Strawberry Lemon Breakfast Bake

This recipe came out of nowhere.  I was in the mood for something refreshing like strawberry and lemon combination sounded delightful.  I also LOVE bakes so I really wanted to pair something in a form of a bake with these two flavors. 

I started looking at a ton of recipes - which I normally do to get inspiration.  Then I looked at what ingredients my mom had at her house.  I pulled out chia, hemp seeds, bananas, plant protein, oats, honey, coconut oil and she also had some eggs and I picked up fresh strawberries, lemons and eggs.  With that I figured I could some up with something so I just started mixing.  Meanwhile, my sister decided to sit and watch - with much anticipation I might add as well as some disbelief I could even make this work!

I started with the batter for the bake.  I mixed the dry ingredients and started throwing them into a blender as I like to start.  First the oats, then protein, then chia, them hemp seeds, then banana and mixed it up.  I decided it needed a bit more fuggy texture so I looked for some nut butters.  She only had peanut butter so I added that.  Ideally, almond butter would have been the ticket but it still worked and tasted divine!  I mixed that until it became pretty cake batter-like.  Then I added some coconut oil and eggs and some agave sweetener.  I decided it needed a bit more something to added some cinnamon and sea salt.  That was the ticket.  I mixed that and set it aside until I knew what to do with it.

Then I started the lemon curd.  I'd seen numerous recipes but I'd never tired it so I decided to give it a go.  I started with the fresh squeezed lemon, then added coconut oil, then honey then egg.  I whisked it well and set it aside in the fridge until I knew what to do with it. 

I then worked into the strawberries.  I rinsed, chopped and placed them in a bowl then started to mash them with a masher.  They became very juicy but thought I should add some lemon to preseve it then added some honey to sweeten it.  It tasted great but I had no idea what to do with it at this point.  I then added some corn starch to thicken it up.  I whisked it and set it aside in the fridge as well to let it set.

I decided to divide the batter and take 1/2 of it and fill the bottom of a 8x8 glass baking dish and top with 1/4 of the lemon curd.  I preheated the oven to 350 and threw it in for about 10-15 minutes so it was lightly cooked.  Side note, my sister was getting concerned at this point!  LOL  I was a bit curious as well was was oing to transpire!

I removed the strawberry mixture and lemon curd from the fridge and added about 1/2 of the remaining curd to the strawberry mixture and further stirred.  After I removed the bottom baked portion from teh overn I poured about 1/2 the mixture over the bake.  I used the chunky parts mostly to keep it from being so runny.  I then took spoonfuls of the remaining batter and clumped it on top in sections.  I did about 7-8 clumpings of the batter on top.

I put it back in the oven to bake for another 20 minutes - or until it was very lightly golden brown and removed ans let cool.  I took the remaining lemon curd and strawberry mixture and blended it to smooth it out and set it back in the fridge to further set while the bake was cooling.  After about 30 minutes I cut a piece of the bake and topped it with the strawberry curd mixture and a couple fresh strawberries and oh man did it hit the spot!  IT was an absolute treat!  I was VERY excited it turned out and I think my sister was also excited it actually turned out and may now have a bit more faith in my cooking abilities!  LOL

Without further ado, here's the recipe!

Oat Bar Ingredients:

•  1 1/2 cup oats
• 2 scoops plant protein
• 2 tbsp flax meal
• 1 banana
• 1/4 cup nut butter
• 2 tbsp chia seeds
• 3/4 cup almond milk
• 1/4 cup agave syrup or your choice of sweetnener
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
•  1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Strawberry Curd:

• 1 1/2 cup strawberries
• 1 fresh squeezed lemon
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1/4 cup coconut oil
• 2 tbsp arrowroot or corn starch

Lemon Curd:

• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 fresh squeezed lemon
• 1/4 cup coconut oil
• 1 egg

Directions:

1.) Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease an 8x8 baking pan

2.) Prepare lemon curd and set aside in refrigerator for 10 minutes

3.) In a mixer or large mixing bowl mix together oats, sweetener, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, vanilla, chia & flax.  Add in the egg and almond milk to thin out the mixture.  Mix well, divide batter in two parts and set aside

4.) Take 1/2 the batter and line bottom on pan.  Add 1/2 lemon curd mixture and bake for 10-15 minutes or until curd starts to harden and base becomes very lightly cooked.

5.) Mash strawberries and add in the honey, lemon, starch & coconut oil.  Set aside in fridge.

6.) Remove the base mixture from the oven and add the 1/2 of the strawberry mixture.  Spoon on the chunkier parts to leave the more liquid portion for the topping.  Drop in spoonfuls of the remaining batter into clumps at the top of the strawberry mixture.  Bake for another 15-20 minutes or until bake is lightly golden brown.

7.) Combine the lemon and strawberry mixture.  Bake for about 10 minutes or until it lightly hardens.  Let cool and blend the strawberry and lemon curd in a blender to smooth out.  Let set in fridge for another 20 minutes.  Use as topping or to eat alone!

This may have been tested hence the large whole in the middle:)

8.) Remove bake from oven and let cool 5-10 minutes.  Top individual servings with the strawberry lemon curd mixture.  Add another fresh strawberry to top it off and enjoy!  

I greatly enjoyed this and my family did as well!  I'd love to hear feedback and I hope you all enjoy it as much as we did!

XO 

Angie