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 Tahini 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.
What Are Porridge Fingers? 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!
How Do I Serve Porridge Fingers to My Baby?
No matter how you choose to feed your baby (with purées, baby led weaning, or a mix of the two approaches) this baby breakfast bar recipe can fit the bill.
If you’re taking a baby-led weaning approach: 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.
If you’re starting with a purée feeding approach: 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 Note: If your baby has already developed their pincer grasp (something that usually happens around 10-11 months) cutting the bars into smaller pieces baby can pick up with their forefinger and thumb may work best!
Wanting more information on how to advance your baby in texture, consider our Start Solids Confidently e-course.
At What Age Can My Baby Eat This Recipe?
These porridge fingers are designed for a baby six months and older who’s ready for self-feeding! If you decide to make these and purée them, then you could offer the purée to a baby between four and six months old.
Which Oats Can I Use?
We’ve tested these baked porridge fingers with both regular and quick cooking oats (not instant) and found using quick cooking oats lends itself to the optimal texture and consistency for babies to pick up, chew, and swallow. That being said, if you only have large flake oats on hand, just increase the amount of oats used by ½ cup and you should be good to go.
What Is Tahini?
We love tahini so much we used it in multiple recipes (Baby Friendly Hummus, and Pumpkin Spice Baby Biscotti) in our ebook “Whole Food Recipes for Your Baby” which includes 25 nutrient-packed recipes for baby.
Where Can I Purchase Tahini?
Tahini is fairly well stocked in most grocery stores. You might need to look through a couple aisles to find it, but it’s usually found with nut butters or in the international aisle.
How Do I Store Porridge Fingers?
These oat fingers can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days, or in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. They also keep well in the freezer in a freezer-safe bag for up to 3 months.
To serve frozen bars, thaw the bar in the fridge overnight or simply microwave them the morning of (just be sure to check the temperature for hot spots before serving to your baby).
A Couple Mom Tips:
- We like to freeze these bars pre-cut and separated with parchment paper to make for an extra easy baby breakfast finger food and more seamless mornings.
- If you find the bars are a little dry after reheating, try sprinkling a bit of water on top of the bars prior to microwaving.
Is This A Nutritious Choice For My Baby?
We’ve already mentioned some of the nutrients we’ve packed into these baked oat fingers for baby, but here’s a bit of a summary of the ingredients we’ve included and some of the nutrients they bring to the table:
Tahini: Iron, fat, protein, fiber, calcium, zinc (it really is the real deal!).
Eggs: Fat, protein, choline (a super cool nutrient that helps with baby’s brain development)
Oats: Fibre, carbs (energy!), and zinc
Banana: Fibre, carbs (energy again!), potassium
So, as you can see the answer is a resounding YES! These porridge fingers for baby are definitely a nutritious baby breakfast idea you can feel confident about feeding to your baby.
No matter the approach you take to feed your baby you will always need nutrient dense breakfast ideas that work for your family. We hope you give these Banana Tahini Porridge Fingers a try! Our babies (and toddlers tbh) are big fans and we think yours will be too.
Watch How Easy it is to Make These BLW Breakfast Bars!
Banana Porridge Fingers (baby led weaning recipe)
Ingredients
- 3 ripe bananas
- 6 eggs
- ⅓ cup tahini
- 1 tsp cinnamon optional
- 4 ½ cups quick cooking oats
- 2 tsp baking powder
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Place the bananas, eggs, tahini, and cinnamon (if using) in a blender. Blend until smooth.
- In a large mixing bowl, stir together the oats and the baking powder.
- Pour the contents of the blender into the bowl and stir to combine.
- Grease a 9x12 pan.
- Spread the contents of the bowl into the greased pan.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a knife inserted into the centre comes out clean.
- Allow to cool fully before cutting into 24 finger-sized pieces.
Video
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8 thoughts on “Banana Porridge Fingers (baby led weaning recipe)”
These are great and my one year old loves them!
How many calories do you estimate might be in a finger?
Hi Priscilla! So glad your one year old loves them! We’ve intentionally left out the calorie and nutrition breakdown because we want caregivers to focus more on key nutrients to offer their little ones. Having said that we know there are medical situations where this might be needed. Cronometer is a great website to calculate nutrition information.
Could you split the oats 50/50 with infant oatmeal to up the iron?
While we haven’t tested it with infant oatmeal I would definitely think it would work to substitute 50%!
My toddler still loves these – such an easy breakfast! Any add-ins you’d suggest? I’ve tried shredded coconut. Maybe some chopped nuts or seeds?
Ooo, great ideas! I think finely chopped nuts or seeds would be great! My older kids like raisins! (which are a choking hazard for younger kids)
Can we sub with old fashioned rolled oats instead of quick oats?
It works best with quick oats, as they absorb the liquid better. It may work with old fashioned but we haven’t tested it.