My Baked Banana Oatmeal with Maple & Pecan is not only a great way to use up ripe bananas but makes for a fabulous prep ahead breakfast. Keep it on the healthy side and serve with fat-free yoghurt and more banana or douse it in more maple syrup and whipped cream for a decadent brunch centrepiece.
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Lets be honest. This is really an extra moist and slightly less sugary flapjack or baked porridge. But by calling it oatmeal, not only does it immediately become yankee-fied, it also becomes breakfast appropriate. Maybe for a buffet brunch, maybe for weekdays at the office.
Either way, every one of us with excellent intentions and poor execution needs multiple ways in our arsenals to use up overripe bananas. Other great prep-ahead breakfasts include my Bacon Mozzarella Pastries and Cocoa Orange Date Bars.
Despite my general fruit dodging, I can manage banana both as a flavour and as an actual fruit to eat. Although like most people, I can’t simply eat a black banana! But as I’m a ridiculous human being, I have to buy myself the children’s fun size bananas because I get overwhelmed by the texture and can’t manage a whole adult one.
Yes I am aware that this is a set-up to many a dirty joke…do your worst I’ve heard them all before. This also has nothing to do with the recipe, I just find it therapeutic to admit to my ridiculousness in a public forum!!!
The recipe is adapted from this post on the How Sweet Eats site. I know I’ve taken out the booze but even I just about draw the line at a boozy weekday breakfast. Sad times! Feel free to douse it in Bourbon or other booze as nature surely intended. Just replace some of the milk.
Ingredients for Baked Banana Oatmeal with Maple & Pecan
There are no really strange ingredients in this Maple Baked Oatmeal but the ingredient list does look scarily long. Please don’t be put off as it is such a simple dish to put together. Plus most of the ingredients are the kind of thing that you will probably have in the cupboard anyway.
Be Flexible
The options to play around and substitute the ingredients in this baked oatmeal are almost endless.
Switch the honey for more maple syrup or vise versa. Use lemon instead of the orange. Use any other nut instead of the pecans or leave then out all together. Or swap the nuts for chocolate chips. Or caramel chips. You could add nuts and chocolate.
Leave out the ginger or change it for cinnamon (I shudder at the thought!). Or add both. Or don’t add it at all.
I think you get the idea! Have a play with the flavours and let me know what you come up with!
Make it Vegetarian
Unsurprisingly, as with he the vast majority of my sweet baking recipes, this breakfast flapjack is suitable for vegetarians right off the bat!
Make it Vegan
This is a really easy dish to make vegan but you will ideally need to source evaporated coconut milk. It does exist because I checked! If its hard to find, you could either use condensed coconut milk and leave out some of the honey or use a regular coconut milk and add in a little extra honey/maple syrup.
Other than that, you will need to swap the butter for baking block or dairy free spread and the milk for plant-based milk or orange juice. Just leave the egg out entirely.
Make it Allergy Friendly
Great news for those in need of a gluten-free diet. Providing you ensure that you use gluten-free oats, this recipe is suitable without substitution.
Nut Free: Pecans are clearly not suitable for those with a nut allergy. Simply leave out the nuts (maybe replace with chocolate chips) and ensure that all the other ingredients used are suitable for a nut allergy if required.
Dairy Free: Follow the instructions to make the vegan version of the oatmeal to satisfy a dairy allergy. But do include the egg.
Egg Free: Leave the egg out entirely if needed.
Please note that this recipe may contain other allergens not referred to above and any variations suggested have not been tested unless otherwise stated. For more information regarding any dietary information provided on this website, please refer to my Nutritional Disclaimer.
Equipment Notes for Baked Banana Oatmeal with Maple and Pecan
I’ve suggested that you use a large Pie Dish like I did but you can use whichever tin or dish you like. A ceramic dish does make for a nice oven to table serve. For easy storage and lack of extra washing up, I do sometimes use my Lidded Pyrex Dish.
My Microwave is my best friend for melting small quantities of butter etc. If you don’t have a microwave buy one! Or you can melt the butter on a hob in a small saucepan.
