Baked Oats for Baby

My fourth child recently started eating solid foods. With all my children, I started off with purees and moved onto more texture and finger foods as the months went on. This time around however, my little one is throwing me some curve balls and I’ve had to experiment with finger foods a lot earlier than I had expected. It seems that she is more interested in self feeding and doesn't seem to love purees. I’ve been creating some recipes that incorporate fruit, vegetables, higher protein and of course, iron. This recipe for baked oatmeal is perfect for baby led weaning, easy to grasp and eat and chock full of great ingredients and nutrients that baby needs. She seemed to enjoy this for breakfast and I’ll definitely be making it again, maybe with some different flavour combinations.

Baked Oats for Baby

Dry ingredients

1/4 cup oat based iron fortified infant cereal

1 1/2 cups quick oats

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Wet ingredients

1 banana, medium, mashed

1 egg

3/4 cup almond milk or water

1 tsp vanilla

Blueberry Prune Chia Jam

1 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen

1/2 cup water

2 prunes

1 tbsp chia seeds

Directions for baked oats:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease 8x8” baking dish

• Combine dry ingredients in a small bowl and set aside

• Combine wet ingredients in a medium bowl

• Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and stir to combine

• Pour into baking dish top with blueberry chia jam, using a knife swirl the jam into the oats

• Bake for 45 minutes or until a tester comes out clean

Directions for chia jam:

• Place all ingredients, except chia seeds, into a medium saucepan and bring to a boil

• Boil until blueberries breakdown and a sauce begins to form

• Stir in chia seeds, using an immersion blender, puree jam and place in the refrigerator to cool and thicken