Step away from the sugar!
One of my favorite ways to sweeten oatmeal is naturally, by melting in a banana. The banana gets all caramelized, and the oatmeal tastes amazing!
The Melted Banana Trick
Step 1: Cook up the oatmeal or another grain as you normally would.
Step 2: In a separate bowl, melt however much banana you want in the microwave or on the stovetop until it’s all caramelized/gooey. This adds so much flavor to the oatmeal! Now, stir the melted banana into your oatmeal.
Optional Step 3: Take your hand blender or Magic Bullet or regular blender and blend everything together so it’s a nice pudding-y consistency. (You don’t have to follow this step, but it mixes in the caramelized banana nicely.)
Below, as part of this recipe: Strawberry Hugs Oatmeal.
Or, for a super-delicious breakfast, try combining oatmeal tricks:
Use with the popular Voluminous Oatmeal Trick.
is it weird that i always try different variations of flavored and sweetened oatmeal and i always end up going back to just plain old oatmeal cuz i love it so much? o well..
(p.s. srry im blowing up ur comments i just discovered ur blog haha)
I didn’t know bananas melted…does a very ripe banana melt better?
I don’t think it matters… it might taste sweeter, though.
You are amazing!!! I added sliced bananas to my oatmeal this morning and just cooked it all together and it was delicous! Just wondering what that yummy looking cream on top of the oatmeal with blueberries is? So excited to try more recipes. 🙂
Soyatoo 🙂
Just blogged about this and linked back to your site. You have a gift! 😉
Aww thank you! Your site is gorgeously laid out :).
I know this is an older post, but I just did this with my quinoa flakes and it is SO good. Do not need any more sweetener at all!
the instructions r really vague..do you like cut up or mash the banana before melting it, and how long do you cook it for/know its done melting??
can’t believe I’m just trying this for the first time! so yummy!
Help, please, from anyone who knows . . .
How would you melt a banana on a stove (don’t have a microwave) without burning the pot? Do you have to mush it up first or put it in water?
This is brilliant! Used it with your peanut butter breakfast pudding recipe and it was DIVINE!
I ALWAYS eat banana in my oatmeal, it’s a delicious base! What I do is cook my oatmeal for at least 40 minutes, cut my banana up, THEN add it to the oatmeal for a whole minute and it’s still melted. 🙂
Hey, Katie! 🙂 I’ve been a reader for awhile now (and used many recipes when I used to have vegan cooking nights!). I’m not surprised you figured out how gooey and awesome bananas get microwaved… but have you ever used it to make hot chocolate?
I just microwaved diced banana with some cinnamon (and honey and chili but I’m odd); smash it to bits when gooey-hot, then mix in two or so spoonfuls of cocoa. Finally, just fill the rest of the mug with hot water, mix reeeally well and it’s easy as that! It’d be better with coconut milk or something, but lack of resources – let’s say Scottish kitchens focus on what goes with hash browns, fried eggs, and salty unknown meatybits (eep).
Since it was consumed in desperation for chocolatey surrender, I think I need a second level opinion if it’s a good idea (that, and it was my last banana!; ). Cheers!
How exaclty do you melt banana? I am VERY new to the world of healthy/vegan eating and I know you can bake banana and mush it but I didn’t know it melted. Do you just stick it in a bowl and microwave? Does this work with other fruits? About how long do you microwave?
Thanks 🙂
thats what i do, it works great but idk
and about 1 min to 2 min depending on how strong the microwave is
SOOO obsessed with your website!!
I’m going to add some dates to this as well, for a really caramel-y texture!!
Love your blog.
This worked so well! Thank you for the tip!
Hi Katie,
Blessings to you in the New Year….I can’t wait until your book arrives in the mail.
Okay I am a sugar addict and I have come to realize how flour, oats , pasta ect. get processed in our bodies as sugar. So even gluten free doesn’t help because it still gets used as a sugar once in the body. My Chiro had me so a NO SUGAR cleanse which meant NO carbs or sugar. It help me flush my system as well as I lost 75 pounds in the year of doing it, HOWEVER now that I am trying to balance things, I am not doing so well. Once I get a sugar fix I can’t stop, but I can’t do the cleanse forever, it is not meant for that. So THANKS TO YOU, I have a great resource. So I wondered about recipes that use no flour or white sugar. I found one through my Chiro that used raw cashews as the flour base, once put in the food processor it got the flour consistency but I am NOT a good baker so don’t know how to make the adjustments in other recipes. My glycemic index is so affected by the use of any flour or while sugar. Any thoughts on that my dear?
Thanks so much,