Banana and chocolate. Chocolate and cinnamon. Chocolate and almonds. Chocolate.

Chocolate.

On a recent Sunday after church, I was rocking Tessa to sleep and ruminating over what I’d like for lunch. I knew we had some slightly overripe bananas on the counter but besides those, we were running pretty low. I wanted to eat something healthy but full of chocolate. Hmm.. bananas, chocolate, healthy. Baked oatmeal! It’s like making a coffee cake but much quicker and entirely more healthy. I put it together, turned the oven light on and watched it cook, then served up two giant steaming bowls. Okay, as I typed “giant steaming bowls”, my mouth actually just watered. I miss this oatmeal already. I am waiting for the bananas on my counter to ripen so I can make this for dinner one night this week.

After we each had seconds, the leftovers went into tupperware in the fridge. For the rest of Sunday I deliberated between graciously giving the leftovers to husband to make his Monday a little brighter and sneakily eating it all behind his back. I took the high road, but I wasn’t gracious about it. I definitely grumbled.

Onto legistics; do you know about vanilla unsweetened Almond Breeze? Lactose free, 40 calories a cup (less than half of what’s in skim milk) and absolutely DELISH. It lasts in your fridge for weeks before opening, and then up to 10 days once opened. It’s amazing and I love it. This recipe calls for 1 c. of it. You can use it in place of ALL the milk, or you can skip it and use all skim. I recommend trying it out, though, as it’s become a staple in my kitchen.

Baked Oatmeal with Bananas and Bittersweet Chocolate

Serves 4-6

2 c. old fashioned oats

1/2 c. chopped almonds, toasted

1/4 c. brown sugar, packed

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. kosher salt

1 c. skim milk

1 c. unsweetened vanilla Almond Breeze

1 egg

2 tbsp. butter, melted

1 tsp. vanilla

3 bananas, sliced

1/2 c. bittersweet chips or chunks

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees

2. Whisk together oats, nuts, brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Stir in chips.

3. In a smaller bowl, whisk together milk, egg, melted butter, and vanilla.

4. Stir wet ingredients into dries and mix until combined.

5. Slice bananas into bowl and stir to combine.

6. Grease an 8×8 dish with nonstick spray and pour mixture into dish.

7. Bake for about 35-40 minutes or until the top is golden brown.

8. Serve with milk on top.

Chocolate for breakfast? Oh my!