Baked oatmeal takes just a few minutes to prepare and then the oven does the rest of the work. It's great for make-ahead / meal prep breakfasts or for serving a crowd.
If you’ve never made baked oatmeal before, let me tell you the real reason to make it. It’s not because it’s simple or convenient or great for meal prep or great for a crowd (though it is all of those things). The real reason to make baked oatmeal because it will make your entire kitchen smell like it has been wrapped up in a cozy, warm, cinnamon-laced blanket. Which is exactly what we need this time of year.
I hadn’t made baked oatmeal in a few years, but I returned to my go-to recipe again this year because we are all still home on weekday mornings. My first graders are still taking their classes online and my husband and I are still working out of the house. It means many moments feel crazy, but our mornings feel more relaxed than they did when we had to get everyone out the door by 8am. And since I figured others might be in a similar boat, this delicious oatmeal method felt worth revisiting.
Baked oatmeal does require some time in the oven (about 35 minutes), but it only takes 10 minutes of prep to get everything ready for baking. The leftovers can be easily sliced into individual portions and then breakfast is ready for the whole week. Or if you just don't have that much time in the morning but still want to get your oats fix, check out my make-ahead Mason Jar Overnight Oats that you can just grab out of the fridge as you run out of the door in the morning.
Ingredients
- Milk - Use any type of milk. I use cow’s milk or almond milk, depending on what we have. I’ve also used apple juice in the past which adds enough sweetness that you can easily reduce (or omit) the added sugar.
- Oats - Be sure to use “Rolled Oats” or “Old-Fashioned Oats”. Instant or Quick-Cook Oats won’t work properly in this recipe.
- Baking Powder - The baking powder helps the baked oatmeal to puff slightly as it bakes, giving it a lighter texture and creating slices that can be cut into individual portions.
- Brown Sugar, Pure Vanilla Extract, Cinnamon, Eggs - Just regular baking / fridge staples. The eggs help the oatmeal to firm up.
- Blueberries and Pecans - This version of baked oatmeal is made with fresh or frozen blueberries and chopped pecans, but almost any of your favorite oatmeal mix-ins will work. See below for a few ideas!
How to Make Baked Oatmeal
It’s so easy!
- Whisk together wet ingredients and spices.
- Add oats and any fruit or nuts to a greased baking pan.
- Pour wet ingredients over dry and stir gently to combine.
- Cover and bake until the oatmeal is golden on the top and all of the liquids have been absorbed.
- Let cool slightly. Slice and serve!
How to Reheat Baked Oatmeal Leftovers
Baked Oatmeal is great for meal prep / leftovers, but it does dry out after the first day of serving. Drizzle it with some milk or water before reheating in the microwave. You can also drizzle it with honey or maple syrup after reheating. Or serve it with a spoonful of yogurt.
Another tip I have is that I store individual portions of the oatmeal in these Rubbermaid Brilliance containers (I have a bunch of these in different sizes that I purchased myself). The lids are designed for microwave use and they keep moisture in while reheating rather than drying food out.
Variations on Baked Oatmeal
- Apple Cinnamon - Add chopped fresh apples instead of blueberries.
- Mixed Berry - Use a variety of fresh or frozen berries.
- Peanut Butter Banana - Add peanut butter (powdered peanut butter works great too) and chopped bananas.
- Chocolate Coconut - Stir in chocolate chips and shredded coconut.
More Recipes with Oatmeal
- Homemade Instant Oatmeal
- Brown Sugar Oatmeal Cookie Cups
- Oatmeal Latte
- Mason Jar Overnight Oats {Meal Prep}
Favorite Tools
Baked Blueberry Oatmeal
Equipment
- Mixing Bowl
- Whisk
- Baking Dish
Ingredients
- 2 Eggs
- 2 cups Milk (see note)
- ⅓ cup lightly packed Brown Sugar (substitute honey or maple syrup)
- 1 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
- 1 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract
- 2 ½ cups Rolled Oats (sometimes labeled "Old-Fashioned Oats; do not use Instant or Quick-Cook Oats")
- 2 cups Blueberries, fresh or frozen
- ½ cup Pecans, roughly chopped (optional)
- Maple syrup or honey (optional, for serving)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F / 177°C. Spray an 8x8 baking dish (or similar-sized baking dish) with nonstick cooking spray or rub with some oil.
- In a mixing bowl, whisk eggs together. Whisk in milk, brown sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, and vanilla.
- Add oats, blueberries, and pecans to prepared baking dish. (Reserve some of the blueberries and pecans if you'd like to sprinkle them on top.)
- Pour liquids over oats and gently stir everything together in the pan just to encorporate them. Cover the pan tightly with foil.
- Bake oatmeal until firm in the middle, 35 to 40 minutes.
- Let oatmeal cool slightly before serving (it will continue to firm up as it rests). Serve with some maple syrup or honey drizzled over top.
Notes
Nutrition
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Corey @ Learning Patience
ohh...just saved this recipe - looks delicious! Can't wait to make it when I get home!
xoxo from Houston
Claire @ Claire K Creations
Cooking them in little jars like that makes it even more exciting. I would love to wake up to one of these in the morning.
I love checking out the local farmers markets too. It's a great way to get a feel for a place and immerse yourself in the local culture.
Rebecca | Maine Foodie Finds
Love this! I have all the ingredients (including fresh apple juice) so I will be making this soon!
