Simple, sweet, and full of summer fruit, this baked banana oatmeal is a hit with the family. Healthy too! Gluten-free and dairy-free recipe. Make-ahead for busy mornings.
This recipe was first published in 2012, it has been updated with new photos and more detailed instructions.
We have blueberries. Kids like blueberries. And before you say "not another baked oatmeal recipe" - let me just say, there can never be enough baked oatmeal recipes. It is truly a weakness of mine.
💬 Why you will love baked oatmeal
Baked oatmeal is just such a smart thing. Healthy whole grains with as much fruit as you can manage to stuff in there. Use up fresh fruit while it is at its peak, or take advantage of frozen fruit to keep to things interesting.
Baked oatmeal is actually a great make-ahead breakfast too. It will keep for a few days and reheat for busy mornings. Make a batch on the weekend thus just dish out servings and reheat in the microwave.
When I first came across this recipe, my goal was to feed 5 kids for breakfast without making a mess. Baked oatmeal is one of my favourite feed a crowd breakfasts. It’s filling. It’s easy. And you can clean up and set the table while it bakes.
More baked oatmeal recipes you might want to try:
- Apple Cinnamon {vegan, g/f}
- Apple & Berry {vegan, g/f}
- Cranberry & Pear {vegan, g/f}
📋 Recipe notes
Eggs: The magic of baked oatmeal is how it holds together, almost casserole like. Eggs or some binding ingredient is the secret for this. In this recipe, I used an egg to bind everything together. If you wanted to make keep this recipe vegan make a flax-egg instead. See this post for baked oatmeal made with flaxseed instead of eggs. Flax would add more fiber to the final dish.
Bananas: Obviously needed for baked banana oatmeal! But really, bananas are the secret sauce and keep this baked oatmeal light and healthy! Bananas add sweetness (instead of sugar!) and texture - thickening and adding creaminess (instead of cream or butter).
An important first step is to cook the bananas a bit first in the bottom of the baking pan. This will help them soften and caramelize - making them sweeter and almost disappear in the final dish.
Milk: I use non-dairy milk, I had almond milk on hand, but use whatever you have available.
Blueberries: As always, use what you have on hand. You can use frozen blueberries if you don't have fresh.
More fruit!: You can never have too much. I threw in some peaches because I just bought a lovely bunch and thought they would add a nice touch of color. Leave them out if you don't have them.
Walnuts: Walnuts add crunch. Leave them out if you have an allergy or use your favorite kind of nuts in their place. Slivered almonds are nice too.
Sugar on top! A little sprinkle of sugar on top of the oatmeal at the end of the cooking time adds a little extra crunch and sweetness to breakfast.
🍴Serving, meal prep, and storage
Plan ahead, make-ahead - this recipe can be added to your weekend meal prep routine to help you get through busy mornings. I often make a batch of baked oatmeal while I'm putting away the groceries or making my grocery list and meal plan for the week.
This is great way to use up the over ripe bananas you bought last week.
To make ahead: make the full recipe, all the way through. Allow to cool completely. Then either store the whole casserole (covered) in the refrigerator and take what you need for each serving.
Or - divide casserole into individual servings. I find we usually get 6 out of this sized recipe. Put each serving in a sealable and microwave-safe container. Stash in the refrigerator or freezer.
Storage: This will keep in the refrigerator for 3-4 days, or frozen for about 3 months.
Servings: recipe serves 6 generously. You may be able to stretch to 8 if feeding small appetites.
Healthy Baked Banana Oatmeal with Blueberries
Ingredients
- 2 medium ripe bananas (the riper the better) sliced
- 1 -½ cup blueberries
- ¼ cup honey
- 1-½ cups uncooked rolled oats
- ¼ cup chopped walnuts plus more noted below for topping
- ¾ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- pinch salt
- 1-½ cup almond milk or any other milk
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoon chopped walnuts for topping
- 2 teaspoons while sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Spray a 9X9 ceramic baking dish with cooking spray, or lightly oil.
- Dice the bananas into the dish, in a single layer. Sprinkle 1 cup of the blueberries over top of the bananas. Drizzle the blueberries and bananas with 2 tablespoons of honey. I didn’t measure, just a drizzle over the top. Sprinkle with half of the cinnamon.
- Bake in the oven for 15 minutes to soften the bananas.
- Meanwhile, in a medium bowl mix oats, ¼ of walnuts, salt and baking powder.
- In a small bowl, whisk remaining honey, milk, vanilla and egg.
- Once fruit has been removed from the oven, sprinkle oat mixture evenly over top of fruit. Pour egg and milk mixture over the oats using a spatula to push into the corners. Sprinkle remaining blueberries and 2 tablespoons of walnuts over the top.
- Bake for about 20 minutes, remove from oven and sprinkle with sugar (if using) and return to the oven to complete cooking. It will bake for 30-35 total or until it is golden brown on top and oatmeal is set. The sugar adds a little bit of crunch to the top, but you can easily skip this step.
- Serve with additional milk or cream, I used soy milk. This is nice and sweet, you can serve with syrup or honey on the side, but try it without. I find it doesn't need the extra sweetness.
Kristy says
I've never tried baked oatmeal before, but I do love oatmeal. Maybe I'll give this a shot over the fall/winter. Love the blueberry and banana combo too!
infinebalance says
Oh yes! This is great with frozen berries.
Suzi says
I think I would eat this like an oatmeal cookie with berries and bananas and skip the additional milk. Interesting recipe and I bet the kids loved it. Have a wonderful day.
infinebalance says
LOL... the leftovers work very well that way!
annesturetucker says
Great recipe and yes the blueberries match the eyes 🙂 beautiful photo!
enjoywithjoy says
We just did blueberry picking, it's the best time of the year. I just made blueberry muffin last weekend. Love them, it's a super fruit!
Granny says
I think I would eat the entire pan in one sitting. How do your children ever resist? 🙂
infinebalance says
🙂 Let's just say the early bird got a second helping!
Granny says
That's a clever way to get them out of bed early! 🙂