Let’s walk through this incredibly easy baking process:

1. Preheat Oven and Prepare Pan: Preheat your oven to 350°F (180°C). Line an 8×8 inch baking pan with parchment paper, leaving some overhang for easy lifting later, and set aside.

2. Combine Ingredients:

• In a large mixing bowl, mash the ripe bananas thoroughly with a fork or potato masher until relatively smooth (some small lumps are okay).
• Add the rolled oats, almond butter (or your chosen nut/seed butter), and optional honey or maple syrup (if using) to the mashed banana. Stir well to combine everything.
• Check consistency: If the batter seems extremely thick and difficult to stir, add a splash of milk (1-2 tablespoons) to thin it out slightly. Conversely, if your bananas were huge or nut butter very runny and the batter seems too thin, add a tablespoon or two of extra oats. It should be a thick, scoopable batter.
• Gently fold in half of your blueberries using a rubber spatula.

3. Transfer Batter and Top:

• Transfer the batter to the lined pan and spread it out into an even layer.
• Top the batter evenly with the remaining blueberries and any optional mix-ins (like chopped walnuts).

4. Bake:

• Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes, or until the edges are lightly golden brown and the center feels just set or comes out mostly clean when tested with a skewer or toothpick. Baking time might vary slightly depending on oven and batter thickness.

5. Cool:

• Remove the pan from the oven and allow the blueberry baked oatmeal to cool in the pan on a wire rack for at least 15 minutes. This helps it set properly.
• After the initial cooling, carefully use the parchment paper overhang to lift the baked oatmeal out of the pan and place it on the wire rack to cool completely before slicing into squares or bars.

So easy and quick to bake!