Anonymous
What about cooking this in muffin tins ?
jessica
That's a fantastic idea! Muffin tins would work so well and would be adorable to boot!
candace
Just to verify- is the 1 cup of apple juice the only liquid in this recipe? It sounds and looks wonderful, but didn't seem like a high enough ratio with the 1.5 c. of oats. Thanks for sharing!
jessica
Candace - thank you so much for your comment, as the liquid amount needed to be updated! It should be equal parts oats and liquid (1.5 cups liquid). I tested at both higher and lower amounts and the 1:1 ratio of oats and liquid seemed to be spot on. Thank you!
esther
Love your site! This recipe and your pizza recipes bought me over. I love how butter is not needed for either foods. Saved them on my laptop to try for the weekend! Thanks 😀
jessica
Esther - thank you for your kind words! So glad you found the pizza recipes - pizza is definitely one of my favorites!
Sibel Catana
Uh, very interesting. I shall try this but without the egg, since I am vegan and I will substitute the honey with something. 🙂 Still I cannot wait to try it.
Thanks for this! 😀
jessica
Sibel, the egg gives it a bit of texture, but I don't think you'll miss it. I haven't done it myself, but you could always try substituting a bit of applesauce for the egg - it might be a good fill-in!
Sibel Catana
Great idea yes, yum yumm, can't wait to try this one! 😀
Rufus' Food and Spirits Guide
A great recipe and wonderful travel photos to boot. I haven't been to that part of the world so really enjoyed seeing those pictures.
Emilie
You've just made my day! I love this idea. It's so cute and practical at the same time (not to mention tasty I'm sure!).
Thanks!
Marla Meridith
Love how you put this baked oatmeal in the jars. Will be linking back to this recipe in my next post 🙂
jessica
Thanks Marla! I loved the look of it, and it was practical too! I've been making it like this every couple weeks since.
jessica
Carrie - you can absolutely use frozen fruit. In most cases, it shouldn't make a difference in the finished dish. I would just recommend letting the fruit thaw to near room temperature before using it, or it may affect the cooking time.
becky
Can you make any suggestions for a honey substitute?
jessica
Becky - although the honey adds a bit of sweetness, you can skip the honey altogether, but I would substitute a Tablespoon or two of water in its place. Alternatively, you could use jam or jelly - any flavor would be delicious and would be a great fill-in for the honey! Enjoy!
Cyndi
I will make this. I love the mason jar idea - I have been drawn to recipes with mason jars lately. Do you just zap it in the microwave to reheat?
jessica
Cyndi - I love the mason jar thing too lately - I'm always looking for ways to use them. I did just zap them in the microwave to reheat, but found they dried out a bit, so I always add a splash of liquid before zapping - milk, juice, or water work great!
becky
Hey Jess,
How would this recipe change if I were to to use steel cut oats?
Thanks!
jessica
Hi Becky - I've never tried that swap in this particular recipe. Usually steel cut oats take a bit longer to cook, so I think it's quite do-able, but you may need to increase the cooking time and probably increase the liquid by at least 1/2 cup. Let me know how it works!
Lisa
What do you think about making it, putting it in the mason jars and cooking just before eating. Cook on a as need basis?
Jess
Lisa - you know what? I've done it! The only thing I would tell you is that it does much better if you pour the liquid into the jars just before cooking, so it would work best if you keep the dry ingredients and liquid apart until you're ready. If you do want to add the liquid in advance so that you're really ready to go when you want them, you'll likely want to add a bit more water or milk to saturate the oats before baking. (They will absorb the initial liquid while they sit in the fridge, and will need more in order to remain moist while baking.)
Tam
Any thoughts on freezing these after they are baked? My daughter lives in a dorm and has no time to cook. Or, any info on how long these will last (after cooking) in the refrigerator? I think she will love these!
Jess
Tam - that's so sweet of you to think of these for your daughter - I would have loved having them in the dorm! So, I've tried a few different variations on this for both freezing and storing in the refrigerator. I haven't found the perfect solution yet, but they work well if you add some extra liquid (about 1/3 cup) to the recipe and only bake them for half the time. That way they can be frozen and cooked the rest of the way in the microwave (I don't even defrost them first). Sometimes they really need an extra splash of milk or water after microwaving though - they dry out a bit in the second round of cooking. Hope that helps!
Kim
This looks good, but reads like an adaptation of Heidi Swanson's Baked Oatmeal from her book, Super Natural Every Day. She uses hard-to-find huckleberries, so I've always subbed blueberries. I don't really know where the line is drawn between inspiration for new recipes vs. adaptation. I adapt about 80% in my kitchen, but I wouldn't call myself a recipe developer. I look for originality in cookbooks and blogs and this recipe, while good, is simply too derivative without some kind of attribution.
Jess Smith
Hi Kim - thank you so much for your note. I wanted to take a minute to fully respond to your comment because, as a person who makes my living as a recipe developer, this is an issue that I take extremely seriously for ethical, and certainly, for legal reasons. This is a recipe that I originally published in early 2011. A quick google search leads me to believe that this was before Heidi's book was published (but I am a long time fan of her site!), or at least certainly before I could have seen a copy (I was living in Thailand in 2011). Digging through the internet would probably reveal that back in 2011, almost every food blogger was creating their own version of baked oatmeal. It was very trendy back then both on the internet and in restaurants, so while I certainly didn't invent this method, it was one of those ideas that was just floating around a lot back then. If anything, I think we all might owe credit to Kath over at Kath Eats, as I've followed her site for years, and I see that she has a version dating back to at least 2008 (https://www.katheats.com/banana-baked-oatmeal), though even she references seeing other versions before making her own. Recipe development is a funny thing as many sets of ingredients just seem to naturally fit together in similar measurements and methods. (It's why there are literally thousands of versions of chocolate chip cookies.) I appreciate you reaching out and giving me a chance to fact-check myself. Please rest assured that I tested my own version of this oatmeal several times back in 2011 and several times again this year with no guidance except my own knowledge of how the ingredients might work together. If I take inspiration or adaptation from other places, I always note that just as I would expect other professionals in this field to do for me.