Baked Banana Oatmeal Cups. A hearty and healthy oatmeal that you can make ahead. Baked in individual cups so they're easy to grab and go!

Baked Banana Oatmeal Cups

Ingredients

• 3 cups old fashioned oats
• 2 Tablespoons brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 cup mashed ripe banana
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cups milk I used skim
• 2 Tablespoons mini chocolate chips

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 12 cup muffin tin with cooking spray or line with paper liners. (see notes below)
2. In a large bowl combine oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, salt and baking powder.
3. In a separate bowl whisk together mashed bananas, oil,eggs and vanilla until well combined. Whisk in milk.
4. Pour milk mixture over oat mixture and stir well to combine. The batter is going to be very liquidy and appear like it's not holding together. It's not supposed to; just stir until everything is well combined. It's going to look very soupy.
5. Use an ice cream scoop or a ladle to fill the prepared muffin cups all the way to the top. Try to insure each cup is filled pretty evenly with oats and liquid. You don't want to end up with a cup that is mostly liquid without a good amount of oats.
6. Sprinkle the tops with chocolate chips and bake for about 20-25 minutes or until set and just lightly brown on the edges. (Baking time may be slightly longer if you use paper liners)
7. If you didn't use liners, allow the cups to cool completely for easiest removal then reheat to serve warm. Or, if you used the liners, allow to set for about 5-10 minutes, then remove from pan.

Recipe Notes

*To store, allow to cool completely, then place in an airtight container and refrigerate overnight. In the morning, reheat in microwave. It took about 1 minute to heat up two cups in a 900 watt microwave oven.

*This recipe is lightly sweetened to allow for adjusting to individual tastes at serving. If you like a sweeter oatmeal, increase sugar to 1/4 cup, remembering you can always add more later. (The recipe, as written, is sweet enough for me and for my family, especially with the added natural sweetness of the banana)

*This recipe can also be baked in a 9" square pan that's been lightly greased or sprayed with cooking spray. Increase baking time to 30-35 minutes or until set. (Update 2-16-16, bake time was based on baking in my regular electric oven. I just made a pan and baked it in my convection oven, converted the temp down to 325 and they baked up in 25 minutes.)

*Update 4-23-16: A helpful reader mentioned that her cups baked up a little moister than she expected. After detailing how she made them, I suspect that it might be because she used paper liners. Paper liners act as insulation between the "batter" and the pan. The oatmeal will get more direct heat without the liners. They are a nice option for easy removal and easy clean up, and you can definitely still use them. Just know that your baking time may have to increase for them to set up properly.

Receipe Adapted From >>> www.themerchantbaker.com