Strawberry Banana Cream Baked Oatmeal Squares.
Straight up from the How Sweet kitchen. Weird because…
I’ve made no bones about it – I like my oatmeal one way and one way only:
But recently… something weird happened. My husband – who has always claimed to “hate oatmeal!”… has started to eat oatmeal. Every single morning. Like, a lot of oatmeal. Like nearly two freaking cups of oatmeal. Who can eat two freaking cups of oatmeal? He can, apparently.
And it’s turned into a new addiction for him. We’ve suffered through many addictions of his together: diet Mountain Dew, English muffins with peanut butter and jelly, some really disgusting casserole thing he used to throw together in a 9×13 dish with plain chicken, plain boxed stuffing and a can of soup, protein bars and my least favorite: plain tuna mixed with hard boiled eggs. I’m sure you can figure out why.
And you know, I just can’t let anything be. I mean, you’d think I wouldn’t even pay attention to this guy I live with eating oatmeal every single morning. You’d thing I’d learn to pick my battles by now. Or just shut up.
But no! Of course not. It pains me to watch people eat the exact same food, over and over again, for months or even years. Isn’t it just so… boring?! I can’t even eat the same breakfast two days in a row. The only time dinner leftovers appeal to me is if they include something like mac and cheese or pork, and even then I still find a way to twist the dish around, usually by putting everything atop blue corn chips. Because nachos make the world go ’round.
Not sure what to have for dinner tonight? Just plop a ton of ingredients over chips. Turns that frown upside down.
So this was my attempt at reeling him out of the boring oatmeal rut. Seriously, I want someone who wants to eat pancakes or eggs with me on Saturday… not someone who says “I’d rather eat this bowl of gloppy paste.” What does that even mean?
It was also my attempt at recreating one of my most favorite childhood foods: Quaker strawberries and cream instant oatmeal. Now THAT is some oatmeal I can get behind. I still adore the stuff. Two packets, made with vanilla almond milk in the microwave and devoured. I totally treat myself to that like, once every few minutes.
Unfortunately… this isn’t that. But it’s pretty close. I actually found the texture of this baked oatmeal incredibly appealing. It was chewy but not soupy or wet. And then I poured some vanilla-infused cream over it and well, I don’t even know what to say about that. Besides… OMG.
Strawberry Banana Cream Baked Oatmeal Squares
[adapted from taste of home]
serves 4-6
2 cups old fashioned oats
1/3 cup loosely packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 large egg
1 cup milk
1/4 cup half and half
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 medium ripe banana, mashed
3/4 cup chopped strawberries (about 4 large berries)
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Spray a baking dish with nonstick spray – I used a 10×7 dish, but an 8×8, 9×9, round cake pan or another size close to that will work too.
In a large bowl, combine oats, sugar, baking powder, salt and cinnamon, mixing until combine. Measure out the cup of milk, then whisk in egg and vanilla extract. Add half and half to the milk mixture, then stir it into the dry oats. Mix in mashed banana and melted butter, then chopped strawberries, then scoop the batter into the baking dish. Bake for 30-33 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown and the top is set. Remove and let cool for 5 minutes before serving. Top with strawberries, bananas and milk or half and half infused with vanilla extract.
Note: If served immediately, squares may not hold together perfectly. If they are left to cool, they should hold together fine and be able to be eaten with your hands.Â
But a piece of bacon wouldn’t be so bad.
135 Comments on “Strawberry Banana Cream Baked Oatmeal Squares.”
This is totally drool worthy this morning! I think I wouldn’t patient enough for these to cool, so I would eat one warm (with some vanilla ice cream)!
This sounds so yummy. I eat a lot of oatmeal, but this might actually get my hubby to eat it, too. Oh, and I hate both tuna and hard boiled eggs, so I can’t even imagine combining them. And my husband eats Zone bars for breakfast every morning. Ugh!
This sounds heavenly and I’d love to give it a go this weekend!
I can’t stand gloopy oatmeal either and my boyfriend also loves it.
This is much more appealing than a sloppy mess!
Good I got half and half milk in the fridge:D I might make this tonight, that is.. if my bananas will ripe. The got new bananas in tuesday at the store and they weren’t ripen yet. sighhhhh. This looks good and healthy!
These sounds fab, Jessica! Like you said, add a side of bacon and you’ve got yourself a well-rounded meal! ;-)
Fabulous dish! I just made a breakfast very similar to this a couple of weeks ago, but my pictures didn’t turn out great!! I love that you added half and half, that must make it so creamy!! Wonderful dish! Wish I could have a bowl right now!!
My favorite was always the apple cinnamon, with EXTRA brown sugar. I don’t think strawberries and cream came out until after I was finally just over oatmeal, sad. But I can get behind strawberries and cream because these are looking pretty perfect for breakfast!
One of my friends in college ate the same exact thing, every day. Eggs and frosted mini wheats for breakfast, pasta and chicken breast for lunch AND DINNER. Oh, sometimes he ate rice. What is the matter with boys??? At least when we get obsessed with a food, we choose a delicious one. Like this oatmeal. Or biscuits.
My husband goes in spurts where he will make very large bowls of oatmeal and eat it every day for months. We buy oats at Sam’s for that very reason. I have been on a baked oatmeal thing lately and this sounds perfect!
This is very similar to how I make my baked oats, but I like to use peanut flour in it and top it with peanut butter chocolate fudge. Your version looks so perfect for Spring! I need this one this morning!
I love baked oatmeal. It is so tasty! And I think my favorite all time oatmeal is Quaker Maple and Brown sugar….delish.
