My baked oatmeal recipes all started back in May of 2009 when I shared my Peanut Butter Baked Oatmeal recipe. It was a recipe that I came up with because I was looking for a healthy kid friendly breakfast to serve me family. I had never seen anything like it and since my family loved oatmeal and peanut butter, I thought it would be a perfect match.
Since that time I have come up with many versions that my family loves. Over the last two and a half years I have shared eight versions of baked oatmeal and I have several more that I hope to share over the next few months.
As you can tell my family loves baked oatmeal, and from all the comments and questions I get about my various baked oatmeal recipes, I know you all love them too.
Healthy, homemade breakfasts are some of my favorite recipes to share. I love knowing that I am helping others start their day with meals like baked oatmeal.
Over the last few years I have received many comments and emails asking questions about making baked oatmeal, so I decided to write up a post with a few tips and facts. I also thought it would be nice to have all my versions of baked oatmeal in one post for you to reference when you are looking for a version to make.
Baked Oatmeal Recipes
Peanut Butter Baked Oatmeal started it all back in 2009.
Then my friend Joy shared that she added chocolate to my Peanut Butter Baked Oatmeal and Peanut Butter Baked Oatmeal with Chocolate Chips became a new favorite in our house.
Peanut Butter and jelly is a favorite sandwich for many kids, so it was a natural match for me to try in baked oatmeal. Peanut Butter and Jelly Oatmeal is sure to please any kid.
My daughter then developed a peanut allergy and I realized that peanut butter substitutes work great in place of the peanut butter.
Banana Baked Oatmeal is my eleven year old daughters favorite baked oatmeal and I have heard from some of you that it is even better with a little peanut butter added to it.
Baked Pumpkin Oatmeal is a favorite in the fall. It makes a perfect fall and winter breakfast.
Blueberry Baked Oatmeal is another fun version that we love.
And the most recent version that I shared is Apple Cinnamon Baked Oatmeal.
Now for a few tips for making baked oatmeal that will hopefully answer many of the questions that I have received from you.
Your recipes use mainly quick cooking oats can I use regular or old fashioned oats? The answer is yes you can use either quick oats or old fashioned oats. Each one will give you a different texture, but they both work. My family prefers all quick cooking oats or part quick cooking and part old fashioned. I have made them with all quick cooking, all old fashioned, and a mix of both, and they all work great.
Can I make baked oatmeal ahead of time and bake it later? Yes, you can. I do this all the time. In fact, if I am using old fashioned oats in my baked oatmeal, I prefer to make it the night before and keep it in the refrigerator over night. I just put it in the oven in the morning and it works fine. I love doing this because it makes a quick and easy breakfast in the morning. The only recipe that I do not recommend making ahead of time is the banana baked oatmeal and the apple cinnamon baked oatmeal. Apples and bananas change color and texture as they sit and it does not make for the best oatmeal if it is not baked right away.
Does baked oatmeal reheat well and if so how do I reheat it? Reheating the baked oatmeal works fine. I do it all the time. I like to bake a double or triple batch and let my kids reheat it in the microwave for breakfast for several days. This works well and let’s everyone enjoy a hot healthy breakfast for several days without much work for me.
Can I freeze the baked oatmeal? And if so, do I freeze before or after baking? Yes, you can freeze the baked oatmeal after it is cooked. It works well cut it into squares after it is cooled, wrap it in plastic wrap or a freezer bag and freeze. Then you can just take it out and heat it as needed.
Now I would love to hear what your favorite baked oatmeal recipe is and what your tips are for making it.
My family loves your baked oatmeal recipes! Right now my favorite is the pumpkin oatmeal, with pumpkin pie spices instead of cinnamon.
I make a batch every sunday evening, cool, and cut it into bars. Perfect breakfast to go!
Thanks, Lynn! Love baked oatmeal.
These all look GREAT! Can you reheat it in the microwave, and if so, how long?
Yes the microwave works fine. It depends on how much we are reheating. It does not take long usually.
We reheat individual pieces, 1 at a time. 30 seconds to 1 minute is all you need!
I have added a can of peaches I had, just drained the juice and diced the peaches up. I also used any type of frozen fruit I have in the freezer such as blueberries or mixed berries. My kids love this oatmeal and so do I!
I have been meaning to write you for months. Thanks for asking about your recipes. We have been obsessed with your banana oatmeal recipe. I have reduced the brown sugar to 1/4 cup and the same with chocolate chips. I have made it in bar pans, regular muffins and also mini muffins. Lately, I make a double batch and make one mini and one regular muffin pan. I have made it in advance and cooked it later with no issues. I served them at a birthday party and a pot luck. A celiac family bought the whole tray, they were so excited. Thanks so much for the starting point.
Thank you! That is really nice of you. I have made different muffin versions also and it works well. I am glad you know that you enjoy them so much.
I bake the recipe in a 9×9 pan instead of 13×9…it’s thicker and more moist. It takes a little longer, 30-40 mins instead of 20. I also add the brown sugar about 15 minutes into the baking, which gives it a nice, crispy and sweet top crust. I once forgot to add the brown sugar until 15 mins into baking, and the kids asked me to always do it that way. My favorite is the banana chocolate chip, but my kids prefer pumpkin chocolate chip.
We bake ours in an 8×8 or 9×9 pan too – love the thick pieces!
I’ve also accidentally left out the butter several times with no ill effects. I have a 3 month old baby…forgetting things is my new way of life!
I love your Apple Baked Oatmeal. Have made it several times now that apple season is here. I have some raisins, dates and pecans in my pantry that I’m thinking about adding instead of apples the next time.
I love baked oatmeal! I have not tried any of your recipes but will soon.
