{Recipes} Baked Blueberry Banana Oatmeal, Oreo Pudding Cookies, BLT Dip, and Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Banana Bread

Whew! This post is going to be full of yummy recipes! As I mentioned, I love to cook and try new recipes in the kitchen! I'm currently working through all my saved recipes on Pinterest! I follow a lot of food blogs, so I'm always finding something new to whip up in the kitchen. All of these recipes were delicious, however I probably won't make the baked blueberry banana oatmeal again. Because it's "healthy" and oatmeal actually isn't one of my favorite foods (I've tried countless times to like it but I just can't seem to love it), it didn't have a ton a flavor. It smelled heavenly while baking though! I actually heated up some for breakfast again this morning and ended up switching to cereal instead.

First up: Baked Oatmeal with Blueberries and Bananas from Skinny Taste

 

Ingredients:

2 medium ripe bananas, (the riper the better) sliced into 1/2" pieces

1 1/2 cup blueberries

1/4 cup honey (or agave)

1 cup uncooked quick oats

1/4 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

1/2 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp cinnamon

pinch of salt

1 cup fat free milk (or any milk you desire)

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375° F.  Lightly spray a 8 x 8" or 9 x 9" ceramic baking dish with cooking spray; set aside.

Arrange the banana slices in a single layer on the bottom of the ceramic dish.Sprinkle half of the blueberries over the bananas, 1/4 tsp of the cinnamon, 1 tbsp of the honey and cover with foil. Bake 15 minutes, until the bananas get soft.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, combine the oats, half of nuts, baking powder, remaining cinnamon, and salt; stir together.  In a separate bowl, whisk together the remaining honey, milk, egg, and vanilla extract.

Remove the bananas from the oven, then pour the oat mixture over the bananas and blueberries.

Pour the milk mixture over the oats, making sure to distribute the mixture as evenly as possible over the oats.  Sprinkle the remaining blueberries and walnuts over the the top.
Bake the oatmeal for about 30 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and the oatmeal has set. Serve warm from the oven.

(PS. Ryan wasn't around when I baked this Saturday morning, but when I showed him the picture he said, "You put olives in oatmeal??" Haha, he's a mess)

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Oreo Pudding Cookies from The Girl Who Ate Everything

These are probably the greatest cookies I've ever had. I'm not a huge sweets person. I have a tendency to bake things and then not eat them. But these, I could eat them for days (and I have been)! So so good! The recipe said it made 2 dozen but I'm pretty sure we had more than that. Maybe we just made smaller cookies!

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, room temperature

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup white sugar

1 (4.2 ounce) package instant Oreo Pudding mix

2 1/4 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 Hershey's Cookies N Cream Candy Bars broken into small pieces

2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl and set aside. Cream together butter and sugars. Beat in pudding mix until blended. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix well. Add the flour mixture and mix to combine. Stir in cookies n' cream pieces and chocolate chips. Batter will be thick.

Using a cookie dough scooper, place golf ball sized dough balls on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake at 350 degrees for 8 minutes. Let cookies cool for 5 minutes on baking sheet before moving to a cooking rack. Store in air-tight container. Makes two dozen.

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BLT Dip from Betty Crocker

I made this while we were watching the basketball tournament and served it with tortilla chips. While I was whipping it up, I realized I managed to forget the cream cheese. But I had already mixed everything else together so I baked it anyway. It was tasty without it, but I'm sure the cream cheese would've give it the thickness it needed. Highly recommend for a tailgate or party!

Ingredients:

1 pound bacon, cooked 

1 cup mayonnaise

1 cup sour cream

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese

1 tomato, seeded and chopped

1/4 cup chopped green onions

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F degrees.

Mix mayonnaise, sour cream, and cream cheese in a bowl until thoroughly combined. Crumble bacon into mixture and stir. Add cheddar cheese, green onions, and tomato and mix well. Pour into a shallow dish or pie pan and bake for 20 minutes or until bubbling. Garnish with additional green onions, tomato, and crumbled bacon. Serve with corn chips.

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Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Banana Bread from For Goodness Sake

Last but not least, banana bread! This recipe was relatively easy although it did have a fair amount of ingredients. But the result was delicious! I would definitely make this again!

3/4 cup unbleached flour

1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour

6 tablespoons white sugar

6 tablespoons brown sugar, packed

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 medium very ripe bananas, mashed or whizzed in food-processor

1/3 cup crunchy peanut butter

2 tablespoons plain fat-free yogurt

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 tablespoons canola oil

3/4 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips tossed in 1 tablespoon flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat 9X5 inch loaf pan with cooking spray; add a strip of parchment paper to bottom of pan for easy removal.Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in bowl. In another bowl or bowl of mixer, mix bananas, peanut butter, yogurt, egg, vanilla, and oil. Fold in flour mixture until no streaks of flour remain, then gently fold in chocolate chips. Scrape batter into loaf pan. Bake 40-50 minutes, or until toothpick comes out with few moist crumbs. Cool in pan on wire rack 15 minutes; carefully remove from pan and allow to cool completely on wire rack before slicing.

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Hope y'all enjoyed the recipes (sorry this post was so long)!