Blueberry Banana Broiler Brûlée for Breakfast

[[More oatmeal ideas at the end!]]

Hi.

I’m cold.

When I’m cold I cocoon. No blanket or sweatshirt of dear Daniel’s is safe from my icy grasp.  I drink gallons (seriously…)  of hot tea of various types, plus the occasional cup of coffee…for variety.

For nourishment I rely almost entirely on bowls of mushy warm things.

Sounds appealing, right?  Are you beginning to understand my long silence?

Enter:  Blueberry Banana Broiler Brûlée.

With this alliterative adventure I haven’t strayed from my warm, mushy winter comfort, I’ve only given it eye appeal.

Plus, it couldn’t be more simple.

Healthful and satisfying steel cut oats,

sweetened with banana,

cinnamon spiced and speckled with blueberries.

(Thank goodness for frozen fruit).

This effortless breakfast brought to you by tall, dark and handsome.

Now, luckily, this works a lot of ways.  You could wake up to freshly cooked oats in your slow cooker, immediately scoop them into a broiler-safe container and just

slice

sprinkle

broil.

3 minutes later…

The same process works just as well with leftover oats recovered from the fridge.  I have even made the whole thing including the broiled topping, put that in the fridge and microwaved for 2 minutes the next day.  It was still amazing.

Perfect for my weekly Mommy & Me oatmeal breakfast.

(She loooved it, by the way.  She said it was like a blueberry muffin!)

One day I’ll stop being such a baby about the cold but until then…I’ll broil bananas and call it brûlée.  It brightens my day =)

Enjoy!

❤ Ellen

Pssst..Shake up your oatmeal!

It’s easy to get in an oatmeal rut.  I, personally, could eat peanut butter and banana oatmeal every single day, but sometimes it’s fun to get a little creative.  Options (outside the typical, though hard to beat, pumpkin, cinnamon apple, blueberry or PBJ route) include:

• Coconut banana cream pie:

Cook oats as instructed below, substitute coconut milk for some (or all!) of the water, to taste.  Top with toasted coconut flakes

• Mocha Morning

Cook oats as instructed below, substitute substitute brewed coffee for some of the water, to taste.  (Try it with the cinnamon…I love coffee with cinnamon).  Top with toasted pecans or chocolate covered coffee beans for an extra kick!

• Chocoholics Anonymous

Cook oats as instructed below, minus the cinnamon.  Stir in 1-2 tablespoons cocoa powder and top with mini chocolate chips.  Stir in a spoonful of peanut butter for a peanut butter cup experience!

• Raspberry Pistachio

Simple but I love this combination of flavors.  Cook oats as instructed below.  Stir in  a spoonful of raspberry preserved and/or fresh raspberries.  Top with chopped salted pistachios.  Delicious.

• Chai Tea and Spice

Cook oats as instructed below, substituting brewed Chai tea for the water (or some of the water).  Leave the cinnamon and add nutmeg, cloves to taste.  Add a dash of milk for a creamy Chai tea latte in a bowl.

• Go savory!  I’m not really into this but add any combination of savory spices and delicious add ins like cheese, bacon, green onions and more!

Alternatives:

• Polenta (most delicious to me with simple cinnamon and honey but this looks amazing, too)
• Quinoa
• Barley
• Bulgar
• Buckwheat
• Wheat berries
• Rice (think rice pudding!)
• Cream of wheat
• Etc…this list goes on and on

For my overnight crock pot oats:

1 cups steel cut oats4 cups water2 ripe bananas, chopped (Just so you know…this doesn’t make it taste like banana.  It just makes it sweet..without sugar!)

Add-ins:

1/2-1 teaspoon cinnamon1 cup blueberries (I used frozen)

Throw all ingredients except the berries in the pot (oats through cinnamon), cook on low 7-8 hours.  Stir blueberries in when ready to serve

For banana “Brulee”:

Turn the broiler on to preheat.  Spoon cooked oats into a broiler-safe container.  Slice a banana as thin as you can, (no more than 1/4 inch thick but ideally much thinner).  Arrange the banana slices in a single layer on top of the oats.  Sprinkle with a thin layer of either white granulated or turbinado sugar.  Try to get the layer as even as possible so that it browns evenly.  Shake or brush off an excess.  Place the container as close to the broiler as possible.  Watch closely!  The sugar will start to bubble.  Rotate to get the browning as even as possible.  The only way to get perfect browning is with a torch but we’re not going there.  Take it out when it reaches your desired level of browning.