Tell me if this always happens to you too…
Whenever you need the perfectly ripe (or even overripe) bananas, you arrive at your grocery store only to find green-as-grass bananas. Every time! Then on the days when you don’t need bananas, you see rows and rows of perfect yellow bananas. It’s a major conspiracy, don’t you think?
Since I was planning on testing a banana recipe this week, I knew I had to plan well in advance. Two huge bunches of greenish-yellow bananas went into my cart a week ago and then promptly into a brown paper bag to expedite ripening. The evil grocery store conspirators were not going to get me this time.
As it turned out, my testing went better than expected and I only went through about 6 bananas leaving me with an embarrassing amount of bananas on my counter. I guess that still beats running out mid-testing. Some of the leftovers were peeled and popped into the freezer for smoothies and then I went on a bit of a banana bender with the rest. First, Bananas Foster. Second, Bananas Foster Baked Oatmeal. It was one tasty weekend.
Traditional Bananas Foster recipes involve a lot of butter, sugar, and rum which create a syrup around the banana slices. Many recipes also flambé the bananas. Since fire + me don’t mix in the kitchen (especially first thing in the morning), I simply chose to sauté the bananas instead. Phew. I also swapped the butter for coconut oil and the refined sugar for sweeteners like coconut sugar or maple syrup and then I cut down the oil and sugar by more than half. So you can say this version is inspired by Bananas Foster, but it’s certainly not a classic version.
Most recipes use rum in the syrup, but since I didn’t have any plain rum on hand I used Kahlua (which also happens to be vegan). The alcohol cooks off in the syrup leaving just a very light caramel flavour mingling nicely with the bananas. Add a scoop of coconut ice cream and you’ll have yourself a lovely dessert that seems much more fancy than it really is.
Just be sure not to sauté the heck out of the bananas like I did. No one wants a limp banana.
For the recipe above, I used 1 tbsp coconut oil, 2 tbsp maple syrup, 2 tbsp Kahlua, 2 bananas sliced lengthwise, a handful of chopped walnuts, and a pinch of cinnamon.
Of course, you can also turn Bananas Foster into breakfast!
This recipe is easy too. Just sauté a few small, ripe bananas in 1 tablespoon each of: coconut oil, maple syrup, and Kahlua (or rum). Add a sprinkle of cinnamon and sauté for about 5 minutes, or until they soften.
Then stir it into your oatmeal mixture, top with even more banana slices, and b-a-k-e. [I can imagine that this would be even better with blueberries mixed in. I’m dreaming of summer blueberries right now and I might cry.]
So there you have it – Bananas Foster Baked Oatmeal. I’m warning you, the banana flavour is intense so this is for hard-core banana lovers only. Serve it with a spoonful of nut butter, a drizzle of maple syrup, and some pajamas (or in my case a fleece robe that Eric gave me 10 years ago. It has a burn hole on the sleeve from a cooking accident, but I still love it.)
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Bananas Foster Baked Oatmeal
Yield
4 servings
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
Ingredients
For the baked oatmeal
- 3/4 cup rolled oats
- 1/4 cup oat flour
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 cup walnut halves, chopped
- 1 & 1/4 cup almond milk
For the Bananas Foster mixture
- 1 small banana, sliced (for garnish on top)
- pinch of fine grain sea salt and nutmeg
- for the Bananas Foster:
- 3 small firm ripe bananas, chopped
- 1 tbsp coconut oil
- 1 tbsp pure maple syrup (or other sweetener)
- 1-2 tbsp Kahlua (or rum)
- sprinkle of cinnamon
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350°F and lightly grease a 5-6 cup casserole dish.
- Stir all of the oatmeal ingredients in a large bowl until combined. Set aside while you prepare the Banana Foster.
- Add coconut oil, maple syrup, and Kahlua into a skillet. Increase heat to medium and whisk until combined. When the mixture starts to simmer and bubble, add the chopped bananas and stir well until coated in syrup. Sprinkle on cinnamon. Sauté for about 5 minutes, reducing heat if necessary, until the bananas soften. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla.
- Stir the banana mixture into the oatmeal mixture and scoop it into your casserole dish. Bake uncovered for about 40-45 minutes at 350°F or until the top is golden and with a thin firm layer on top and a soft middle. You will think it’s undercooked at first, but the oatmeal will firm up as it cools. Straight from the oven it has the texture of stove-top oatmeal, but when cooled you can pretty much slice it into squares. I’ve also been known to eat this cold straight from the fridge for a snack.
