4 tsp baking powder

• 1 cup fresh or frozen berries

• 1/2 cup nuts, chocolate chips, or raisins, etc (I use walnuts)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease the bottom of an 8x8 pan.

Mix oats, bananas, egg, milk, vanilla, and baking powder with an electric mixer until incorporated. Pour mixture into the 8x8 pan, and top with berries, and other toppings. Bake for 20-25 minutes until set.

It’s great straight out of the oven topped with a small amount of butter! Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

Blessings,

Shanna