Ingredients and substitutions

• Rolled oats: This is the base of the baked oats. You can use rolled oats, gluten-free oats or even oat flour which is just blended oats!
• Banana: Banana adds a natural sweetness to the baked oats. If you don’t like banana or if you are allergic, you can use 1-2 eggs instead.
• Ground Cinnamon and Ginger: I used these two seasonings to add flavor, however, you can omit them all together if you’d like.
• Baking powder: This helps the baked oats rise while baking.
• Salt: to balance out the flavors.
• Maple syrup: This is optional if you want the baked oats to be a little sweeter. I always add 1 Tbsp to add both sweetness and flavor. You can sub sugar, honey, agave or even date syrup here.
• Almond butter: You can sub any other nut/seed butter you prefer. You can also leave it out all together and it won’t alter the recipe too much.
• Almond milk: Like the almond butter, you can sub any other milk of choice here. I prefer a non-dairy option.
• Carrots– shredded carrots, of course! You can’t have carrot cake without them. I used large carrots and shredded them in my food
  processor but you can also use a cheese grater.
• Pecans: Feel free to use walnuts instead, or just omit them all together but I believe they add a great texture and crunch.
• Raisins: Like carrots in carrot cake, I believe raisins are also a big must in my book.

How to make baked oats:

Making baked oats is so simple, it really can’t be easier. The hardest (and longest) part is waiting for the oats to bake in the oven.

To start, add the banana, oats, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, maple syrup, almond butter and almond milk together in a blender and blend on high speed for about 25-30 seconds or until ingredients are well incorporated and you have a nice creamy batter. This is all the ingredients with the exception of the carrots, pecans and raisins.

Once you have your blended batter, fold (or mix) in the shredded carrots, pecans and raisins.

Pour this batter into an oven safe dish and bake in the oven for 35-40 minutes or until you achieve the desired texture that you want.

I have found that the 35 minute mark will be solid on the outside, but soft and gooey in the center (this is the way I like them). However, if you keep them baking for 40-45 minutes then the entire oats will be solid and will resemble a cake like texture. So it’s really your preference here!

Remove the baked oats from the oven and allow to cool for a few minutes. I like to top mine with non-dairy yogurt, and of course more carrots, raisins and pecans.

That’s it! See, I told you this recipe would be simple and easy to make. This recipe yields about 2-3 servings depending on whose eating. This is the perfect amount for either just my boyfriend or for my boyfriend and I to share!