I Tried it and I Liked it: Chocolate Banana Baked Oatmeal

I found this recipe through Pinterest, from Budget Bytes. I've had it pinned for a while now and just finally made it. It was good and will be made again, for sure! Here's the recipe:

Chocolate Banana Baked Oatmeal

Total Recipe cost: $3.59
Servings Per Recipe: 6
Cost per serving: $0.60
Prep time: 10 min. Cook time: 45 min. Total: 55 min.

STEP 1: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, mash 1.5 cups of bananas (about 3 large or 4 medium bananas).

STEP 2: Combine the mashed bananas with the eggs, cocoa powder, brown sugar, vanilla extract, salt, baking soda, and baking powder. Whisk together until smooth. Add the milk and whisk again. Make sure there are no clumps of cocoa powder.

STEP 3: Stir the oats into the milk/chocolate/egg mixture. Coat the inside of an 8x8 inch casserole dish or large pie pan with non-stick spray. Pour the oat mixture into the pan. Slice the last banana and place the slices over top of the oat mixture (this is an optional garnish).

STEP 4: Place the oats in the oven and bake for about 45 minutes. Cut into 6 pieces and serve warm.

[caption id="attachment_742" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Chocolate Oatmeal"][/caption]

Here are my changes:

Used Sucanat sugar instead of brown sugar
Skip the chocolate bar on top (or cut up some real chocolate, forget the Hershey's either way)
Used rice milk

This recipe can easily be made dairy free and wheat/gluten free (be sure your oats say gluten-free on the package) and still be impressive enough for company. I thought the level of sweetness was just right. You could cut back the sugar a bit, if you want. Or, go ahead and garnish with chocolate and serve as a dessert!

Be sure to visit the Budget Bytes website. Lots of great, inexpensive recipes!

Hubby and Kid Rating: 5 stars!