Every morning around 6am my alarm clock goes off. It starts quietly and gets progressively louder and more annoying if I try to fall back to sleep. I’m usually in the middle of some random dream and I think about it for a few minutes as I try to will myself back to sleep.
If my alarm clock fails to rise me, it has no choice but to resort to other methods: walking up the length of my body, kneading my stomach and chest with sharp nails (ow!), purring – inflected as if it’s a question, and shooting laser beams through my eyelids to will them open. No matter what, do not open your eyes. I repeat: Do not make eye contact with the alarm clock!!!
If you do, it’s over.
Meet my alarm clock – highly reliable with a 0.000001% fail rate.
[This is Sketchie’s “I’m HUNGRY and haven’t had breakfast yet AND I happen to hate you right now” face. I snapped this while we were away over the long weekend. Sketchie was particularly unhappy that we slept til about 7:30 that morning!! gasp]
After 5 or 10 minutes of playing dead, I give in and stumble downstairs ever so slowly as Sketchie rubs his head along the staircase railing. He has now morphed back into Happy Cat and he’s prancing along to his feeding spot.
After I feed him, he ditches me and goes back to sleep (how nice), leaving me alone until Eric gets up.
I notice the morning feels a bit chillier than usual and make my first batch of hot oatmeal in a long time. The weather is dreary and creamy peanut butter oats sound like the perfect solution!
To add a fun twist to this bowl, I partially caramelized a ripe banana in the pot before cooking the oats with a tiny bit of non-dairy butter. This was just to intensify the flavours a bit more. Then I swirled in half the peanut butter and cooked the oatmeal as normal for about 8-10 minutes.
The result is a creamy bowl of oats lightly sweetened with banana and highlighted with cinnamon, nutmeg, and a pinch of salt. It smells heavenly! On top, I added more peanut butter, a good dose of cinnamon, nuts, and a drizzle of pure maple syrup. It was just about perfect.
1 year ago: Roasted Tomato Basil Pesto
Featuring all new, protein-packed salads, hearty toppers, flavour boosters, and dressings you'll want to drink, my new cookbook will transform the way you think about salads. Oh, and be sure to flip to the back for a surprise dessert chapter!
Early Morning Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal
Yield
1 serving
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
Ingredients
- 1 large very ripe banana, peeled and roughly chopped
- 1 tsp non-dairy butter or coconut oil
- 1/2 tbsp natural peanut butter
- 1/2 cup rolled oats
- 1/2-1 tsp chia seed (or ground flax)
- 1 cup almond milk
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/8-1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
- pinch of salt
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
For toppings
- heaping 1/2 tbsp peanut butter
- nuts
- cinnamon
- pure maple syrup
Directions
- In a medium-sized pot over medium heat, cook the banana and non-dairy butter or oil for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently.
- Stir in 1/2 tbsp peanut butter, and add the oats, chia, milk, spices, and a pinch of salt. Whisk well until combined.
- Bring to a low boil and then reduce heat to a simmer, stirring often for 8-10 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.
- Scoop into a bowl and top with peanut butter, nuts, cinnamon, and maple syrup.
I can’t talk about Sketchie waking me up in the morning without sharing this classic Simon’s Cat video!
My cat used to do the exact same thing when she was young (and skinny) except that she’d also attack my feet. Now she’s too chubby and can’t jump unto my bed :( PB and banana oatmeal is the best!!!
At least you’ve got a very adorable alarm clock! I don’t think that pets understand the “its the weekend, let me sleep” thing. My dog faithfully wakes me up at 6:30 every morning for food….then promptly sleeps the day away. And I can’t wait to try the oatmeal! Perfect for fall days!
I have never been so excited to try a new version of pb banana oats. I’m going to make this tomorrow morning with coconut oil and sunflower butter (food allergies). Can’t wait! Thank goodness for the dreary English weather, haha. Thank you Angela!
Breakfast used to be just a bowl of cereal and soy milk for me … until I started reading blogs like yours. I can’t wait to give this recipe a try!
OMG..I just had to make this. Right. Away. Which I did. Since I was getting a bit tired of my same overnight oats routine.
You know it’s amazing as I am singeing my mouth to eat it straight from the boiling pot.
Anyhow, I cannot wait until the morning to eat it all up! (Yes i made it ahead) TGIF indeed.
Thanks again for this recipe :)
I’m not typically the biggest oatmeal fan, but you’ve managed to make this PB banana oatmeal look realllllly enticing! Sketchy is so cute, by the way :)
My cat Edgar does the same thing! He starts to nip at my hand, I try to ignore him, it doesn’t work. Then I get myself out of bed to feed him. 20 minutes later he is passed out snoozing and I am wide awake. :)
Sketchie is the cutest! And I totally get the wake up call. You are a lucky cat-mom if he does this after 6. Lou makes every afford to wake me up round about 3/4 am – than I have to throw her out of the bedroom and close the door, or I won’t sleep for another minute.
btw – this looks like the MOST delicious bowl of oats and is a perfect fit for all those cold mornings ahead of us.
Wow! I just made it this morning, and god was it delicious! I think I could eat this oatmeal all day long… Thank goodness you came up with this recipe Angela, you just made my morning! :)
Oh gosh I love Sketchies expression so much! He looks like a classic grumpy garfield hehe. As for the oats, they look delicious!! I made a simpler version this morning with banana, chia seeds, maple syrup and peanut butter that melted and made it perfect :)
Looks delicious!
Banana and peanuts are such great friends- this looks divine. We’ve still got a smidge of sun left in London, but I fear it’s not for long.
Ha that’s a cat for ya…..they are definitely the best managers. I really like the idea of caramelizing the banana first – and I’ll add oats more as it gets a bit cooler. It’s still in the 90’s down here in Florida!
I love cooking banana in oatmeal!! Your photos look gorgeous!!
This post made me want two things. 1. Caramelized bananas (never tried those before, sounds perfect!) and 2. a cat. I haven’t had a cat in two years since my 18yr old Kringle passed away. I think it might be time for a new family member. I’ve been wanting to wake up earlier in the mornings.
That’s hilarious! Our cat (Sarabi) has been been particularly morning-noisy lately (and late evening too). Funny, her and Sketchie look a lot alike… hmmm, are they up to something. ;)
Food looks dynamite as always… enjoy your day Angela!
Ha! My dog won’t let me sleep in either! She likes breakfast at the same time every day!
Your breakfast looks amazing :) can’t wait to make it!
Thankfully I read this last night, it was cool this morning and I had all ingredients on the house. It was meant to be. and WOW it did not disappoint. The caramelized bananas were amazing! Thank you this will be a regular in my house this fall!
x Steph
That is too funny! Our little girl kitty does that too, but she only wakes up my husband! It never fails, about 6:30am every morning, she is by his side “chirping” like a quail (she does that instead of meows. It’s the cutest thing on the planet). If he doesn’t wake up right away, she will take one tiny needle claw and pop his fingers, if that doesn’t work she will straight up and ever so lightly bit the bridge of his nose. It is hysterical and so friggin’ adorable and absolutely annoying for him! He is always the main target, but she actually did it to me the other day. She also does the same thing as Sketchie…as soon as she has him out of bed and fresh food in her bowl, she goes off to take a nap. Brat :) Oh, and this recipe looks fab! Love the caramalized banana!
Just made this now! Super tasty. I could eat this every morning!