Caramelized Banana Oatmeal

Caramelized Banana Oatmeal!

… with some chocolate chips, because shouldn’t every banana creation ever to touch your lips include at least a few little morsels of chocolate goodness? Answer: yas.

So this is called Caramelized Banana Oatmeal, but friends. I am not about to leave you without options here. You can do your caramelization thing by either ACTUALLY caramelizing the bananas in the oven (kind of like roasting), or you can be a short-cut-lover like me and make a quick little pan sauce / glaze beauty to caramelize your bananas for you.

I don’t want to be bossy, but this is what you’d be missing if you didn’t go the pan sauce / glaze route. 👇🏼

There are a bunch of things I like about this oatmeal, but at the top of the list is the no-refined-sugar thing. Don’t get me wrong – this can be as sweet as you want it to be (hi sweeeeet!), and with those already-sweet banana pieces simmering in a coconut oil and real maple syrup cinnamon glaze, they are going to get REAL SWEET. In a carameliz-y type way that is almost other-worldly. It’s like a whole new more classy look/taste for our basic bananas, and you are going to never want to eat a banana any other way after tasting this natural caramel candy.

I like to mash up half the bananas with the oatmeal to sweeten naturally while avoiding the brown sugar situation — which is usually that I dump straight from the container, get a little too much, and then don’t even try to correct it because I adore brown sugar. The rest of the bananas? On top, duh. Cause we like pretty food around here, and those caramely-soft bananas with some chocolate chips, maybe a few coconut flakes, maybe a shmear of peanut butter, and definitely a sprinkling of sea salt? It all works in a very big way, both visually and flavorfully.

One last thing:

The Bring Your Best Bowl contest. Have you heard of it?

This week I got to try three brand new finalist flavors that are competing for a place on the Quaker shelf for a limited time, and they are all unique and delicious and interesting to the max. But of course, I definitely have a favorite. The flavors are:

• Apple Cheddar Rosemary
• Lemon Ricotta Pancake
• Vanilla Chai

Put on your fancy pants, kids. Things are getting legit.

Want to try, too? Look for these flavors in your regular breakfast aisle at the grocery store (or just learn more about them online, from the comfort of your PJs) and then go vote for the one that you want to become a part of your breakfast life. Voting ends 11/19/16.