Strawberry Banana Dark Chocolate Baked Oatmeal

Last week, Yvonne and I got together to bake two delicious special occasion cakes. I normally make a somewhat elaborate breakfast for us when I know we're going to be spending the day baking, but this time I wanted to make something more simple (and more healthy since she was bringing a box of pastries from one of my favorite bakeries!). One of Yvonne's favorite breakfast dishes is oatmeal, so I decided to make Baked Oatmeal; I could just mix it together that morning and let the oven do the work! When I mentioned to Yvonne that I was making Baked Oatmeal for breakfast, her response was "sounds interesting". Now, if you know Yvonne, that response was far from her usual enthusiastic "sounds yummy!" so I knew she was on the fence about the Baked Oatmeal, even when I mentioned it had strawberries, bananas and chocolate in it. Now, if anyone told me they were making something with those 3 ingredients in it, I would be all over it, but I knew I had to win Yvonne over. She even confessed that her Mom was confused by the whole idea of baked oatmeal. I definitely had something to prove. And the final verdict? The baked oatmeal was delicious. It reminded us of a delicious, decadent bread pudding, only healthy! With the thumbs up from Yvonne (and the family), I knew it was blog post worthy.

Not only is this Baked Oatmeal an easy, healthy and delicious breakfast option, it can be customized to suit any taste using whatever fruit & spice combination you prefer. You could also use any type of milk and even add nuts!

Strawberry, Banana & Dark Chocolate Baked Oatmeal
Adapted from Inspired Tastes
Serves 6

Ingredients:

2 cups old fashioned oats
1/3 cup light brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon fresh orange zest
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 1/4 cups sliced strawberries
1/2 cup bittersweet chocolate chips (I used Ghiradelli 60% Cacao)
2 cups Vanilla Soy Milk (you can use any milk you want)
1 large Egg
3 tablespoons melted butter
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 ripe banana, sliced

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 and spray a casserole dish with non-stick cooking spray. My casserole dish was approx 11"x5" but any casserole dish approx the same size will work as long as it's deep enough.

In a large bowl, combine the oats, brown sugar, baking powder, orange zest, salt, cinnamon and half of the strawberries and half of the chocolate. Reserve the remaining strawberries and chocolate.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the soy milk, egg, melted butter and vanilla extract.

Dump the oat mixture into the bottom of the prepared casserole dish and spread into an even layer. Arrange the reserved chocolate, strawberries and banana slices on top of the oat mixture.

Pour the milk mixture over the top. Gently shake the baking dish to help disperse the milk mixture through the oat mixture.

Place on a baking sheet and bake at 375 for approximately 30-40 minutes or until the top is golden brown and you see bubbling around the edges.

Turn your oven to broil, sprinkle 2 tablespoons of brown sugar over the top, and broil for a few minutes to help brown/caramelize the top. This will probably take less than a minute so watch carefully.

Remove from oven and serve warm.

Store leftovers tightly covered in the refrigerator. Reheat leftovers in the microwave (may need to add some milk to moisten).