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!