This dessert-like banana bread baked oatmeal is rich, sweet, hearty, and totally breakfast worthy, thanks to hearty oats and the natural sweetness of bananas. So if you’re tired of using your brown bananas for actual banana bread, you can change things up a bit with this banana bread flavored baked oatmeal, which makes a great make-ahead breakfast meal prep for the week. BONUS: it’s freezer-friendly!
What is Baked Oatmeal?
If you’re new to the world of baked oatmeal, it’s a wonderfully rich and moist breakfast treat. It’s basically oats baked into a custard. Kind of like bread pudding, but with oats instead of bread. If you think you don’t like oats because they tend to be gooey when boiled with water, try baked oatmeal. It’s soft, moist, and rich, but not at all gooey. Some people also mistakenly think baked oats are crunchy, but they’re not.
Try these other baked oatmeal flavors: Pumpkin Pie Baked Oatmeal, Oatmeal Cookie Baked Oatmeal, or Blueberry Banana Baked Oatmeal.
How to Store the Leftovers
This recipe makes a pretty big batch, so you’ll want to save the leftovers to eat throughout the week. Make sure to refrigerate your baked oatmeal soon after cooking. I like to divide my baked oatmeal into single servings right after baking, then refrigerate them in individual containers. Once chilled, you can keep the baked oatmeal in the refrigerator for about 5 days, or freeze for about 3 months.
How to Serve Banana Bread Baked Oatmeal
Baked oatmeal can be eaten hot OR cold. You can eat it as-is, or pour cold milk over top. And, if you like things a little sweeter, you can drizzle a little maple syrup over top.
Can I Use Steel Cut Oats?
You can not substitute steel cut oats in this recipe without making other changes because steel cut oats require a lot more moisture and a longer cooking time than rolled oats. While it may be possible to tweak it to make it work, I have not tested this method so I can not offer suggestions for that particular substitution.
Banana Bread Baked Oatmeal
Servings 6Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups mashed banana (about 3 bananas) ($0.63)
- 1/3 cup brown sugar ($0.12)
- 2 large eggs ($0.46)
- 1/2 tsp salt ($0.02)
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract ($0.15)
- 1 tsp baking powder ($0.02)
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon ($0.02)
- 1/8 tsp nutmeg ($0.02)
- 2 cups milk ($0.75)
- 2 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats ($0.45)
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts ($0.60)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375ºF. Mash the bananas well with a fork (you'll need 1.5 cups).
- 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.
- Add the milk and whisk until combined again.
- Finally, stir in the rolled oats and chopped walnuts.
- Pour the oat mixture into a 9×9-inch casserole dish and transfer to the preheated oven. Bake for 45 minutes, or until it is golden brown on top and around the edges.
- Serve warm or refrigerate and enjoy cold!
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Nutrition
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You might also like my Yogurt Banana Bread recipe!
How to Make Banana Bread Baked Oatmeal – Step By Step Photos
Preheat the oven to 375ºF. You’ll need 1.5 cups mashed bananas, which is about three bananas. I like to mash my bananas right in a liquid measuring cup so I can see the volume on the side.
Add the mashed bananas to a large bowl along with ⅓ cup brown sugar, 2 large eggs, ½ tsp salt, ½ tsp vanilla extract, 1 tsp baking powder, ¼ tsp cinnamon, and ⅛ tsp nutmeg. Whisk the ingredients together until they’re evenly combined.
Add 2 cups milk and whisk to combine again. It’s easier to whisk in the milk after the other ingredients have been combined because it causes less splashing.
Finally, stir in 2.5 cups rolled oats and ½ cup chopped walnuts.
Pour the oat mixture into a 9×9-inch casserole dish.
Bake the oatmeal in the preheated 375ºF for 45 minutes, or until it’s golden brown on top and around the edges.
Serve the banana bread baked oatmeal immediately, or divide into six portions and refrigerate for later!
Serve hot or cold, alone or topped with milk.
