Coconut Blueberry Baked Oats

With the days getting colder and shorter we are sharing a delicious recipe created by Monique Cormack that'll bring some warmth and comfort to the winter mornings.

The delicious Coconut Blueberry Baked Oats are the perfect start to the cold winter mornings. Hearty, wholesome and healthy, nothing quite beats a bowl of hot oats with fresh, crispy coconut and sweet berries in the morning.

Ingredients
2 cups rolled oats
½ cup (firmly packed) shredded coconut
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
¾ cup walnuts
1 and ½ cups fresh or frozen blueberries
3 eggs
440ml milk of choice (about 1 and ¾ cups)
3-4 tbsp honey, brown rice syrup or maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp melted butter or coconut oil, plus a little extra for greasing baking dish

Method
Preheat oven to 180 C. Roughly break up the walnuts into halves and spread out on a small tray. Toast for about 6 minutes or until lightly golden, then set aside to cool.
Combine oats, coconut, cinnamon, ginger, baking powder and salt in a large bowl.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, honey (or other liquid sweetener), vanilla and melted butter/coconut oil.
Take a baking dish (I used a 24.5cm square baking dish) and lightly grease the sides with a dash of butter or oil. Scatter in half of the oat mixture and spread evenly across the base. Then layer in about a cup of the blueberries, followed by the rest of the oat mixture, walnuts and finally the remaining blueberries.

Carefully pour the liquid mixture over the dish, making sure it distributes evenly and settles into the dry ingredients. You can shake the dish gently to help the liquid sink in.
Bake the mixture for approximately 45 minutes, or until the centre of the bake feels firm and the top is a deep golden brown and slightly crispy.
To slice and store, allow the bake to cool to room temperature (it will set and slice easier if you allow to cool first), then cut into pieces and store in an airtight container in the fridge. It should last up to five days.

Recipe notes
*You can use any milk you like in this recipe. I usually make it with coconut-rice milk (e.g. Coco Quench brand, if you live in Australia), or almond milk, but you can use dairy milk or another plant-based milk too.
*The honey (or other liquid sweetener) is optional. You can make this sugar free and just leave it out, or perhaps just drizzle over some honey when you're serving it.
*To keep this nut free, simply omit the walnuts or use pumpkin seeds instead. There is no need to toast the pumpkin seeds before you use them, you can just sprinkle them in before baking.