I love breakfast. I really do. With a newborn in the house, and nursing around the clock, I wake up starving. Most of the time I eat something quick and easy like whole grain cereal, eggs and/or fruit, but I love the weekends when I have more time to experiment. I’ve been wanting to try this baked oatmeal for some time. I always have oatmeal well-stocked in my pantry- from meatloaf, to pancakes, to peanut butter balls and of course just a simple hot breakfast, there are so many uses for oatmeal, not to mention it is such a nutritious food. Blueberries are running low over here so I think next time I will have to make this with blackberries or raspberries. I loved the flavor of cooked bananas too- it really adds a lot of depth to this casserole, but feel free to sub another fruit if you don’t like bananas (who ever you crazy people are).
I found it plenty sweet on it’s own but you could also drizzle a little maple syrup over your bowl after it’s cooked. This is a perfect, healthy dish to have around for the Holidays, to make for company or to just eat by yourself (well you shouldn’t eat it ALL by yourself at one time….that wouldn’t be practicing moderation, but it will hold up just fine in the fridge and would be great for leftovers). Please note: it looks like a lot, but our family (of four eaters) finished this in one setting. Plan to double if needed.
- 1 cup rolled oats (use gluten free if needed)
- ¼ cup pecans, chopped and lightly toasted
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- Pinch of salt
- ¼ cup maple syrup, plus more for serving
- 1 cup non-dairy or low-fat milk
- 1 large egg
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter or coconut oil, melted and cooled slightly
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 ripe bananas, sliced into ½-inch thick pieces
- ¾ cup fresh blueberries
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 11x7 or 1 and ½-quart casserole dish with cooking spray.
- In a medium bowl, toss together the oats, half of the pecans, the baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.
- In a separate small bowl, whisk together the maple syrup, milk, egg, melted butter, and the vanilla.
- Place the sliced banana pieces in a single layer in the bottom of the prepared casserole dish. Sprinkle about two-thirds of the fresh blueberries over the top of the bananas, then cover the blueberries with the oat mixture. Drizzle the milk mixture over the oats, making sure to distribute the milk as evenly as possible. Sprinkle the remaining blueberries and pecans over the top of the oats.
- Bake the oatmeal for 35-45 minutes, until the top is golden brown and the oats have set. Remove the oatmeal from the oven and drizzle with maple syrup if desired.
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We are always on the same wavelength! I am making a fall baked oatmeal for dinner this week! I will add pecans and mesh the 2 recipes now
Thanks and I don’t know you managed to do this with a tiny one!
Hi Melanie. I believe I have found breakfast for tomorrow morning
I happen to have some blueberries and bananas around. Thanks for sharing this recipe post 
Looks so yum! Hope you will consider submitting to Healthy Aperture & sharing with our fans.
Mmm this looks delicious!
This is beautiful and right up my alley! I can’t wait to try this recipe!
Thanks for sharing with us!
I am about to make this. Buuuut I don’t have bananas
(my grandma ate it this morning :P) . However I do have blueberries :). Would it turn out with out the bananas?? I could wait to go to the store tomorrow but I want it now..lol
Ok, it won’t be AS good without the bananas but it will still work. Just add more of the blueberries or whatever other fruit you might use.
Good luck!
Do you think steel cut oats could be substituted? I know they usually take longer to cook but I don’t buy rolled oats.
Hi Joann, thanks for visiting! I am not sure what the end result would be, but I think it’s worth a try. Worse case, you would need to bake it a little longer and use a little more milk. I’ll let you know if I get a chance to try it with steel cut oats. I bet it would be great. Melanie
Looks so good but I ave a question. What is the texture like? Is the whole thing crispy or mushy? I have children (including the one I’m married to) with texture issues.
Thanks,
Tara
Hi Tara,
I’ll have to say it’s in between. It is definitely not crispy but is much more firm than regular oatmeal (keep in mind the bananas are even softer since they are cooked). I would say try it and you could always keep the leftovers for you. It really doesn’t make all that much so hopefully it wouldn’t go to waste. It reheats well. Good luck- hope they like it! Melanie
Thanks so much! I will give it a try.
