Banana Carob Baked Oatmeal
What seems like a hundred years ago, I saw this recipe for a Fruity Baked Oatmeal on Annie’s Eats.
In fact, this was one of the first recipes to have ever made it to my “Must Try List”.
Since that day, I went back and looked at drooled all over the recipe several times, dreaming of the day where I would finally be sitting in front of my very own, and very real, serving.
Well, I finally did it!
Sort of…
Let’s just say I played around with the recipe a bit. I was in the mood for banana carob, you see?
Now why did I wait so long to try this?
You might remember that I had decided to go off grains for a while. I went completely off for a couple of months, then started reinstating them in very small quantities, so eating anything “grains” actually felt like eating a treat.
Like cheating…
However, I came to realize that it’s not grains my body seems to be having problems with after all, so I see no reason to stay off them any longer.
Especially not oats!
Oats are actually SUPER GOOD for you. They’re even considered a superfood.
One that should be part of your daily diet.
And if you have issues with gluten, like I thought I did, well, you can still enjoy oats, as long as you make sure you buy the uncontaminated variety.
Boy, am I a happy camper now!
Can you tell that I’m a HUGE fan of oats?
Especially when it gets fancy like this. Fancy AND easy!
This was my first time making baked oatmeal, but certainly not the last… I really, truly loved the experience.
You just combine all the ingredients, throw them in a baking dish, place that in the oven and forget about it. No constant stirring, so you can have this bake while you’re working out and have a delicious breakfast ready when you’re done.
And of course, you get to enjoy the leftovers for several days after that (if you’re lucky enough not to have anyone steal them from you, that is!)
Oh, and of course, I made this one completely sugar free!
To help make it taste sweeter, I used carob instead of cocoa powder, but hey, I happen to ADORE carob. Sometimes, I think I like it even better than chocolate. Special thanks to Leanne for reminding me, about a year ago, that the stuff even existed. I had totally forgotten about it.
If you’ve never tried it, I say you should definitely give it a go. It’s very similar to chocolate, but I find it has a sweeter and somewhat richer, deeper flavor.
Of course, feel free to sub cocoa powder here, if you’re not a fan of carob, or don’t happen to have it on hand.
In fact, I say feel free to play with the entire recipe.
Try different fruit combinations, add nuts and seeds, or even cheese, why not?
A savory variety could be fun also…
So go ahead, let your imagination go nuts!
I know I will!
Banana Carob Baked Oatmeal
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients
- 1 cup old fashioned rolled oats
- ½ tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ cup walnuts, finely chopped (save about a tablespoon to sprinkle on top)
- Pinch salt
Wet Ingredients
- ½ ripe banana, mashed
- ¼ cup date paste
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 4 egg whites
- ½ cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Extra goodness
- 1½ ripe banana, one sliced spread at bottom,½ sliced on top
- 3 tbsp unsweetened carob chips
- 30 g fresh coconut shavings, of course, you can use unsweetened dry
Carob Sauce
- ¼ cup plain greek yogurt
- ¼ cup buttermilk
- ¼ cup carob powder
- 3 scoops whey protein powder, I used Ergogenic's New Zealand Pro. Also, I used plain, but feel free to use vanilla flavored if you want a bit of a sweeter taste
Instructions
Baked Oats
- Preheat the oven to 375F.
- In a medium mixing bowl, combine dry ingredients and stir with a fork to combine.
- In a separate bowl, mash half a banana until frothy in consistency. Add date paste and mix until well combined. Stir in the rest of the wet ingredients and mix with a whisk until well incorporated.
- Spread one sliced banana over the bottom of a baking dish. Top with oat mixture, then pour the liquid ingredients gently over the oats.
- Spread the banana slices, unsweetened carob chips and coconut shavings over the top.
- Bake for 35-40 minutes, until the top is browned and the oats have set.
Carob Sauce
- While the oats are baking, add protein powder, carob powder and yogurt to a mixing bowl and mix with a spoon or whisk until well incorporated. It might look like there is too much powder at first, but it will come together eventually. Same goes for the "lumpy" feeling. Just let the mixture rest for about a minute and give it another quick stir. It will become nice and smooth.