A fork is a perfectly acceptable alternative to a Potato Masher for dealing with the banana. Your hands are also quite effective for mushing things although ultimately a bit messier!
I love my Microplane. It is perfect for finely zesting any citrus but the fine side of a regular Box Grater will work too. Be careful not to zest in any of the bitter white pith.
A Lemon Reamer is by far the best way to get the maximum juice from an orange without resorting to plugging in electric assistance. I make sure to buy one with a sharp pointy end rather than a round end as some of them have.
A comprehensive list of the equipment used to make this recipe is included in the main recipe card below. Click on any item to see an example. There are no hard and fast rules so many items can be sensibly substituted to achieve the same results.
Get Ahead
Not only with the Baked Banana Oatmeal keep for several days quite easily but it will freeze amazingly too. You can either make and freeze the whole thing for serving at a later date or cut it into portions and freeze them individually.
I wouldn’t recommend making the batter up ahead of time and waiting to bake as the baking powder will be busy working away. As the whole thing only 10 or 15 minutes to put together, I don’t think this will be required.
Leftover Baked Banana Oatmeal with Maple & Pecan
Pop any of the oatmeal that you don’t think you’ll eat in the next 5 days into the freezer, either as a whole or in individual portions.
Or, don’t only eat the oatmeal for breakfast but serve it for pudding with custard too. Oaty banana pudding, yum!
Baked Banana Oatmeal with Maple & Pecan Tips
Serve with yoghurt, some more bananas, and maybe a dash more maple syrup.
This recipe is so simple – it requires a lack of tips except a cheeky serving suggestion!
Don’t forget to let me know in the comments if you try making this recipe – I want to know what you think and if you made any substitutions, how did it turn out?
Still Have Questions?
Simple! Just contact me and I will do my best to help as quickly as I am able. Head over to my Contact Me page, any of my social media channels or post a comment at the bottom of this page and I’ll see what I can do.
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The Recipe
Baked Banana Oatmeal Recipe with Maple & Pecan
Equipment
Ingredients
- 120 g Salted Butter
- 4 tbsp Honey
- 2 Ripe Bananas
- 1 Orange
- 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 80 ml Maple Syrup
- 160 ml Milk
- 1 Egg
- 410 g Evaporated Milk - 1 UK Tin = 410g
- 180 g Rolled Oats
- 1 tsp Baking Powder
- 1 tsp Sea Salt Flakes
- 1 tsp Ground Ginger
- 75 g Chopped Pecans
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180c.
- Line a square roasting/brownie pan with foil then greaseproof paper.
- Melt 120g Salted Butter and 4 tbsp Honey in a large mixing bowl. I go straight into the microwave, otherwise melt in a small pan on the hob then add to the bowl.
- Mash 2 Ripe Bananas into the melted butter and honey.
- Zest 1 Orange into the bowl then add the juice. Stir to combine.
- Stir in 2 tsp Vanilla Extract, 80ml Maple Syrup, 160ml Milk, 1 Large Egg and 410g Evaporated Milk.
- Finally, stir in 180g Rolled Oats, 1 tsp Baking Powder, 1 tsp Sea Salt Flakes, 1 tsp Ground Ginger and 75g Chopped Pecans.
- Pour into the prepared tin.
- Bake for 35 to 45 minutes, or until the oatmeal is set and the top is golden.
- Allow to rest for a few minutes before serving.
Notes
Important! If you have adjusted the serving size of this recipe, the cooking time will vary. A larger dish will take longer to cook and a smaller one will take less.
Kat (The Baking Explorer) says
I’ve never thought of having anything like this for breakfast, but I love the sound of it! Yummy!!
Chloe says
I hadn’t before I made this recipe either! Its so good for making on a Sunday then digging into throughout the week. I’m not the biggest fan of porridge so this is a much better option for me.
Rebecca - Glutarama says
Well this is a new one on me, never tried oatmeal…I’m intrigued and the photos look delicious. Of course add maple and pecan to anything and I’m there hahaha.
Chloe says
Yeh its a quite different but I do really like it, especially when I treat it like a pudding with custard!