Baked Gingerbread Oats

It’s the mooooost wonderful tiiiiime of the year. Christmas is my favorite season! It always has been. Not just because of the holiday cheer, the music, and the decorations… but the flavors! I am a gingerbread fanatic. You better believe that Thanksgiving through Christmas means ALL THINGS GINGERBREAD! Last week I was dying for some baked oatmeal before my long run. I played around with some flavors in the kitchen and the outcome was to DIE for. It was the consistency of cake, so fluffy and delicious. I seriously thought I was eating cake for breakfast, but didn’t feel an ounce of guilt.

I love oats in all forms (overnight, stovetop, baked) but one of my favorite things about baking oats is the consistency. If you get it right, like I mentioned, they’re super cakey and soft on the inside. But the outside has a crust, which is the perfect combination. Sometimes I even add toppings to the oats after baking, like fruit, nut butter, honey, maple syrup, coconut milk, etc… but I’m TELLING you these ones were so good on their own that they legitimately didn’t need anything. I divided the entire bowl into two small single-serving baking dishes, and popped one in the fridge after it cooled. I reheated it in the microwave 2 days later for a preworkout breakfast and it was just as good!

gluten free // serves 2 // 354 cals per

ingredients:

1 cup Bob’s Red Mill gluten free rolled oats

1 egg

¼ tsp of nutmeg

¼ tsp of allspice

¼ tsp of ginger

¼ tsp pumpkin pie spice

1 tsp cinnamon

pinch of sea salt

1/8 cup of molasses

1/8 cup coconut sugar

1 cup Silk unsweetened coconut milk

½ tsp baking pwder

¼ tsp baking soda

1 tsp vanilla

handful of pecans

optional: ½-3/4 scoop of protein powder.

Directions: preheat oven to 350. Prepare 1 large or 2 small baking dishes with nonstick cooking spray. Combine all of the above ingredients in a mixing bowl and stir until combined. Bake for about 30 minutes. Add toppings (or not) and enjoy J