Baked oatmeal with ripe bananas, pumpkin and pecans is the perfect way to start your morning!

When this first came out of the oven, I wasn’t so sure…but after my first bite I knew I had a winner!

Ever think about how perfect a banana is? My favorite way to eat them is when they are bright yellow, with no brown spots. I always throw a banana in my bag for a quick snack on the go, or after a work-out, but does that mean when they get all dark brown they are bad?

No way! I never throw bananas out… ever! Once they go start to get brown spots, I use them for smoothies^[1], baked oatmeal^[2], banana nut pancakes^[3], banana nut cookies^[4], muffins^[5], banana bread^[6] and more. The riper they are, the sweeter they become and if I know I don’t plan on using them right away, I freeze them for banana ice cream (recipe coming tomorrow).

This year I was thrilled to attend Dole’s first ever Banana Summit, held
in Anaheim California at Disney’s California Adventure Resort. I’m a
bit behind covering the summit thanks to Hurricane Sandy that knocked
out my power for 12 days, but I finally got my power back and was
finally able to use my oven. Hurray! 

What is a “Banana Summit” you ask? Pretty much what it sounds like, a few days with wonderful blogger friends where we literally ate, drank and experienced bananas in every way possible.

And since I’m bananas for bananas (corny, I know) I was happy to be a part of this wonderful group of people. And getting to spend a day at Disneyland made me feel like a kid again. Why Disney? Disney collaborates with many companies and one of them happens to be Dole. At the famous Enchanted Tiki Room inside the Magic Kingdom I tried my first “Dole Whip” which was as good as I heard it was. And sitting inside the Enchanted Tiki Room brought me back to my childhood trip there.

If you have ripe bananas laying around, give this baked oatmeal a try. It’s so good, it almost tastes like a banana-pumpkin nut bread. In fact, I told my toddler it was cake, and she ate it (cold).

Baked Oatmeal with Pumpkin and Bananas
gordon-ramsay-recipe.com
Servings: 6 • Serving Size: 1/6th • Old Points: 4 pts • Points+: 6 pts
Calories: 226 • Fat: 6 g • Carb: 41 g • Fiber: 4.6 g • Protein: 6 g • Sugar: 23 g
Sodium: 77 mg  (without salt)

Ingredients:

• 3 medium ripe bananas, (the riper the better) sliced into 1/2″ pieces
• 1 cup canned pumpkin
• 1 tbsp honey
• 3 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 cup uncooked quick oats
• 1/4 cup chopped pecans
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• pinch of salt
• 1 cup fat free milk (or any milk you desire)
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375° F.  Lightly spray a 8 x 8″ or 9 x 9″ ceramic baking dish with cooking spray; set aside.

Arrange the banana slices in a single layer on the bottom of the ceramic dish. Sprinkle 1/4 tsp of the cinnamon, honey and cover with foil. Bake 15 minutes, until the bananas get soft.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, combine the oats, half of nuts, baking powder, remaining cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, nutmeg and salt; stir together.  In a separate bowl, whisk together the pumpkin, brown sugar, milk, egg, and vanilla extract.

Remove the bananas from the oven, then pour the oat mixture over the bananas.

Pour the pumpkin mixture over the oats, making sure to distribute the mixture as evenly as possible.  Sprinkle the remaining nuts over the the top.

Bake the oatmeal for about 30-35 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and the oatmeal has set. Serve warm from the oven.

References

1. ^{^} smoothies (www.gordon-ramsay-recipe.com)
2. ^{^} baked oatmeal (www.gordon-ramsay-recipe.com)
3. ^{^} banana nut pancakes (www.gordon-ramsay-recipe.com)
4. ^{^} banana nut cookies (www.gordon-ramsay-recipe.com)
5. ^{^} muffins (www.gordon-ramsay-recipe.com)
6. ^{^} banana bread (www.gordon-ramsay-recipe.com)