Healthy Baked Oatmeal (Dessert For Breakfast!) - Wholesome Yum (2024)

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This healthy baked oatmeal recipe is perfect for a cozy breakfast. With whole grain oats, milk, eggs, and berries, this oatmeal bake comes together in under 30 minutes, using ingredients you probably have on hand. My kids enjoyed 4 batches of this in a matter of a few weeks while I tested the recipe. 😉

Just like my chocolate chip overnight oats, oatmeal breakfast bars, healthy oatmeal cookies, or banana oat pancakes, this dish has a delicious balance of protein, fiber, and sweet flavor. It will keep you full all morning long and all week long, because it stores well for easy breakfast meal prep!

Not only is baked oatmeal nutritious and delicious, but it uses ChocZero Cookie Butter Spread to deliver a warm cinnamon cookie flavor to every bite. It’s like cookies for breakfast! The best thing about this cookie spread is that it tastes so indulgent — even though it’s completely sugar-free.

Get Cookie Butter Here

Ingredients & Substitutions

This section explains how to choose the best ingredients for a healthy oatmeal bake, what each one does in the recipe, and substitution options. For measurements, see the recipe card below.

• Rolled Oats – If you have a gluten intolerance, look for certified gluten-free oats. You can also use quick oats. Avoid steel cut oats, as they will cook up too dense for this recipe.
• Baking Powder – Prevents the final bake from becoming too dense and heavy.
• Cinnamon – Use high quality cinnamon for the best flavor.
• Sea Salt – Balances the sweet flavors.
• Eggs– Use room temperature eggs. If vegan, you can substitute the eggs with flax eggs. Mashed banana would also work as a substitute, but won’t hold together as well as eggs do.
• ChocZero Cookie Butter Spread– You could use peanut butter (or any nut butter) in place of the cookie butter, but the oatmeal won’t be sweet and the flavor is much better using the cookie butter.
• Butter– You want melted butter so that it blends into the batter evenly. Use an unsalted variety. You could also use melted coconut oil for a dairy-free option.
• Vanilla Extract – Use high quality pure vanilla extract for the best flavor.
• Milk–Use room temperature milk. Any kind of milk (dairy milk, almond milk, coconut milk, hemp milk, etc) will work.
• Dried Cranberries– To keep this oatmeal bake even healthier, usesugar-free dried cranberries. However, these are totally optional.
• Pecans– Optional, but I like the flavor chopped pecans add to this oatmeal. You could use walnuts, hazelnuts, or macadamia nuts as well. For a nut-free option, omit altogether or substitute sunflower seeds or pepitas.

How To Make Baked Oatmeal

This section shows how to bake oatmeal that is healthy, with step-by-step photos and details about the technique, to help you visualize it. For full instructions, including amounts and temperatures, see the recipe card below.

1. Prep. Preheat the oven. Grease a9×9 baking dish with oil, butter, or cooking spray.
2. Stir dry ingredients. In a large bowl, stir together the rolled oats, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.
3. Whisk wet ingredients. In a medium bowl,whisktogether the eggs, cookie butter, melted butter, and vanilla, until smooth. Whisk in milk.

4. Combine. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir to combine.
5. Incorporate add-ins. Fold in dried cranberries and/or pecans, if using.

6. Bake. Pour oat mixture to the baking dish and spread evenly. Cook easy baked oatmeal in the oven to your desired doneness (the pictures show the longer baking time; see notes below).
7. Add toppings if desired. For a decadent finish, drizzle the top with (optional) additional cookie butter. You can also add more nuts and dried cranberries if you like. Cut into individual portions to serve.

How Long To Bake Oatmeal?

Oatmeal bake time depends on the consistency you prefer: bake for 18-20 minutes for soft oatmeal with a bread pudding texture, or 22-24 minutes for firm oatmeal.

