Baked Steel Cut Oat Squares

I don’t consider myself a baker — I love to cook, but baking has always intimidated me. I’m not sure why.

The other day, I got it into my head to try and make/bake my own healthy treat. Without a recipe. So I did. And they turned out well! Maybe not perfectly, but that’s ok, cause next time I’ll switch it up and adjust my recipe.

I approached my baking experiment just like I do cooking — use flavours and ingredients that work well together, taste along the way, and at the end of the day, hope for the best.

I’m a big fan of oatmeal and always have been, which is interesting cause I don’t like cereal. At all. But oatmeal isn’t as mushy, and you can add different spices to flavour it up. Steel Cut Oats, though, are my favourite. They’re chewy, don’t soften as much and give a nutty flavour. They do take longer to cook in the morning, but you can use them as overnight oats, find quicker cooking ones, or in this case, bake them. 

For this recipe, you’ll need steel cut oats, milk, frozen bananas and strawberries (or raspberries or blueberries), shredded coconut, chia seeds and maple syrup. Or whatever you have. If you don’t have some of the ingredients, change it up, try something else. I know, so NOT a baker.

This treat will last a week in the fridge, or until you finish them. Whichever comes first. You can eat them cold or warm, but my fave is for breakfast, heated with a sliver of salted butter on top.

Enjoy.

Yield: 12-16 squaresAuthor: Julia Suppa

Baked Steel Cut Oat Squares

prep time: 20 minscook time: 50 minstotal time: 70 mins

I’m a big fan of oatmeal and always have been, which is interesting cause I don’t like cereal. At all. But oatmeal isn’t as mushy, and you can add different spices to flavour it up. Steel Cut Oats, though, are my favourite. They’re chewy, don’t soften as much and give a nutty flavour. They do take longer to cook in the morning, but you can use them as overnight oats, find quicker cooking ones, or in this case, bake them.

ingredients:

2 cups steel cut oats
2 cups milk (I used 1%, but you can try with a dairy free option)
2 tbsp chia seeds
2 tbsp maple syrup
2 tsp vanilla
Cinnamon (as much as you like)
2 frozen bananas, sliced in rounds (they can still be part frozen)
2 cups strawberries (fresh or defrosted)
Coconut flakes (about 1/2 cup, but you’ll be sprinkling along the way)
Butter (I use salted)

instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl or mixing cup, combine chia seeds, milk, vanilla, cinnamon and maple syrup. Leave aside for at least 10 min.

Meanwhile, slice up your fruit. You need 2 bananas, but the other fruit is optional. Pick what you like. I used strawberries.

Coat a baking or casserole dish with butter, salted or unsalted. Arrange half of the frozen fruit along the bottom of the dish. Add half of the steel cut oats on top. Sprinkle with coconut flakes. If you want to toast your flakes, you can, but I didn’t. Add a second layer of fruit and steel cut oats and then top with milk mixture, ensuring all the oats are covered. Top with more coconut flakes and bake, uncovered, for 45-50 minutes.

Cut in squares, and enjoy cold, warmed up, or topped with butter. Depending on the size of your cassarole dish, this recipe will make 12-16 squares.