These baked oatmeal squares require just one bowl, less than 10 ingredients, and will be done in under a half hour. Whip these up one night and you’ll have breakfast ready for the next several days. They’re gluten-free, dairy and egg-free, nut-free, oil-free, and can be made sugar-free as well.

You can bake them in pan and cut into squares, or bake them in a paper-lined muffin tin. Feel free to switch out the chocolate and raspberry for your favorite flavor combination. Try subbing in raisins, blueberries, chopped apples with cinnamon, nuts or seeds, or other fruit or dried fruit of choice for the raspberries and chocolate chips. To make the squares sugar free, simply leave out the chocolate chips or use the same amount of chopped baker’s chocolate.

These baked oatmeal squares are delicious warm and gooey right out of the oven, but they are still pretty good eaten cold, or you can easily heat them up just a bit in a toaster oven or microwave. They hold together surprisingly well, and make for a perfect pack along breakfast for work or for these last days of school.

Make life a little easier (and yummier) and bake up a batch of these squares today!

Chocolate and Raspberry Baked Oatmeal Squares – vegan, gluten-free, oil-free

• 1 very ripe banana
• 3 tbsp unsweetened applesauce
• 2 tbsp plant milk of choice
• 1 cup of oats
• 1 tsp vanilla
• pinch of salt
• 1 tbsp of chia seeds or ground flax seeds
• 2 handfuls of chocolate chips
• 1/3-1/2 cup frozen or fresh raspberries

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Line an 8 x 8 inch baking pan with parchment paper or grease with coconut oil. You can use a 6 cup muffin tin, ramekins, or 2 small square baking dishes.
2. Mash the banana until very smooth in a large bowl. Add the remaining ingredients, carefully folding in the chocolate chips and raspberries last.
3. Pour the mixture into the prepared baking pan, and bake in preheated oven for about 20-22 minutes, or until firm and lightly golden. Allow to cool for about 10 minutes before cutting into squares.
4. Store in the fridge and eat within 3 days, or store in the freezer.

Notes:

These oatmeal squares are subtly sweet, if you would like them sweeter, add a tablespoon of coconut sugar, or sub one of the tablespoons of dairy free milk with maple syrup.

Try raisins + chocolate chips, chopped apples + cinnamon, or blueberries + chopped almonds in exchange for the chocolate raspberry combination. Or get creative and try your own!