Baked Berry, Chocolate, Nut Oatmeal

Once the weather starts to turn cool, we really enjoy having a nice bowl of oatmeal for breakfast. In my hunt for oatmeal options a few years back, I found this recipe. I haven't done much adaptation-wise - other than going to straight berries after having an unfortunate encounter with bananas that left me nervous to eat bananas ever again.

This is super-easy to make! I prefer to make it the night before. In the morning it is as easy as cutting a square, putting it in a bowl with a little milk, and microwaving it for a minute or so. If I were preparing for a family to eat all at once (it serves 6...unless you have oatmeal-loving teenage boys) I would probably do some of the prep - such as measuring the dry ingredients, breaking the nuts, and such - and then complete the assembly (which would probably only take about 10 minutes) and then bake.

I usually include the link, but this was a Pinterest pin that had a picture of the recipe and a link to the site...but the link went away. So, here is the recipe!

Baked Berry, Chocolate, Nut Oatmeal

2 cups rolled oats

1/3 c brown sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon

½ tsp salt

1 c pecan pieces

1 cup berries

½ c dark chocolate chips

2 c milk

1 Tbl butter

1 large egg

1 Tbl vanilla extract

1 ripe banana, peeled, ½” slices (or an additional ½ c berries)

1.     Preheat oven to 375. Spray 10.5 x 7” glass baking dish with cooking spray.

2.     In large bowl, mix together the oats, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, half of walnuts, half of berries, and half of chocolate (the remainder will go on top).

3.     In large measuring cup, mix together warmed milk, melted butter, beaten egg, and extract.

4.     Spread oat mixture in baking dish. Arrange remaining berries, nuts, and chocolate on top. Add banana slices. Pour milk mixture over all. Gently shake dish to distribute milk mixture.

5.     Bake 35-40 minutes until the top is golden brown and milk mixture has set.

Optional: Sprinkle additional tablespoon of brown sugar over top. (I have never felt a need to do this, but it was in the original recipe so I thought I would toss that out there for your consideration.)

Original recipe also called for milk chocolate chips, but that was not happening in this household. I skipped the semi-sweet chips and went straight to the dark chocolate.

[Found on Pinterest years ago from unknown source. If I knew where recipe originated, I would certainly share that!]