I’m passing this on to my mom who was looking for a new dessert for her card club. Looks yummy and comforting!
i adore baked oatmeal! i have a peanut butter banana chocolate chip oatmeal square recipe coming up soon. i love the strawberries in yours. great recipe jessica.. esp topped with that vanilla cream.
I used to eat oatmeal for breakfast, lunch, and dinner in college … maybe not EVERY day, but way too often. After that, I stopped eating it for years because I got so sick of it. I’m just now starting to enjoy it again.
Your squares, however, don’t even look like healthy oatmeal … they look like pure dessert. Yum. ;)
These look soooo yummy!!
$100 Nordstrom and $50 Sephora give away on my website!
Looks soooo good!! We do a baked oatmeal here, but it is plain and just has a lot of brown sugar and cinnamon in it….then we put butter on top of it! This looks even better!
OH, YES I can get behind this, too! I love baked oatmeal. It especially appeals to my laziness bone. Cook once and have breakfast for a couple days. Though, this looks so good that I may have it a couple times a day!
You had me at strawberry! So, did he like it? My making something this delicious, you realize that you’re running the risk of having him add it to his I-have-to-eat-this-every-day list of foods, right? On the plus side, I suppose it’s a much better smelling option than tuna and hard boiled eggs!
He did!
I love reading about your husband cause he sounds so much like mine, lol. My hubs is a Marine and is all about protein and had intact mixed tuba with hard boiled eggs. Gross! He only does this on deployments when I’m not around haha!
Great way to pimp the oatmeal up! I never have oatmeal, I prefer normal Kellog’s flakes if I decide to go that way for breakfast. But I would be fine with that plate! :)
my husband makes the same chicken, stuffing casserole dish :)
This is totally making my breakfast of Greek yogurt seem really lame. Wahhhh. Time for a pity-party because that looks soooo delicious! Looks like a spring break breakfast to me!
I do love oatmeal but am always happy to find a new way to change things up!
I love cooking and trying new things but often find myself eating the same things most days, but seriously this looks delish!!!
WOWZERS! :) These look amazing, such a wonderful and original recipe! Thanks so much for sharing!
But did the hubster like it??
Yep!
We just bought a ton of fresh strawberries! I need to make this ASAP, I am getting sick of my breakfast! Thanks for sharing!
I love oatmeal, and this recipe just bumped that up a notch. Maybe I can even get my family to love oatmeal with this recipe. :)
This could be the answer to my breakfast problems! I don’t eat it – I can’t stand to have food in my mouth anytime before 10:00 am, but this stuff looks good enough to eat, right now :) I’ll bet it would be great with blueberries or raspberries, too!
I would definitely condone a few slices of bacon with this. Although, you can never go wrong with strawberries and cream!
You had me at “strawberries” – these look incredible as always!
A piece of bacon is never a bad thing ;)
This looks great, but when do you add the melted butter?
Oops sorry – with the banana… fixed it!
Hey hey hey! There’s nothing wrong with eating oatmeal every morning for breakfast. (I did it about 5-6 days/week for about two years…now I’ve moved on to smoothies.) Some of us want to save our daily calorie allotment for big lunches and dinners. And cookies. And margaritas. Is that so terrible???
Hahah trust me, I fully understand this – his bowls of oatmeal are almost 1000 calories… he’s not eating them to make room for other yummy things!
These look fantastic!! I never had the strawberries and cream oatmeal growing up but I was obsessed with the apple cinnamon. I loved those little dehydrated apple pieces!
I liked that one too.
I’m obsessed with baked oatmeal. It’s so good heated up with a big scoop of peanut butter in the middle.
This looks chewy and delightful! The only problem is making this for just my boyfriend and I will mean we will have tons of leftovers!!! And he’s not a huge oatmeal guy.
Lol @ inside. my. cookies. You kill me!
Cut the recipe in half! Pretty sure you can find tiny disposable baking dishes at grocery stores – or make it in a mini loaf pan.
Family camping trips growing up were not complete without a box of the Quaker fruit and cream instant oatmeal packs. The strawberry, blueberry, and peach were gone in no time and then we would all complain about the banana ones that were left. Does anyone like those banana ones?!
I LOVE the peach too. Still buy it.
My husband would love this. LOVE!
Wow I had never tried to bake oats. M trying this tomorrow morning :D
This looks so good! I’ve been on a major strawberries & banana kick the past few weeks..I swear, I can go for months without posting anything with either of them, and then bam, I am all about it :)
The creaminess in this one…mmmm, yum!
Oh yum! I love oatmeal so this is right up my alley. I do tend to get into breakfast ruts though. I’m pretty sure I ate Honeycombs every morning for 2 years straight when I was growing up, followed by Reeses’ Puffs cereal.
Oh, these look fantastic…especially those strawberries on top, yum! :)
What a great combination of ingredients…and healthy too! Love this recipe.
I only like my oatmeal in cookie form as well, but this is something I can stand behind 100%. It’s just a giant soft square cookie. I’m all in.
I did the same as ur husband for a while and I have yet to quit the oatmeal, so i’m going to try this but instead top it with vanilla soymilk.
Baked oats are definitely the way to go – it’s like cake for breakfast!
HAHA! My boyfriend goes through weird obsessions too. He’s on an ok one now..everything bagels and plain cream cheese, but he eats it every single day! I don’t know how to switch that one up. I’ll work on that and make this for myself in the meantime.
I have recently become obsessed with oatmeal too. I really like to try different baked oatmeal and this looks so good. Also, I pretty much eat anything when the word cream is involved. So…I’m making this.
While I definitely agree that the casserole addiction your husband had sounds a little unmanageable, I could see myself getting addicted to these oatmeal squares. These look great and your husband is one lucky fellow to have a wife who can help him indulge in his latest food addiction. Gorgeous!