Baked Acai & Strawberry Oats - a brilliant bake ahead breakfast, just as delicious the next day as they are fresh out of the oven. Vegetarian, sugar free, dairy free, gluten free | thecookandhim.com

Posted in Recipes on 13.08.2017

Baked Acai & Strawberry Oats

prep: 20 mins / cook: 25 mins / inactive: 0 mins / total: 45 mins / quantity: 8 bars Print recipe?

Baked Acai & Strawberry Oats - add raw cacao and chocolate chips to make this breakfast treat even more delicious! Vegetarian, sugar free, gluten free, dairy free | thecookandhim.com

With Him leaving for work at around 6 each morning there really isn’t much time for anything other than a bleary “I love you/have a good day”, so breakfast is generally something Phil can grab and go with.  And to make my life easier, something I can prepare in advance and have handily sitting in the freezer.  My only stipulation is that it tastes just as good defrosted a few weeks later as it did the day I made it!

Phil’s a big fan of overnight oats – the kind in a jar that are all smooth and creamy.  But just for a change of oaty pace I made what are essentially baked overnight oats – they’re still creamy but the egg sets them just nicely and the strawberries give them a wonderful moistness along with a nutty crunch from the … hmm, nuts I guess!

And for another change-up, sometimes he gets the chocolatey version – just as moist but with rich chocolate deliciousness.

Baked Acai & Strawberry Oats - add raw cacao and chocolate chips to make this breakfast treat even more delicious! Vegetarian, sugar free, gluten free, dairy free | thecookandhim.com

All this in just one bowl too – can I get a hooray for saving on washing up?!  If you’re making the chocolate version whisk the raw cacao powder into the eggs before adding the oats then add the chocolate chips at the same time as the strawberries.

Adding strawberries and chocolate chips to the Baked Acai & Strawberry Oats | thecookandhim.com

You’re also looking for chunks of strawberries in your baked oats so don’t be tempted to cut them too small – you want a burst of strawberry in your mouth not strawberry mush!

Strawberries and chocolate chips for the Baked Acai & Strawberry Oats | thecookandhim.com
Baked Acai & Strawberry Oats ready to go in the oven | thecookandhim.com

Oh and that Mason Cash bowl up there – I’m pretty sure that’s older than me.  Mum did NOT cook.  I can’t stress the NOT bit enough.  My childhood wasn’t deprived because mum’s idea of cooking was Findus Crispy Pancakes (showing my age there!)  as my mum was the best in just about all ways.  She just hated cooking with absolute passion.  But that Mason Cash bowl is the only thing I have that mum would actually use for ‘cooking’ … if you count packet cake mixes and rice krispie cakes as cooking of course!

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Baked Acai & Strawberry Oats

prep: 20 mins / cook: 25 mins / inactive: 0 mins / total: 45 mins / quantity: 8 bars

Ingredients

  • 1/4 cup walnuts
  • 1/4 cup pecan nuts
  • 3 large bananas
  • 3/4 cup almond milk
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tblsp coconut oil – melted and cooled
  • 1/4 cup maple syrup
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1 level tblsp acai berry powder
  • 1 level tblsp maca powder (see note)
  • 2 cups rolled oats
  • 225g strawberries – stalks removed and roughly diced

Optional:

  • 1 heaped tblsp raw cacao powder
  • 1 cup dark chocolate chips

Instructions

  1. Heat oven to 160 Fan / 180 C / 350 F / Gas 4. Line an 8 x 8 inch baking dish or tin with parchment
  2. Put both the walnuts and pecans onto a baking tray and roast for 10 minutes till lightly golden
  3. In a large bowl break up the bananas into chunks then mash well with a fork. Crack in the eggs, beat together lightly with the fork then mix in the almond milk, coconut oil, maple syrup, vanilla, cinnamon, acai powder, maca powder and optional cacao powder
  4. Stir in the oats, strawberries and toasted nuts and optional chocolate chips
  5. Pour into the prepared dish/tin and bake for 20-25 minutes until set and lightly golden on top
  6. Allow to cool for a few minutes before cutting up

Notes

  • The maca is not essential for flavour in this recipe - it's purely optional if you want to include it for its health benefits
  • I always use raw cacao powder rather than cocoa powder - cacao is made by cold pressing unroasted beans and the process keeps the living enzymes in the powder and removes the fat.  Cocoa looks the same but has been roasted at high temperatures which changes the molecular structure of the bean, reducing the enzyme content and lowering the overall nutritional value.  Cacao is also known to have a higher antioxidant content than cocoa.
  • Allow to cool completely before setting in the fridge then cutting into bars
  • To freeze simply wrap in foil or place into a container with lid
Baked Acai & Strawberry Oats

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2 Comments

  • Thanks for introducing me to something new – maca root (powder). I found out that it has a lot of health benefits. And this baked oat bars has a lot of goodies – perfect breakfast snack.

    • Hi Allina, thank you so much for your comment! I discovered maca a few months ago and honestly haven’t looked back since! I plan to write some more detailed posts about all these weird and wonderful ingredients I use in many of my recipes but wanted to get the blog up and running first. Maca is probably my favourite ‘superfood’ so if you have any questions don’t be afraid to ask 🙂

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