I bake either this or the apple pie version every week so I have breakfasts for work. I swapped the walnuts for cranberries and it’s phenomenal! Also, I learned never to make this before the bananas are at least a little over-ripe, it came out kinda dry but in my defence I refused to wait another day :)
Hi, Beth–
Will this oatmeal freeze well? If so, what’s the best way of packaging/storing it?
(The oatmeal is delicious, by the way!!!)
Yep, I freeze my baked oatmeal all the time. :) I just divide it into single servings and put each one in those blue top Ziploc resealable containers.
My kids and I love your recipes, Beth! We’ve tried all of these baked oatmeals and love them all! However, last night I put this in the crockpot and let it cook during the night. Ready in the morning. It was Awesome! Thank you so much!
Really good and easy in the crock. Don’t forget to coat the crock with cooking spray. I forgot, and having to soak to get the last remnants out. I tossed in some fresh blueberries. Was excellent this morning.
Made this yesterday and it smelled so great while cooking. Tasted it and was disappointed. THEN realized….I forgot the brown sugar! That will teach me to read!
So, I just drizzled a bit of honey on top and it was delicious!
I can’t give it a five star yet since i haven’t made it but I love the concept and will be making for sunday morning family breakfast. Instead of using the rolled oats i’m going to be using 3 minute steel cut oats, this should provide more texture.
I’ve made this a couple of times now and love it. The slight modifications I’ve made include: 1) Reduce the milk to 1 cup and increase the mashed bananas (very ripe!) to 2 1/2 cups; 2) Eliminated the sugar and instead added 1/2 cup Turkish apricots (the dark brown kind); 3) Added an extra egg. I blend all of the ingredients except the oats in the blender until smooth (this pulverizes the apricots) and then add the oats and bake. I bake a little longer than prescribed – I like the top and edges to have a little crust to them. Next time I’ll try to modify further by using coconut milk instead of regular milk, add some crushed pineapple, and flaked coconut instead of walnuts.
Made this with my toddlers today, we love it!
Hi Beth,
I’m a gym rat, so my diet requires a lot of protein. I was wondering if I could add more eggs to this recipe to get in my protein fix for the day. Many thanks for your help!!
I think you could add one more without it affecting the texture too much, but any more than that it will begin to change. Whether or not that’s a good or bad change will probably be up to your tastes. :)
Do you store this in the fridge?
P.S. –> Your website is a God-send for my husband and I as we are on a tight budget. EVERY recipe we have tried from your blog is absolutely AMAZING! We’ve been telling everyone about it :)
Yep, you definitely need to store it in the fridge. :) It’s like oatmeal baked into a custard, so it’s too moist to keep at room temperature.
Hi Beth! 2 Questions: 1. Do you use the quick cook oats or not? 2. Can you freeze this? Thanks! I LOVE IT!
Hi Lauren, I use “old fashioned rolled oats”. They’re bigger pieces than most “quick oats”, but they still cook in about 1-2 minutes in the microwave. The rolled oats give the final product more texture than regular “quick oats”. Using quick oats will give you a softer, more uniform texture. Some people have used quick oats for this recipe and still liked it, but I guess that’s subjective. :)
I have this in my oven right now! I made it with lactose free milk so my hubby won’t have any issues. Hopefully it will turn out well! We are both usually so rushed in the morning (we work outdoors and therefore are out with the sun) and usually end up just running out the door with cups of coffee.
I am thinking next time I might add some raisins and splash of rum or bourbon…
Thanks for this! I’ve been known to eat an entire loaf of banana bread by myself, but I always feel a little guilty about how much butter and sugar is in it. This is amazingly delicious.
I’m just passing by to say I love this recipe, it’s really good for breakfeast :) But in your book, you seem to forget when to put the chopped walnuts, hehe!
I made this with coconut milk, as we were out of regular, and it was AMAZING! I think I may even prefer it to the dairy version.
Also, I want to say congrats on your book, Beth, and thanks for giving my husband and me so many wonderful recipes over the last few years. We’re big fans!
It’s my son’s 16th birthday today. This is the ‘special’ breakfast he requested… This is THAT good! :D