Peanut butter and banana oatmeal bake

I can't move in the morning. I mean I move enough to get out of the bed and put a cup of coffee in my hand and get the kids dressed, etc. but cook breakfast at 6 am? No thank you. And I don't love giving my kids cereal every day cause then that's all they ever want to eat.  So we have homemade waffles and pancakes in the freezer.  And banana bread or muffins.  But this makes so much that even my husband can take some and my kids love it!!

We found an amazing recipe for peanut butter and banana oatmeal bake at
http://www.shelikesfood.com/1/post/2015/08/peanut-butter-and-banana-oatmeal-bake.html.

Here is the recipe as we made it.

Ingredients: 
Wet ingredients:

2 1/3 cup skim (or whole) milk
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup maple syrup (I add a little less depending on how brown my bananas are)
juice from 1/2 lemon (about 1 tsp)
3 ripe bananas, mashed
1/2 cup natural peanut butter

Dry ingredients:
4 cups old fashioned oats
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup chia seeds (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Prepare one 9 x 13 or 2 8x8 baking dishes.

In the bowl of my stand mixer (or use an electric hand mixer) I added the milk, brown sugar, vanilla extract, maple syrup, lemon juice, bananas and peanut butter.  I blended on medium speed until everything was combined.

In a separate bowl combine the oats, cinnamon, baking powder and salt (and chia seeds if using). Add the combined dry ingredients to the wet and stir to combine.    Pour into the prepared baking dish(es) and cook for 22 minutes (baking time may vary - this was based on my oven and using two 8x8 pans).  Serve right away or reheat in the mornings or even eat cold!  We like to add extra slices of bananas or strawberries and sometimes we serve in a bowl with some milk in it.  

EVERYONE LOVED THIS!!

I like to use two 8x8 pans because then I can cut one up and put in microwave safe containers for my husband to bring in individual servings to work.  Then the other pan goes right in the fridge for the kids and isn't taking up as much room.  Let me know what you think if you try it!

Apple Banana Cinnamon Muffins

My daughter was asking for cinnamon bread but I love the convenience of having muffins all ready for breakfast or to send to school for her for a snack.  I also like to try to throw some fruit in any time I make muffins.  I couldn't find a cinnamon muffin recipe that I liked so I made this one up!  It is all real food and has apples and bananas in it. (I didn't peel the apples partly for the added fiber and partly because that's more work and I'm lazy where I can be- no one noticed they weren't peeled). There's no oil or butter because the yogurt substitutes for the oil (and adds a little protein).  I use real maple syrup and the ripened bananas as a sweetener.  This was the verdict:

My four year old said "Mmmmm"

My six year old said "Can I have another one? Can I take this to school for snack?"

My husband approved too.

Ingredients:
wet ingredients:
2 cups diced apples (I wash but I don't peel mine)
2 small bananas, ripe
2 eggs
1/2 cup greek yogurt (plain)
1/2 cup natural applesauce
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

dry ingredients:
1 3/4 cup white wheat flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Mix together all the wet ingredients in one large bowl.  In another bowl, whisk the dry ingredients together.  Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir until just incorporated.  Spoon into lined muffin cups and cook at 350 degrees.  It made 27 muffins for me.  My kids could totally eat two of these smeared with PB for breakfast and some berries on the side and be good to go!