a recipe: baked oatmeal bites

let it be known that breakfast is my favorite meal of the day. primarily because there are unlimited options, but, also because most of my favorite breakfast foods involve the holy grail of ingredients: eggs, cheese, and bacon. unfortunately, mama just doesn't have time to make something so sacred for marlo every morning and she was getting super sick of plain scrambled eggs and yogurt. so i asked a friend of mine, meghan, for breakfast tips that she feeds her adorable toddler son, law, and she told me about baked oatmeal. baked oatmeal? i was a little confused how you bake oatmeal but after she informed me of the logistics and how stupid simple it is to make, i took it and ran with it and never looked back. so, all of you can thank her.

note: it's also the perfect afternoon snack for a mama on the go. particularly so with a slab of almond r any kind of nut butter on top. oh my god, nutella? shut the front door, that would be just sinful.

so, let us get on with it.

stupid easy oatmeal bites

makes 9 'muffins'

the what:

1 cup gluten-free oats* 

1 cup milk** 

2 organic eggs, slightly beaten

2 tbsp chia seeds***

2 tbsp ground flaxseed meal***

1 ripe banana crushed

2-3 tbsp unsweetened coconut flakes

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1-2 tbsp of pure maple syrup or agave nectar (i prefer maple syrup for the nutty flavor)

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

non-stick cooking spray

(optional: you can pretty much add whatever other toppings you have on hand: chopped almonds or pecans, raisins, dried cranberries, currants, whatever you have laying around.)

*you can get these at Trader Joe's but any kind of rolled oats will do.

**i used unsweetened coconut milk but any kind of milk will do.

***these ingredients are optional, but they get even more fiber into the bites and we all know that a little extra fiber can't hurt us.

the how:

in a sealable container, soak the oats in the milk, beaten eggs, vanilla, chia seeds, and cinnamon mixture overnight. the next morning, pre-heat your oven to 350. in a bowl add all of your other ingredients to the oats that have been soaking overnight and combine well. pour into your well-greased muffin pan about 3/4 of the way full. (they don't really rise much but better safe than sorry, ya' know?) bake for 20-30 minutes until the tops appear golden brown but the insides are still soft like oatmeal. let them cool before removing from the pan. store in an air-tight container at room temperature for a day or so. if it takes you longer than that to eat them, put them in the fridge. enjoy!!