Hi Melanie! I was wondering if you know how many calories is in a serving of this. Thank you!
Joanna,
Sorry for the delay. I don’t usually calculate calories just because of the extra time it takes, but since this was pretty simple I calculated it for you- it has 317 calories per serving (4 servings per dish).
Melanie
Just made this after seeing it on Pinterest, so good! I think I have my new go to breakfast! Thank you!
Thanks for the comment Cherie! Glad you liked it. You can really change it up with different fruit too which is nice.
Would love to try this but I live alone. Do you think I can freeze this
in individual portions and microwave later.
Thanks
Hi Joan- It definitely keeps well in the fridge so you could plan to eat it for a few days in a row. Maybe test out freezing one portion and see what it’s like. I would think it would be fine, but I am not sure. The food rarely makes it to our freezer!
Hey Melanie,
I just found your recipe on Pinterest. It looks wonderful! I was wondering if you might know the calorie count per serving. I started a “lower” calorie diet and I’m looking for healthy option! Thanks so much for your help!
Jennifer,
I don’t usually calculate calories just because of the extra time it takes. I went ahead and did it for this one since there weren’t too many ingredients. It has 317 calories per serving. You could always omit the 2 T of butter to knock off 50 extra calories per serving.
Melanie
Those of you asking about calorie counts should look into a site called myfitnesspal.com. It is free to join, and there is a place where you can enter a whole recipe, and it will calculate the calories per serving.
I just made this with my girls this morning, and we loved it. In fact, my girls (4 and 2) are on their third helping. Thank you! We’re on a quest to makeover our breakfast routine, and this will become a regular morning feature in our house now.
So glad they liked it. I have a 3 & 5 year old and I always love when they try (and like) a new dish! Thanks for your comment Jasmine!
This looks so good! We are huge oatmeal, banana, and blueberry fans! I have a three-year old and a five-month old, and my husband is working on the other side of the country for a few months. Needless to say, our mornings are a little bit crazy! My question: could I assemble this the night before and pop it in the oven when we wake up in the morning? Or would it be best just to cook it right away and then reheat? Thanks!
Hi Katherine,
Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment! Although I haven’t tried it, I think assembling it the night before would be just fine! The leftovers reheat well too so another option is to bake it on a Sunday when you have more time & have leftovers during the week. That would be even quicker- just a quick warm-up in the microwave!
Sounds delicious and I can’t wait to try it. Do you think I can substitute frozen blueberries? Maybe thaw them first?
Hi Judy,
I think frozen blueberries would work great. Yes, I’d thaw them first (at least partially). Let me know how it turns out! Melanie @ Nutritious Eats
I made it this morning with the frozen blueberries and Multi-Grain oatmeal. Tasted good!
hi,
is it fine to use dry blueberries for this recipe?
Made it this morning for overnight guests. Doubled the recipe. There were 4 of us and more than 1/2 of the pan was eaten. They all loved it. I changed out the pecans for walnuts and then topped it with slivered almonds. Would be fun to try it with raspberries or blackberries. Definitely delish!!!
Thanks so much for the comment Valerie. Glad you all enjoyed it!!
I was so excited to cook this and was so disappointed when I did and didn’t like it. I just cooked it and it’s not sweet at all. If your used to sweet oatmeal and breakfast you may not like this.
I used melted coconut oil. As soon as I added it to the milk mixture, it turned solid again, so I tried to evenly distribute the oil chunks throughout the pan. What could I have done differently? I didn’t let the oil cool much before I added it to the cold milk mixture. Maybe that was my mistake? Is it better just to use butter? I do love baked oatmeal and was excited to try this recipe – it looks great otherwise and I’m trying to find a healthy breakfast alternatives for my two boys (5 and 3). I am baking it right now, really hope it turns out still!
Yes, it must have been too warm when added to the cold milk, but it’s fine to use a substitute.
I don’t think it will be an issue once it’s all baked together.
It was so good! No problem with the coconut oil I guess
Thanks for this easy, healthy and delicious recipe!
Great! Thanks for the update. I haven’t made it in awhile but need to. My kids always enjoyed it as well.