The April edition of The Brunswick Buzz is out. This is the monthly newsletter written by the Family and Consumer Science Team at the N.C. Cooperative Extension of Brunswick County office. Each month this newsletter features nutrition and health information, as well as announcements of upcoming educational programs, and there’s always a healthy recipe you can try.

Baked Banana Bread Oatmeal

This month’s recipe is for Banana Bread Baked Oatmeal. Meghan Lassiter, our Family and Consumer Science Extension Agent, recently taught this recipe during our virtual 4-H Spring Break Cooking Camp. Three high school students learned some advanced cooking skills and practiced using them to make this recipe and a few more (omelets, soups, salad with dressing) during this camp. 

Baked Banana Bread Oatmeal offers a different version of the classic favorite Banana Nut Bread, but it adds a nutrition boost by using rolled oats which is an important whole grain. Rolled oats are also sometimes called old-fashioned oats. They are oat groats (these are the fully intact oat kernels) that have been steamed and flattened. 

Our Med Instead of Meds program recommends that we eat more minimally processed carbohydrates. Rolled oats fit into this group. The recommendations are that we eat at least half of our grains as whole grains. That’s three to five servings of whole grains a day. Whole grains contain all parts of the grain—germ, endosperm, and bran. Other examples of whole grains are quinoa, brown rice, popcorn, and bulgur. Making Banana Bread Baked Oatmeal gives you a way to add a whole grain to your breakfast.

This rich, moist dish offers the sweet flavor of banana bread infused into healthy baked oatmeal. It’s almost dessert-like and described as a combination of bread pudding and custard. Make it on the weekend and then eat it for breakfast throughout the week. 

It would be a great addition to a Mother’s Day brunch. 

Banana Bread Baked Oatmeal

Oats, bananas, eggs, and other ingredients used to make a delicious baked banana bread oatmeal.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 ½ cups mashed banana (about 3 bananas)
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
• 2 cups low-fat milk
• 2 ½ cups old-fashioned rolled oats
• ½ cup chopped walnuts

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 375ºF. Mash the bananas well with a fork (you’ll need 1.5 cups).
2. Add the mashed bananas to a large bowl along with the brown sugar, eggs, salt, vanilla, baking powder, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Whisk until the ingredients are combined.
3. Add the milk and whisk until combined again.
4. Finally, stir in the rolled oats and chopped walnuts.
5. Pour the oat mixture into a 9×9-inch greased casserole dish and transfer to the preheated oven. Bake for 45 minutes, or until it is golden brown on top and around the edges.
6. Serve warm or refrigerate and enjoy cold!

TIPS

• For safety & best quality, keep the baked oatmeal in the refrigerator. Eat within five days.
• The baked oatmeal freezes well for about three months.
• Eat the baked oatmeal hot or cold. 
• Add milk or fruit as you like. 
• Substitute any type of nuts. 
• You could add dried fruits such as raisins, dates or cranberries.
• If you use quick oats instead of rolled oats it will be softer with less texture because the quick oats have been steamed longer and cut into smaller pieces. Quick oats in general cook up mushier.
• Great way to use up those brown and really ripe bananas. 

To see the step-by-step instructions for this recipe go to our YouTube channel.

Recipe Source:

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Cheryle Syracuse wrote this article and more similar ones for the Family and Consumer Sciences Column in the Brunswick Beacon. Syracuse is an FCS team member and can be reached at N.C. Cooperative Extension, Brunswick County Center, 910-253-2610.