Peanut Butter and Chocolate Baked Oatmeal

This peanut butter and chocolate baked oatmeal will be a staple in our house for years to come.

Almost a year ago one of my favorite food bloggers, Lynn, showed me her recipe for peanut butter baked oatmeal. I'd tried plain baked oatmeal before and hadn't liked it that much, but this peanut butter version sounded as if it had some potential.

I made the recipe, liked it, but thought there was still something missing — chocolate! So the next time I made it, I stirred in some chocolate chips (and added a bit more peanut butter).

This peanut butter and chocolate version was divine and (almost) everyone in my family loved it. (My son was the holdout because he can't stand chocolate and peanut butter together. The boy must have been switched at birth because there's no way a child of mine could not love that heavenly pairing of chocolate and peanut butter.)

This recipe is based on the recipe found here at Lynn's Kitchen Adventures.

Peanut Butter & Chocolate Baked Oatmeal

Dry ingredients

• 4 cups quick cooking or regular oats*
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 3/4 tsp. salt

Wet ingredients

• 1 cup milk
• 2-4 T melted butter, oil, or coconut oil (or an equivalent amount of applesauce also works well)
• 2 eggs
• 1 T vanilla

Stir ins

• 1 cup peanut butter
• 1/2 – 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (my husband prefers milk chocolate chips)

* I've used both regular oats and quick oats. The quick oats give the oatmeal a more cake-like consistency; the regular oats provide more texture. My personal preference is the regular oats, but my kids prefer the quick oats.

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9×13 baking dish (or two 8×8 dishes)
2. In a large bowl, mix together the dry ingredients (start with only 3 cups of oats). I often mix this with my hands to break up the brown sugar more easily.
3. In another bowl, stir together the wet ingredients.
4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir well.
5. Stir in the peanut butter. If the mixture is very wet, add more oats.
6. Stir in the chocolate chips.
7. Spread the mixture into your pan(s) and sprinkle some extra chocolate chips over the top if desired.
8. Bake for about 30 minutes until the center is firm and the edges are slightly browned.

Freezer Directions

This recipe for peanut butter and chocolate baked oatmeal is great for freezing. After baking and cooling, just cut the baked oatmeal into squares and place them in a container, separated in layers with wax paper. To heat them up, put an oatmeal square in the microwave for 45-60 seconds. This makes a quick and delicious breakfast!