3-4 cups of your chosen fruit(s)* see note

1 & 1/2C Rolled oats

¼ C “flour” of choice (optional)

1 1/2 T. Tapioca flour or 2-3 T instant tapioca ( use a little less of the tapioca if you want a looser consistency in the fruit)

1/4 C oil/butter/ ghee……(you can melt or soften the butter/ghee but not necessary)

2-3 “servings” of protein powder/ read the label- if it’s a very bulky protein I’d use only 2 servings (please hemp…..did I say please?!?)

¼ C or less coconut sugar

¼ C honey/ maple syrup* see note- you can use more if your sweet tooth is high but I would’t use more than ½ c

2 pinches of salt divided

Spices of choice to taste- optional

Preheat oven to 350 fahrenheit

In a medium bowl combine: fruit, tapioca, 1 pinch of salt, small amount of spice (if desired) and coconut sugar if you want to sweeten the fruit a bit. (this is where you can use some of the honey or maple syrup instead of coconut sugar, I would not exceed 3Tb total,. MIx together thoroughly to be sure the tapioca is well incorporated.

In a separate bowl combine: Oats, flour (if using), pinch of salt, spices to taste (if using), and protein powder. Mix it all till incorporated. Add the maple syrup or honey and the fat— If you use oil or melted butter/ghee just stir well until all the dry ingredients are coated, (yes- it’s sloppy)- If you’re using butter/ghee that is more solid “chop” it into the mixture before stirring in the sweetener. You can use a pastry tool, 2 forks or the fancy tools you were born with, otherwise known as fingers, and pinch it all together. Whichever method you choose with the fat, the topping will have different textural results but they are all yummy. (malleable is the word with this recipe)

Place fruit in the bottom of the pan and make sure it’s even-ish. Top the fruit with your oat mixture- glop it or spoon it- make sure the fruit is mostly covered but allow it to be a little imperfect; we need this in life, accept a little imperfection.

BAKE! It will take more than 30 minutes but generally less than 50, you want bubbly fruit juice, molten fruit juice, piping hot fruit juice peeking out out the sides of your oats. When this magic happens shut off the oven and take it out to cool on a rack!…..now, wait………….

Eating this warm is delightful, cold/room temp are also a delight. If you cut into it while it’s molten (unless you’re eating it with some frozen treat decadence) you’ll burn your mouth and, sad face, you won’t have given the tapioca enough time to complete its job of bringing those juices together a bit. ( yep, runny nose joke in my head right now…. Bad brain, bad).

My opinion on protein supplements and kiddos…. Stress: my opinion: I think kids should get their nutrition from whole foods as much as possible, nature was pretty smart in producing foods that are well rounded without mechanical or solvent extractions– Hemp seeds and Pumpkin seeds are full of natural protein, fiber and healthy fats. They are also less likely to taste funky or cause tummy upset… Hemp happens to be pretty tolerable for even the most food sensitive kids… Hemp protein is ground hemp seeds and if it’s a higher protein version it simply means they’ve removed some of the fiber(shell), pumpkin seed protein is pretty similar in that regard… If it says “concentrate” or “isolate” it is not close to the food it was derived from and therefore has fewer (or none) of the intrinsic nutrients existing in the original product.

Now… eat this breakfast delight!

If it’s a chunky or large fruit chop it- no need to be schmancy or uniform or peeled (just wash them)- a variety of small to smallish chops will do.

You just want a minimum of ½ inch at the top of your pan, the more fruit you use the longer it will take to cook, the “juicier” fruit (ie: blueberries) may also take longer to cook if you use extra. Frozen berries are fine too, no need to thaw.

You can use some of the honey/ maple syrup to sweeten to fruit layer if you don’t want the extra ingredient of coconut sugar, I have also used maple sugar in granulated form for the sweetener with great success— you can use instead: regular cane sugar, brown sugar, agave, coconut nectar; this recipe is very forgiving- I just haven’t personally used them. You could probably also get away with Stevia or lohan a.ka. Monk fruit ( kiddos typically do need some simple sugars though…) but I’d avoid sugar alcohols like erythritol or xylitol- they play with texture in baking and this recipe does not take that into account.

This recipe can be easily size up and put in a larger pan

Cinnamon is great but lemon zest, orange zest, nutmeg…. Skies the limit! Be creative.

Want fewer dishes to wash? Mix the fruit layer directly in the pan.

Replace some or all of the oats with Ezekiel sprouted grain cereal for even more protein and crunch!

Use some ground up nuts- almonds or cashews- in the topping for extra flavor and nutrition.