Flavor Variations

• Banana Baked Oatmeal – You can easily change up the flavor of this easy baked oatmeal to a banana flavor. Just add a mashed banana and omit dried cranberries.
• Chocolate Chip – Replace the dried cranberries with chocolate chips. (These are my favorite sugar-free ones that taste great for healthy baked oatmeal!)
• Baked Apple Oatmeal – Omit cranberries, and adddiced apples, maple syrup andpure almond extract instead of vanilla. Add brown sugar (or Besti Brown) for more flavor.
• Brownie – Make brownie batter and add a cup of rolled oats.
• Blueberry Oatmeal Bake – Swap dried cranberries for fresh (or dried) blueberries.
• Pumpkin Baked Oatmeal – Reduce eggs to 1, reduce milk to 3/4 cup, and add 1/2 cup canned pumpkin. Use pumpkin pie spice instead of cinnamon.

Storage Instructions

• Store: Place leftovers in an airtight container and pop it in the refrigerator. It will last for up to 4 days in the fridge.
• Reheat: To keep its cake-like texture, place leftover oatmeal on a microwave-safe plate and cover it with a piece of damp paper towel. Microwave for 15 seconds, then continue in 10-second intervals until warm.

Can You Freeze Baked Oatmeal?

Yes, you can freeze baked oatmeal recipes. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge overnight before reheating.

More Healthy Breakfast Recipes

Love sweet breakfasts, but want to skip the sugar crash? Try these healthy options for ways to stay fueled all morning long.

Recipe Card

4.8 from 5 votes☝️ Click stars to rate or click here to leave a review!

Healthy Baked Oatmeal (Dessert For Breakfast!)

This healthy baked oatmeal recipe is like dessert for breakfast — all in 30 minutes with simple ingredients like oats, milk, eggs & vanilla.

Prep: 10 minutes

Cook: 18 minutes

Total: 28 minutes

Author: Maya Krampf from WholesomeYum.com

Servings: 9 (adjust to scale recipe)

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Ingredients

Tap underlined ingredients to see where to get them.

• 2cupsRolled oats▢
• 1tspBaking powder▢
• 1tspCinnamon▢
• 1/2tspSea salt▢
• 2largeEggs(at room temperature)▢
• 1/2cupChocZero Cookie Butter Spread(plus more for topping, if desired)▢
• 1/4cupUnsalted butter(melted; or coconut oil for dairy-free)▢
• 1tspVanilla extract▢
• 1 1/4cupsMilk of choice(at room temperature)▢
• 1/2cupDried cranberries(optional, plus more for topping if desired; I used sugar-free dried cranberries)▢
• 1/2cupPecans(optional, omit for nut-free; chop if using, and reserve more for topping)▢

Instructions

Tap on the times in the instructions below to start a kitchen timer while you cook.

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C). Grease a 9×9 baking dish.

2. In a large bowl, stir together the rolled oats, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.

3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, cookie butter, butter, and vanilla, until smooth. Whisk in the milk.

4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir to combine.

5. Fold in the dried cranberries and/or pecans, if using.

6. Transfer the mixture to the baking dish and spread evenly.

7. Bake for 18-20 minutes (until the center is almost set) for soft baked oatmeal, or 22-24 minutes (until the center is completely set and golden brown) for firm baked oatmeal.

8. If desired, for a “dessert for breakfast” vibe, drizzle the top with additional cookie butter. (You can also sprinkle with more nuts and cranberries if you like – they will stick to the cookie butter.)

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• Oatmeal Breakfast Bars

• Peanut Butter Overnight Oats

• Detox Smoothie

• Baked Eggs In A Muffin Tin

Recipe Notes

Serving size: 1/9 entire pan

Nutrition info uses 2% milk anddoes not include optional ingredients (dried cranberries and pecans).

Nutrition Facts

Amount per serving. Serving size in recipe notes above.

Calories232

Fat14.7g

Protein7.6g

Total Carbs18.7g

Net Carbs13.6g

Fiber5.1g

Sugar2.8g

Nutrition facts are provided as a courtesy. Have questions about calculations or why you got a different result? Please see our nutrition policy.

Course:Breakfast

Cuisine:American

Keywords:baked oatmeal, baked oatmeal recipe, healthy baked oatmeal, oatmeal bake

Calories: 232 kcal

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Healthy Baked Oatmeal Recipe

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