You guys! Are you okay? Am I okay? What is this life?
It’s one in which I busted out the camera for the first time in many moons to take pictures of a recipe that you might actually have all the ingredients for! This easy baked oatmeal is super flexible, it’s gluten-free, it’s kid-approved (actually this is conditional: if I make it assuming everyone will eat it for breakfast, people want toast and don’t like oatmeal…if I make it so I can have an easy breakfast all week, everyone eats it ravenously).
So: use whatever fruit you want! I used 2 apples and a handful of slightly-squishy blueberries. I made it with peaches over the summer, I’ve used one fruit or a combo…whatever ya got.
Top that with oats, and then whisk up a mixture of milk and eggs and something sweet. I always use flax eggs (see recipe notes!) and usually almond milk, but I’ve made it with regular milk, cashew milk, oat milk, and even coconut milk from a can. You can use maple syrup, honey, or brown sugar!
Drizzle the liquid over the fruit and oats, then nudge things around with a spatula so that all the oats are a little submerged and the liquid is distributed and seeping down to the bottom. Then – bake! This smells so good!
Let me try to describe the texture of this baked oatmeal. It’s not creamy and thick like oatmeal-oatmeal (we love steel-cut oats and Scottish oats!)…it’s kinda like a softer, chewy, more virtuous crisp? Sometimes when I sit down with a big ol’ rectangle of it something in my brain says “ooh! it’s a lovely piece of cake!” and I have to quickly remind myself that it’s NOT cake, so I can enjoy it for what it is and not be sad that it’s not cake. …This might be a personal problem. It’s hearty, filling, lightly sweet, and by golly, you probably have the stuff to make it. 😉
Baked Oatmeal.
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Ingredients
4-5 cups of fruit, such as diced apples, peaches, or berries
3 cups rolled oats (not quick-cooking; certified gluten-free if needed)
2-2/3 cups milk of choice (increase to 3 cups if using flax eggs, or add 1/3 cup water)
3 eggs OR 3 Tablespoons ground flaxseed meal for flax eggs
3/4 teaspoon salt
1.5 teaspoons cinnamon
1 Tablespoon vanilla
3 Tablespoons melted coconut oil or butter
1/2 cup maple syrup, honey, or brown sugar (increase to 2/3 cup if you prefer sweeter baked oatmeal)
1.5 teaspoons baking powder
1 Tablespoon turbinado sugar (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375. Lightly grease a 9×13 baking pan.
- Add fruit to pan in an even layer. Sprinkle oats over fruit.
- Add milk to a large measuring cup or bowl. Add eggs OR ground flaxseed meal and whisk. Add salt, cinnamon, vanilla, melted coconut oil or butter, sweetener of choice, and baking powder and whisk.
- Pour the liquid over the oats and fruit. Lightly stir/spread until the oats are submerged and the liquid is evenly distributed. Sprinkle with turbinado sugar.
- Bake 45-50 minutes until lightly brown. It shouldn’t be jiggly! Let cool for a few minutes for easier serving.
Notes
I prefer flax eggs in this dish – they are typically a mix of ground flaxseed meal and water. I usually just up the milk a bit as noted in the recipe and mix the flax right in.
This recipe is adapted from Cookie and Kate’s Blueberry Baked Oatmeal. Note that one of the changes I made was to make a 9×13 pan with 1.5 times the base recipe. To make an 8×8 pan, see Kate’s recipe for basic quantities!