In the early fall as the mornings get just a touch cooler, the breakfast options can get all the more hectic. There are often new school schedules to contend with, or at the very least, new school traffic to contend with. While granola bars or quick oatmeal are easy options, the substantial smoothie is a great way to mix things up this time of year.

In the summer, smoothies so often consist mainly of seasonal berries or stone fruit with a good dollop of yogurt and maybe a dash of honey. A few years ago, The New York Times wrote about substantial smoothies and that's where we find ourselves today, departing from berry-heavy breakfasts and looking ahead to something that will keep us going until lunchtime. And so we have: the whole-grain smoothie.

Have you ever added oats to a smoothie? Folks do it in a few different ways: the most obvious being just to dump oats right on into your blender. The other is giving your oats a good grind in a spice grinder or food processor first to make them a little less noticeable in the final smoothie. For me, the latter seems a bit fussy and I don't mind a smoothie with a bit more texture. Regardless of your approach to the oats, we've gathered five different recipes from around the internet to get you started:

Try a Recipe:
• Spiced Oatmeal Smoothie (pictured) - Kitchen Konfidence
• Banana Oat Smoothie - Martha Stewart
• Ginger Pear Oat Smoothie - Quaker Oats
• A Berry Doughy Smoothie - Oh She Glows
• Peanut Butter, Banana and Oat Milkshake - Joy the Baker

Related: Try This! Add Oatmeal to Smoothies

(Image: Kitchen Konfidence)