- Add buttermilk and stir until nice and creamy looking.
- Pour generously over baked oatmeal at the time of serving.
- Both the sauce and oatmeal will keep in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Notes
If you’ve tried this recipe, please take a minute to rate the recipe and let me know how things went for you in the comments below. It’s always such a pleasure to hear from you!
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Before and after entering the oven
Go ahead, serve yourself a generous serving
Does that look good, or what?Â
I say it looks fantastic just as it is now… Do we really want that sauce?
Of course, we want it! Just go ahead and pour that beautiful carob sauce all over your oatmeal.
Don’t be shy…Â Really POUR!
You’re only making it healthier!
Now take a minute to admire this great dish that you’re about to eat…
Alright, that’s enough torture. Just DIG RIGHT IN!!!
11 Comments on “Banana Carob Baked Oatmeal”
Hi. Love you website. Really inspires me. I have a question. I have never cooked with protein powder. Why do you use it is so many of your recipes?
Thanks!
Thanks Emily, I’m real happy to hear that! As for protein powder, I use it a lot because I like to keep my protein intake as close as possible to 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight per day and since I don’t eat that much meat, it’s kinda hard to get to those levels.. Whey protein is the easiest way for me to get there! 🙂
I have never baked oatmeal before – what a neat idea – and this dish looks warming and delicious. Your carob sauce is very intriguing as well; being a cocoa fan, I have not experimented a great deal with carob but I love its characteristic gentle, natural sweetness and am tempted to give your recipe a try… it looks silky, gorgeous!
Thanks a bunch, Kelly! It was my first time making baked oatmeal too, but I can guarantee that it was not the last! I’ve always been a great fan of oatmeal and this just opened the way to a vast array of new possibilities! Especially since the colder days just got here. What perfect timing! I hope that you do like the carob sauce if you choose to give it a try. Make sure to let me know! 🙂
Firstly, YUM! I just made this recipe (minus the Carob Sauce) and the whole house smells amazing. I don’t think I’ll have the will power to save it for dessert. I’ve also reintroduced grans and whole hearty believe oats are good for us. So, hooray for that! Thanks for the beautiful blogging. I love your pictures. Pop over to mine If you have a moment; TheModelfoodie.com. Foodies unite.
Oh, I envy you! I can very well imagine that smell, wish it was all over my house too. Sadly, baking is not part of my plans for today… although I might have to change my plans now. 😉 You know, I realized that crossing grains off my diet had made me miserable, even more so than meat had. I don’t really miss eating the various cuts of meats that I used to eat, but passing on all the “grain” stuff that I loved so much really was taking its toll on me. I almost feel relieved to have officially decided to reinstate them. It feels just like making up with an old friend…
Thanks for sharing your site info, I really love it! No doubt I will be visiting often for inspiration! 🙂
This looks absolutely fabulous! I’ve been looking for healthy treat ideas for my boys and this is just perfect. I am pretty sure they would think I’d gone crazy if I served this to them for breakfast. 🙂 Can’t wait to give this a try!
O dear… that looks amazing Sonia… I always love your makeover treats as they not only look delicious but they look so healthy too. This is not something you would eat for dessert right? More a breakfast kind of dish?
It might be a tad too substantial to be had for dessert, unless it was to follow a very light meal, but hey, there are no set rules, you know! You can have your oatmeal as you see fit, dear Simone… 😉 I like to have mine for breakfast, but if it wasn’t for the fact that I’m keeping my carb intake in check, I would have it morning, afternoon and night! Heck, I’d probably get up in the middle of the night to snack on some. But seriously, it makes for an incredible (and super healthy) breakfast that feels just like dessert! 🙂
Wowsers! This looks incredible! I’ll definitely have to give a vegan version a go. I wonder would a couple of flax eggs and more banana do the trick?
Thanks Michelle! Very nice of you to say. I think you could very well omit the eggs altogether… I don’t think that they play such an important role. It is oatmeal after all, so you don’t need it to hold its shape so perfectly! 🙂 Hope you like!