Bake up these Banana Bread Baked Oats in about an hour with just a few staple pantry ingredients! Filled with wholesome ingredients, they're naturally nut free and can also easily be made dairy free and gluten free too! Perfect for all eaters.

Banana bread baked oats in a white baking dish with slices of banana on top.

Jump to:

Why You'll Love These Banana Bread Baked Oats
Ingredients
Instructions
Substitutions and Alterations
How to Store Banana Baked Oats
Top tip!
Related Recipes
Banana Bread Baked Oats
Reviews

Why You'll Love These Banana Bread Baked Oats

Meal prep friendly! These banana bread baked oats are a great make-ahead breakfast option. If you prefer a chocolatey flavor instead, try these similar chocolate baked oats! You can stock your fridge or freezer with a single or double batch and eat them all week long.
Easily customizeable! This recipe can be used as the "base" to any baked oats creation. You can swap the bananas for unsweetened applesauce for a more mild flavor, or simply add in your favorite fruits, nuts, or chocolate chips for additional flavorful mix-ins.
Ready in about an hour! With one bowl, simple pantry ingredients, and some light mixing, you can easily make this recipe in just about an hour from start to finish.

Ingredients

A few notes about the ingredients:

Coconut Oil: Coconut oil is my preferred oil in this recipe, but you can use another flavorless oil if you prefer. I like to use a refined coconut oil for a milder flavor.
Oats: Old fashioned rolled oats are necessary for the base of this recipe. Quick cooking oats would get too mushy and steel cut oats would be too tough. Old fashioned are the perfect balance between the two.
Milk: Any milk will work. Skim milk, whole milk, almond milk, etc! Pick any you have on hand and it should work just the same.
Banana: Ripe bananas are the best option for mashing and mixing into the baked oats. You can even use defrosted bananas from your freezer (just like you would for banana bread!)
Maple syrup: Pure maple syrup is preferred over pancake syrup. It's less sweet than pancake syrup and will offer a better balance of flavor.

⭐️ See recipe card below for descriptions and quantities of each ingredient.

Instructions

Step 1: Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Spray a 9x9 baking dish with nonstick spray.
Step 2: In a large mixing bowl, add the coconut oil. Microwave in 30 second intervals until melted.

Oats, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt mixed together with coconut oil in a large bowl.

Step 3: Add oats, baking powder, ground cinnamon, and kosher salt. Stir until mixed together and coated in the coconut oil.

Wet ingredients added to the oats in a large mixing bowl.

Step 4: Pour in milk, mashed banana, maple syrup, eggs, and vanilla extract. Add optional mix-ins, if desired, or keep as plain banana. Stir to combine.

Banana bread baked oats in a baking dish before baking.

Step 5: Pour mixture into prepared baking dish. Smooth the top and add additional banana slices, if desired.

Banana bread baked oats baked until golden brown.

Step 6: Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the center is set and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

A slice of banana bread baked oats on a plate with maple syrup on top.

Step 7: Cut into 6 rectangular pieces or 12 smaller pieces. Serve warm with an additional drizzle of maple syrup over top.

⭐️ Tip: Use ripe bananas for mashing and stirring into the baked oats. This will help add some sweetness! However, you'll want to use slightly under ripe bananas for topping, so they slice cleanly and don't get too brown or mushy as they bake.

Substitutions and Alterations

Coconut Oil - If you prefer not to use coconut oil, you can use melted butter or a flavorless oil, like avocado oil. Olive oil isn't recommended because it'll change the flavor of the baked oats.
Milk - I used almond milk, but any milk will work. You can use cow's milk or a plant-based milk.
Banana - The banana is needed for both flavor and texture. However, you can use unsweetened applesauce in place of the mashed banana for apple-flavored baked oats.
Mix-Ins - I like to keep this recipe fairly simple, but if you like walnuts in your banana bread, you may like to add them to this recipe too. You can add nuts, chocolate chips, cinnamon chips, or fruit (like blueberries or diced strawberries) for some other flavor combinations.
To make this gluten free - Make sure to use gluten free rolled oats!
To make this dairy free - Use a plant-based milk!
To make this nut free - This recipe is naturally nut free! Just make sure to use cow's milk or oat milk.

A carafe pouring maple syrup on top of banana bread baked oats.

How to Store Banana Baked Oats

To store: Store banana bread baked oats in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

To freeze: Banana bread baked oats freeze well! You can freeze them whole after baking or cut them into bars, wrap them individually sealed in a zip-top bag, and freeze for up to 4 months.

To reheat: Defrost baked oats in the fridge overnight. Then, microwave in 30 second intervals until warmed through.

Top tip!

This is a great make-ahead recipe! It keeps well in the fridge or freezer and heats up pretty easily without changing texture or flavor. I highly recommend making a double batch and saving any leftovers for meal prep throughout the week.

It's also great for stocking your freezer for postpartum, surgery recovery, or when you're sick and need a quick bite to eat.

A slice of banana baked oats on a white plate with a gold fork.

Looking for more breakfast recipes? Try these:

Share your cooking with me! If you make this recipe, I'd love to know. Leave a comment with a rating at the bottom of this page!

Want more recipes like this delivered right to your inbox? Be sure to subscribe above and never miss a thing!