Banana Porridge Fingers (baby led weaning recipe)

Make ahead, easy-to-serve baby led weaning breakfast bar packed with fibre, healthy fats, and protein to fuel your baby on busy mornings. Bonus, these porridge fingers are also freezer friendly!

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"My toddler still loves these - such an easy breakfast!" - Carolyn

Mornings with little ones can be busyyyyyy. Wake up, make breakfast, serve breakfast, clean up, get everyone dressed, pack lunches, and get out the door on time - it's A LOT to fit into a morning. This is why as dietitian moms we love breakfast ideas that can be made ahead of time, served in minutes, require minimal clean up, annnnnnd are still nutrient dense.

Enter our Banana Porridge Fingers - a make ahead, easy-to-serve baby led weaning breakfast bar packed with energy, fibre, healthy fats, and protein to fuel your baby on busy mornings. If you enjoy this recipe--you'll also love the chia berry compote, homemade teething biscuits, and these simple baby pancakes you can make using fruit pouches!

This recipe is also a great fit for toddlers as is our healthy oat bars which is honestly the greatest remix of the peanut butter and jam duo.

Looking for the 2-ingredient microwave version?

If you searched for porridge fingers, you have probably seen the classic version: oats and milk, pressed into a dish, microwaved for a couple of minutes. It's fast, and that's probably the reason it shows up everywhere.

Here's why we don't make ours that way.

Between 6 and 12 months, iron and fat are two of the nutrients babies most need from solid food. Iron stores from birth start running low around 6 months, and fat supplies the energy and the building blocks for brain development at a stage when babies eat small volumes. Oats and milk on their own don't deliver.

So we built ours around ingredients that do: eggs for fat, protein and choline, tahini for fat, iron and calcium, and banana for energy and sweetness without added sugar. It takes 30 minutes and makes 24 fingers, which you can freeze and reheat.

*per 60g serving

But, if you're in a rush and need something in the NEXT two minutes, we're here to save the morning--make this mug cake that only takes a few a minutes, we promise. And because it uses egg, almond butter, and iron-fortified infant cereal, it still delivers the fat, protein, and iron your baby needs.

What are porridge fingers? And why should I serve them to my baby?

These porridge fingers (aka oatmeal fingers) are sort of a baby breakfast bar that takes everything we love about a bowl of oatmeal and turns it into a finger food that baby can self-feed right from the  high chair tray.

We've also made sure this baked oatmeal finger recipe is just as nutritious as it is convenient. The simple, yet nutrient dense ingredients this recipe calls for (like tahini, eggs, oats, and bananas) give these bars amazing texture and flavour,and they also ensure you're offering your baby foods that will help meet their specific nutrient needs.

We don't want to point any fingers but most of the recipes we've seen out there for porridge fingers are seriously lacking in both iron and fat, which are two of the top critical nutrients babies need to be getting from solids! Per 60g serving, your baby will get 1.5mg of iron and 5.8g of fat!

Key ingredients

Oats

For this recipe, we recommend using quick oats specifically. They are smaller in size than large flaked oatmeal and we felt, better suited for babies and toddlers. Oats are a wonderful source of fibre and energy for your child!

Banana

Got some ripe bananas? That's exactly what you need for this recipe--the bananas are essentially the natural sweetener for these porridge fingers. If you have a freezer full of frozen bananas then you MUST whip up this peanut butter banana smoothie or make your family a batch of these coconut banana baby muffins that have no added sugar!

Tahini

 To help with the flavor profile and add in healthy fats, we're using tahini which is a sesame paste, aka a seed butter, not a nut butter. You can find this in most grocery stores in the international aisle. If you're worried about not using up your tahini, don't worry, you can prepare this edamame purée we love to eat as a dip or spread!

You can substitute tahini for almond or peanut butter but may need to add a a touch of water, 1-2tbsp just to add more liquid!

Eggs

We're going to be using 6 eggs for these porridge fingers--and that's on purpose. Eggs are a powerhouse in terms of nutrition for babies--nutrients like lutein, choline, zinc and selenium all support early childhood development.

Allergen information & substitutions

These banana porridge fingers contain two of the top priority health allergens in Canada: eggs and sesame.

Since this recipe was intentionally developed to be nutrient dense with the help of 6 eggs, replacing them will not work. For an egg free breakfast option, give our baby friendly chilla a try!

These banana porridge fingers also include tahini which is essentially sesame paste. You can replace the sesame with another nut or seed butter and the recipe should work just fine!

The good news is that these banana porridge fingers are dairy free and gluten free--which is great for families who need to keep this in mind!

For the most recent step-by-step recommendations for introducing food allergens to infants, visit our video lesson in Start Solids Confidently, your go-to resource for feeding babies.

How to make Banana Porridge Fingers

Step #1: In a large bowl, mix together oats and baking powder.

Step #2: In a high speed blender, blend remaining ingredients until smooth: eggs, banana, tahini and cinnamon.

Step #3: Pour tahini mixture into the large bowl with oats and combine. Pour into a baking dish and bake,

Step #4: Portion baked porridge fingers into desired slices, and serve!

How to serve Banana Porridge Fingers at each baby & toddler stage

No matter how you choose to feed your baby (with purées, baby led weaning, or a mix of the two approaches) these Banana Porridge Fingers can fit the bill.

Baby led weaning: After baking, cut the bars into finger-sized pieces (something a baby can easily grasp in their fist). Then, place an oat finger on your baby's high chair tray for them to pick up OR gently place an oat finger directly in the palm of your baby's hand for them to explore and place in their own mouth.

Spoon feeding: You can easily turn these baby breakfast bars into a purée! To do so, simply blend a portion of the baked oatmeal bars with expressed milk, formula, or whole cow's milk (if you've successfully introduced it into your baby's diet) to your desired consistency. If you've already moved onto lumpy textures for baby, using a fork to mash the oatmeal fingers with a splash of one of the above listed liquids will also do the trick.

Pincer grasp: If your baby has already developed their pincer grasp (something that usually happens around 10-11 months) slicing the bars into smaller pieces that baby can pick up with their forefinger and thumb may work best!

Wanting more information on how to advance your baby in texture? You'll need to snag the Start Solids Confidently e-course--it's your one-stop-shop for everything baby feeding from 4-12 months! We teach you the what, when, and how of feeding so you don't have to guess or google your way through it!

Play + books that match this recipe

When kids get the chance to interact with "food " during playtime, they become more comfortable with the food, and are more likely to want to eat it at mealtimes! In fact, even reading books about food with your child can help - we've rounded up our favorite foodie books for you! In the meantime, here are more play options:

Robud Play Kitchen

Curious George Stories to Share

The Monkey Who Only Ate Bananas

If you tried these banana porridge fingers or any other recipe on our blog, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let us know how it went in the 📝 comments below. Thanks for visiting!