Banana Peach Baked Oatmeal

Fall temperatures are arriving in Denver, which means the end of all the great summer produce.  If you overbought on peaches like me, here is a great recipe for you to enjoy on a cool fall morning.

One of my early blog posts was for banana berry baked oatmeal.  Every season, I have fun making baked oatmeal using the different fruits or berries in season.  For the end of the summer, I made this banana peach baked oatmeal.  The best part?  It tastes like dessert--while being a wholesome, healthy start to the day.

This is a simple recipe to make that uses ingredients that you probably already have on hand; in fact, the hardest part is probably slicing the fruit.  You could even prepare it the night before so that you can throw it in the oven while you get ready in the morning.  I like the texture and nuttier taste of steel cut oats, and they never seem to get as mushy as rolled oats, so I used those in this recipe.   (I've been getting Coach's Oats from Costco, which is a more quick-cooking type of steel cut oats, and highly recommend it.  I used those oats in this recipe.)

While this makes a great breakfast, it also could multitask as a dessert, with some ice cream, of course.

Healthy dessert for breakfast anyone?  I thought so.

Banana Peach Baked Oatmeal
Yields 4 servings

Ingredients:
1 cup steel cut oats or rolled oats
1/2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
Pinch of salt
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 cup milk
1 large egg at room temperature, lightly beaten
2 tbsp. butter (salted or unsalted), melted and cooled
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 ripe bananas, pealed and sliced 1/2-inch thick
3 ripe peaches, sliced

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375ºF.  Spray a 2-quart baking dish with cooking spray, or lightly grease with butter.  In a medium bowl, mix the oats, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.  Stir with a fork to combine.  In a measuring cup, whisk the maple syrup, milk, egg, butter, and vanilla.  Place the sliced bananas at the bottom of the baking dish in an even layer.  Top with about 2/3 of of the peaches.  Cover the coat mixture over the fruit in an even layer.  Pour the liquid ingredients evenly over the oats.  Place the remaining peaches over the top.  Bake for about 40 minutes, or until the top is browned, and the oats have set.

Source: Adapted from Heidi Swanson's Super Natural Everyday