Baked Banana Coconut Porridge

If you're a regular Twitter user you have probably seen the #Teacher5aday tweets that trend regularly. It was borne out of this blog post by Martyn Reah- #teacher5aday which was a call to action to teachers to take better care of themselves and each other, so that they don't burn out, give up the job that they love and contribute to a predicted recruitment crisis. Sadly, the crisis is upon us 18 months later, so it's more important than ever that we look after each other.

The hashtag has spawned further related hashtags that you might have seen: #teacher5adayread (encouraging reading for pleasure, not work) #teacher5adaysew, #teacher5adaycook and so on. Then Vicki Vincent (@MissVicki_V) wrote a great blog post about #teacher5adaybreakfast. It was about the importance of us 1) actually making time to have breakfast and 2) trying to make it a healthy one, instead of the usual teacher practice of racing round on an empty stomach and grabbing a biscuit as you fly past the staffroom. Reading her post made me look at the breakfast recipes I have on my blog and I tweeted her to say- yikes, not really a healthy one amongst them! She suggested I could do one especially for the #teacher5adaybreakfast and so here we are- Baked Banana Coconut Porridge!

When I was thinking about what to make, I had in my mind 2 things- rushed mornings and a healthy breakfast but with lots of flavour. If you look at most baked porridge recipes they contain 2 things- double cream and either heaps of sugar or sugar AND maple syrup. I decided there had to be a healthier way to get flavour than that! So, in this Banana Coconut Porridge I used ripe mashed banana to get the sweetness and coconut, nutmeg and cinnamon to add more flavour. I also used ground almonds to add even more long-lasting energy along with the oats. There's also the bonus that the recipe uses up ripe bananas, instead of letting them go to waste.

If you are thinking- 'Yuck, I hate coconut!', don't worry because you can substitute it with so many different ingredients. Try raisins or sultanas, chopped fresh apricots or other dried fruit. You could even just leave it as the banana and spices. You could also swap ground almonds for flaked almonds or other chopped nuts if you want.

Why baked porridge? Well, it's a wonderful thing because you can make it the night before in just over half an hour and then heat up with a little milk in the morning. There's enough to either feed your whole family for one breakfast or feed just you for 4 breakfasts in a row. You can even portion it up into tupperware, ready to take to work, if you're one of those teachers that prefers to get in and get on, and then eat brekkie just before the children arrive.

I promise you that you will love this, especially if you are already a fan of porridge. I also promise that it will stop you feeling hungry before lunchtime, so fewer staffroom biscuits required! I made it late last night and just had to have a little taster to see if it was okay, and ended up eating a whole bowl! In my defence, we'd been out for a big lunch, so I hadn't had any dinner...

I hope you'll give Baked Banana Coconut Porridge a try and love it as much as I do. Here's to easier, healthier mornings in September!

Ingredients
(serves 4)
150g porridge oats
50g ground almonds
40g dessicated coconut
2 bananas, ripe
550ml milk
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg

Method

1. Mix together all the dry ingredients in a bowl
2. Mash the bananas well, until they are almost liquid.
3. In a medium casserole-style dish, pour in the milk and mix the banana through it.
4. Pour in the dry ingredients and mix through the liquid.
5. Pop in the oven at 190 (180 fan, gas mark 4) for 30-35 minutes or until the edges are starting to brown and the middle feels springy to the touch.
6. Serve warm with a splash of milk, straight from the oven, or leave to cool then cover and put in the fridge.

If you are heating it up the next day, add a couple of tablespoons of milk and zap in the microwave for around a minute.

If you use really ripe bananas, it should be sweet enough but, if you have a sweeter tooth, you could add a teaspoon of maple syrup or a sprinkle of brown sugar. 

Hope you enjoy- let me know if you add a twist of your own. I'd love to hear about it.