Banana Porridge
A sweet bowl of porridge... either you love it or do not care at all for it, am I right? In case you are the ladder, let me change your mind with this quick and easy recipe! This warm, comforting bowl of goodness tastes like banana bread dipped in milk and covered with nutty flavors and maybe also some hot berries! It is one of my go-to recipes in the colder, darker months of the year and never disappoints 🙂
The star ingredients
For my recipe I am using quick cooking oats, or as we call them in Germany the "soft oats". They have the same nutritional value, so do not worry about loosing out on the nutrient just because you are not using the more textured oats (:
When it comes to the milk I prefer the classic good old cow's milk. I have tried this recipe with soy and almond milk which I both love and can definitely recommend for this recipe.
The "secret" or not so secret ingredient you can identify by the name of the recipe: banana! What is really important here is the ripeness of the banana, the riper the better! Just as you would use if you would want to bake a banana bread. So this porridge recipe is perfect for when you have a forgotten very ripe banana hanging around in your fruit basket and you already had several smoothies with other way to ripe bananas that week, you do not have time to bake banana bread or muffins and your freezer is full too.
As for the extra ingredients and toppings: everything is of course optional and up to your preference and taste. I will always drizzle a big teaspoon of almond, hazel or peanut butter on top for that extra source of healthy fat. If I have time and I am in the mood to elevate my morning (or lunch or dinner) porridge to the dessert level: berries! And the best part is, that I will almost always use frozen berries which are a) cheaper, b) available all year round at pretty much the same price c) easy to keep on hand in your freezer. My favorite are blueberries or a wild berry mix with blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, currants... No added sugar needed, so to keep this recipe super healthy and nutritious, aim for the pure 100% frozen berries without any sweeteners in the ingredients list. From my experience, raspberries tend to be the least sweet ones and are in fact more on the sour side, whereas frozen blueberries are generally a little sweet to begin with. Whichever berries you choose - try adding a dash of maple syrup or honey (or any other sugar or sweetener of choice) whean heating them up on the stove or in the microwave. Trust me this will be way less sugar than if you buy sweetened frozen berries. Plus it is in your control how much (natural) sugar you are adding into your home-cooked healthy meal (:
Here is a visual 16 second short video from my YouTube channel where I am showing the preparation of my banana porridge. I did make 2 portions in this video and for some reason accidentally said water instead of milk, sorry!
Banana Porridge Recipe
Kochutensilien
- 1 small to medium sized pot
- 1 small plate or chopping board
Zutaten
- ½ cup soft oats / quick cooking oats
- 1 cup milk of choice
- ½-1 ripe banana
- optional 1 Tbsp chia or flax seeds
Toppings
- almond butter, hazelnut butter, peanut butter
- fresh fruit or frozen berries
- optional maple syrup
Anleitungen
- Add the oats together with the milk into the pot and bring to a boil (this will not take long so stay close to the stove!). In the mean time, mash up the banana into a puree
- Once its boiling, take the pot of the stove and let the oats absorb the rest of the milk for 1-2 min. Then stir in the mashed up banana and optional add some chia seeds or flax seeds for extra fiber and to soak up any extra milk
- Transfer to your favorite bowl and top with almond butter and fresh fruit or hot berries and enjoy!