Nutrition Information
(click to expand)
I actually asked a guy who stalked the bananas at a grocery store once why I could never find ripe bananas… he said they THROW THEM OUT. I was so horrified and shocked, that I asked to speak to the manager… he confirmed it’s true — apparently they seem to think customers won’t like overly ripe bananas and for some bizarre reason, this one wouldn’t even allow for selling reduced bananas. He said he’d give them to me…but no guarantee as they can’t exactly predict how many over ripe bananas they will have. Very, very disappointing & sad day. Especially b/c I have a business that relies on baking with ripe bananas and they are almost impossible to find.
This has gone straight onto paper in my notebook – Saving this one for a cold, rainy Sunday morning. Can’t WAIT! I always have overripe bananas in the freezer and I’m very excited for this! Thanks!
Can’t wait to try this recipe! And I completely agree with you about the banana thing.
I love LOVE love caramelized bananas like this – This would be a fabulous morning treat! Yum
I always have that problem with bananas! Its so annoying! It also happens with avocados all the time.
This recipe looks delicious, I LOVE bananas so I can’t wait to try it! I think I’ll make personal sized ramekins so I can heat them up individually in the morning! Yummy
Jesse, Out To Lunch Creations – love the name of your website. Going to see what you’ve got to share too!
Thanks Angela! Great yummy recipe that I can’t wait to try!
I love, love, love bananas foster (the original Brennan’s recipe!), & your version sounds delicious, too. I must make this oatmeal for a special brunch. Gosh, I am salivating onto my keyboard!
I think grocery stores do conspire against us with their abundance if under- or over-ripe ‘nanners.
I still haven’t tried baked oatmeal yet but this looks awesome!
I love bananas foster! Mmm, so good!
And the banana/grocery store phenomenon that you just described ALWAYS happens to me! It just happened last week when I was in a jam and NEEDED really ripe bananas for a recipe and they were all vibrant green everywhere I went!
I have had a complete obsession with dessert themed oatmeal lately, this is so brilliant and perfect. I can’t wait to try it out!!
This looks sooooo good! I love oatmeal recipes. Such a great healthy start to the day! I bet this recipe would work for a lot of fruit – apples would be good too!
Totally with you on the banana conspiracy. My boyfriend will only eat green bananas, but whenever I go to the store specifically to buy him some, there are only spotted ones left! Makes me look bad :)
I have definitely found myself in the same ‘green banana’ predicament you speak of! This oatmeal recipe looks SO good! I find myself craving baked oatmeals since winter officially hit and I’m always on the hunt for a new one.
I’d never heard of this before but it sounds delicious. It also sounds pretty much like my go-to porridge recipe (bananas, porridge, cinnamon – done!), which is one of my favourites.
Just learned you can ripen bananas in the oven. Put the bananas with the skin on, on a baking sheet at 300 degrees and bake about 30-60 minutes!!!! Tried it and it works perfectly!!! Hope this helps :)))
Ive heard this too and always wondered – do they come out tasting like super ripe bananas?
Google it, which is what I did. The skin will turn black and the bananas will ripen. Used them in 2 different recipes and they tasted GREAT! Worth a try !!!
I’d never heard this before! Gonna try it out next time I have a banana recipe and no ripe bananas
I haven’t managed to try a baked oatmeal yet. but I really should. this looks delicous!
Holy yummy!!!! That oatmeal! My boyfriend and I were dreaming up ideas for a brunch later in the week and we couldn’t think of anything other than the normal waffles or omelets, but this gives me ideas! I’m inspired and now I want yummy oatmeal noms in my belly!
I totally think the banana gods are out to get me, too… I had the exact same problem a while ago with green bananas!
this looks DELICIOUS. I am definitely going to try the bananas foster with (banana-freak alert) banana soft-serve! Such a good healthy dessert idea. Thanks again, Angela!
This looks AMAZING. There is simply nothing better than caramelized bananas and oatmeal!
“No one wants a limp banana”
You just made me chuckle at my desk.
I think at some grocery stores, you can ask them for ripe bananas and they’ll just give them to you for free! As for me, I use them so often that I buy a ton at a time, and one batch is ripe by the time I buy the next underripe batch.