Blueberry Oatmeal Breakfast Bake

As Chloe and I continue our search for delicious, filling, anything-other-than-cereal-every-morning breakfast options, we stumbled upon another easy recipe from 
Eye It. Try It.

Like always, we modified the recipe a bit to suit our preferences. The great thing about this dish is that it lasts for a few days, so when you wake up, you've got breakfast covered!

My recommendation would be to set an alarm and wake up 20-30 minutes before you want to start baking so you can get your frozen berries out to thaw. There's nothing more irritating than having a meal ready to pop into the oven and having to wait for the berries to un-freeze :P Another option for those on-the-go is to make this the night before and stick it in the fridge so it's ready to eat the next morning (heat it up or eat cold- tastes great both ways!)

Since the dish takes roughly 20-30 minutes to bake, we decided to do our morning jog/run while it cooked, opting for applesauce and a handful of cereal granola to tide us over as we exercised. If you do this, make sure you leave with enough time to make it back before the timer goes off! This is not a dish you want to over-bake.

Mix dry ingredients

1 chia egg = 1 tbsp chia + 3 tbsp water

Mix wet ingredients

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. The recipe I used said to "mix until well incorporated" but Chloe said I should have "folded the berries into it." I guess she'll have to teach me how to do that next time :P haha

Grease pan and spread mixture evenly.

Top with thinly sliced banana. Next time I make this I'm going to slice up 2 bananas so the whole surface is covered in them because Chloe and I want to have banana in every bite!

Bake 20-30 minutes depending on how big your pan is. The smaller the pan (thicker) the longer you bake. Personally, I would err on the less/undercooked side because you don't want it to be too done. You can always stick it back in and bake it for longer. I'd rather eat something the consistency of oatmeal than spongey rubber, wouldn't you? ;)

Blueberry Oatmeal Breakfast Bake

• 1 cup oats
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/4 cup honey (or 1/2 cup sugar for vegan)
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 chia egg (1 tbsp chia + 3 tbsp water)
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1.25 cups frozen berries (Chloe said she wished there were more berries, so add more if you'd like!)
• 3/4 cup crushed walnuts
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 large banana (or 2 depending on how much sliced banana you want covering the top)
• 1 scoop protein powder, optional (if you include, make sure to add appropriate amount of additional water so the batter isn't too thick)

1. Preheat oven 350 degrees
2. Mix dry ingredients in a bowl
3. Mix wet ingredients in a separate bowl
4. Fold wet ingredients into dry ingredients
5. Pour mixture into greased baking dish, spread evenly
6. Top with sliced banana
7. Bake 20-30 minutes depending on the size of your pan (taste-check it at 20 minutes, bake longer if it's not done)

For original recipe, visit: http://eyeitryit.wordpress.com/2011/05/28/overnight-baked-blueberry-oatmeal-cake/

If you decide to try this recipe, let us know how it turns out! Leave a comment, tweet us a picture, or tag us on Instagram :) @ChasingLovely

Photos shot with iPhone 4S

What I'm listening to: Dan Tyminski – Who Showed Who

xo,

T