Cake for breakfast? Yes please!
The world of oatmeal is vast. Oatmeal bars, oatmeal squares, oatmeal cups, baked oatmeal. Why not call it breakfast cake? This might encourage your child to choose this healthy option as their breakfast.
It’s not a lie, not even a white one, it’s actually 100% true. Essentially this is what baked oatmeal is! Breakfast in the form of a cake. Just call it what every kid wants to hear: breakfast cake for kids!
Here are some tips to make your kids come running, and thinking they can have their cake and eat it too.
First up:
Bake your breakfast cake. Follow this recipe for baked oatmeal.
Maple Walnut Baked Oatmeal Cake
Ingredients
2 ripe bananas
2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla
½ cup dark brown sugar
½ cup creamy unsweetened almond butter
1 egg
1 ½ cups milk of choice
2 cups old fashioned oats
2 tablespoons chia seed
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
½ cup chopped walnuts – optional
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and lightly grease a 9×13 baking dish.
In a large bowl, use a fork to mash the bananas until smooth. Add the maple syrup, brown sugar, almond butter, and egg. Whisk until smooth and then whisk in the milk of choice and vanilla.
Stir in the oats, chia seed, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and walnuts if using. Once combined, pour into the prepared baking dish. Bake for about 30-35 minutes until set. Let cool before cutting and serving.
*If your child can be picky, use quick cooking or instant oats. These tend to get more saturated with batter, and lose their shape so you can’t discern them.
*If you’d like, make your batter seasonal. Apple or pumpkin “pie” in the fall, “hot cocoa” in the winter.
This baked oatmeal is the perfect base of the breakfast cake for kids. Everything else gets layered on top of this!
Next Up: Cake Decorating!
Make your cake look exciting and inviting! Here are some ideas for sprucing up your breakfast cake for kids.
- Decorate the pan with smiley faces using blueberries (as eyes) and banana or strawberry slices (as a mouth).
- Mix some smashed raspberries into the batter to stain it pink! Do the same with blueberries to make it blue!
- Cut strawberry slices and arrange them to look like small hearts.
- Make a lava cake by pressing squares of chocolate into the oatmeal batter before baking
- Top with your child’s favorite cereal as “sprinkles”
- Make some whipped Greek yogurt by blending Greek yogurt and 3 tablespoons heavy cream using an immersion blender. Place a scoop on top as “ice cream”
Cakes have icings, right? So can our breakfast cake!
Whip up a maple cream cheese glaze, or a cinnamon cream cheese glaze for “cinnamon rolls”
Drizzle peanut/almond butter or honey on top if you’re short on time.
For entertainment, sprinkle small chocolate chips when the “cake” is hot out of the oven and watch them melt on top.
The perfect breakfast for a picky eater is here. Now you’ve got a naturally sweet breakfast for a surely sweet day!
Read some more tips for feeding kids here and see 7 health benefits for eating oats and a healthy breakfast here!