Baked Banana Oat Cups (Breakfast That Tastes Like Dessert)

Use bananas with brown spots all over the skin. They mash sweeter and they're what carries this batter, since there's no added sugar beyond a quarter cup of maple syrup. Everything but the chocolate chips goes in the blender for under a minute, which means the oats break down enough to set like a soft muffin instead of staying chewy. Fold the chips in by hand at the end so they don't get pulverized into brown streaks.

By Nora Calloway

Swaps & Substitutions

• Eggs → two flax eggs (2 tbsp ground flax + 6 tbsp water, rest 10 min); the cups hold together but bake a touch denser
• Maple syrup → honey works one-for-one; for less sweet, drop to 3 tablespoons since ripe bananas already do a lot
• Milk → any plant milk is fine here, oat or almond included, no change to texture
• Rolled oats → use certified gluten-free oats if needed; skip quick oats and steel-cut, which blend to the wrong texture
• Chocolate chips → swap in blueberries one-for-one, or chopped walnuts; fold them in the same way at the end
• Blender → mash the bananas well and whisk by hand, but expect a coarser, more rustic crumb

Questions & Answers