Hi all! Happy September (not quite time to say happy fall yet)! Hope you’ve all been doing well! I just finished training for (and competing in) a triathlon, which is basically the origin for this recipe. I was doing lots of early morning swims before work and needed a good, healthy breakfast to eat on the way to work. I did some searching online for a healthy baked oatmeal recipe and found a few options to try. I’ll be honest, the first couple I tried were absolutely disgusting. This recipe from EatingBirdFood.com that I’m sharing with you today, though, pleasantly surprised me by how yummy the oatmeal cups were and how well it worked to freeze them, so I wanted to share it with you. Here’s the recipe:

Ingredients:

• 3 cups old fashioned rolled oats
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 2 tbsp ground flaxseed
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tbsp peanut butter
• 2 mashed bananas (about 1/2 cup)
• 1/4 cup chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350F and line 12 muffin cups with paper baking cups. Spray the liners with baking spray. In a medium mixing bowl, combine milk, flaxseed, maple syrup, and vanilla. Let sit for about 5 minutes.

While that mixture is sitting, combine the oats, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt.

Mix the bananas, peanut butter, and half the chocolate chips in with the wet ingredients. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix well.

Divide mixture evenly among the muffin cups and top with remaining chocolate chips.

Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cup comes out clean.

Let cool completely and then store in the fridge or the freezer. I kept mine in the freezer and just put two in the fridge the night before my swimming mornings, and they’d be perfectly thawed about 8-10 hours later.

Happy baking!