Sometimes I add dried cranberries and orange peel to mine.
Sometimes I add nuts.
Also I have put mine in the fridge overnight with apples in it and they did not brown. But also you could mix up everything and leave it in the bowl and then the next morning stir in apples and bananas and then put in pan and bake.
Thanks for your ideas!!
Have you any of these recipes in a crockpot before with success?
We have so many favorite kinds of baked oatmeal! In fact we had berry baked oatmeal for breakfast today 🙂
Our recipe does not use any oil/butter – it relies on applesauce! I love that because it makes the breakfast even healthier.
All 3 of my teenagers love the baked oatmeal. So far I have only tried pumpkin but will try the others! I have reduced the sugar and added pumpkin pie spices and bananas. I like to make it the night before and cook it in in the morning. It usually lasts 2-3 breakfasts for us. I have one ready to go for tomorrow morning.
I am going to try the apple version tomorrow. We like to make it with mixed berries (I take them out of the freezer or rehydrate dried ones!) and add coconut oil and flaked coconut plus some chopped almonds. Amazing!
I also like to “soak” my oats. Some people believe eit’s the only way to eat whole grains (something about phytates) and I’m not convinced. But it makes it so cake like and not oatmeal texture. I don’t like oatmeal so it works for me! I combine the oats, a Tablespoon of flour, the liquid (could use the milk and add a bit of lemon juice but I just use buttermilk, can also use whey). I combine these the night before, cover and leave on the counter overnight (think mini sourdough process) and then in the morning I add the remaining ingredients and bake!
So yummy. Thanks for the variations to try.
How do you store this? Just on the counter or in the fridge? Made the peanut butter one and my guys (they are non GF) wanted to eat it all!
Moe
I store the leftovers in the fridge and they usually will be fine for a few days that way, that is if they make it that long and no one eats them. 🙂
Just want to thank you for the baked oatmeal recipe. I am funny about my oatmeal don’t like the crock pot or instant oatmeal so was on the fence about trying this so so glad I did. I made the Cinnamon Apple added raisins great. Should have known that it would have been good, all of Lynn’s recipes I have tried are great they are for families simple and good. Keep up the good work.
Thank you for your kind words. I am picky on my oatmeal also and I think that is why I like the baked oatmeals so much.
One of our favorites is pineapple. I drain a can of crushed pineapple. Its like a delicious cross between pineapple upside down cake and oatmeal cookies. We love it!
Gina, this sounds really good! I’m going to have to try it. I love pineapple. I wonder about adding dried/frozen cherries to it like in the pineapple upside down cake. Bet that would be good!
Crushed Pineapple is great in a carrot cake style baked oatmeal with grated carrots raisins shredded coconut crushed walnuts cinnamon ginger and brown sugar!
Thanks for the reminder! I have made a carrot cake version, but have not shared it. I just did carrot though I did not add pineapple. I will have to tr yit with the pineapple. Thanks for sharing what you do.
My family loves your oatmeal so much that we eat it every day of the week! I have been doing some experimenting with your basic recipe and came up with a Cinnamon Roll Baked Oatmeal recipe here: https://prairiescraps.blogspot.com/2012/03/cinnamon-roll-baked-oatmeal.html. I gave you a great shout out for helping me find something my whole family loves!
YUM!! That looks really good. I love the version you came up with.
I am a few months new to your site and love what I have tried so far. I really like the baked oatmeal recipes. Have you ever tried using steel cut oats? I know they are so different and didn’t want to try it before asking. Thanks.
I have never tried it with steel cut oats. I am guessing the texture would be quite different using them and you would have to adjust the liquid I think. If you try it, I would love to hear how it works.
My all time favorite is the apple cinnamon. I was so glad to hear you can freeze it.
I wonder if you could do raisin cinnamon baked oatmeal?
We have done that version, but I guess I have not posted it. I will take pictures next time I make it and share what I do.
I have a recipe for warm fruit compote in the slow cooker (which keeps in the fridge and reheats well) that would go great over your basic recipe!!! Hmmmm…..gonna have to try it!! It’s a variation of this one: https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/Warm-Fruit-Compote-3
Hi Lynn,
I’m curious – have you ever made it without the baking powder and if so does it make a noticeable difference? I haven’t done a lot of cooking without flour, so am not sure how much oatmeal and milk rise.
Made a delicious Chunky Monkey baked oatmeal posted by Vegan Yack Attack! thanks for the tips on freezing
I’ve made the peanut butter baked oatmeal and it’s fantastic! Thanks for sharing it. I’m wondering if you could add protein powder somehow to these… Any suggestions? Increase the milk or eggs or butter?
I have not tried it, but I think you could easily add protein powder. I think you could increase the milk and eggs, but I think it would change the texture some.
Lynn! You are fabulous! I’m always looking for things to cook and I just LOVE all your baked oatmeals. I have a 20 year old son with all his “brothers” and we started with the blueberry oatmeal and now they are always asking me to make them. I’m not a good cook, but can follow a recipe, and went out on a limb and tried cooking these in my jumbo muffins and they are fabulous. Thanks for your blog/website, just love snooping around :o)
I am so glad that you and your family love these. Thanks so much for letting me know.
Does this need to be refrigerated after it cooks, or is it more like a cookie after baking? I’m wondering about sending some in my daughter’s lunch and whether it should be on ice or if I should put it in her thermos. Both my girls love oatmeal, and I’m really excited to try all these recipes. Thanks so much!!
I don’t refrigerate them unless they are out more than 24 hours or so because they are more like a cookie, or healthy cookie, after baking. I have made these many times and left them out on the counter overnight or taken them out of the fridge and used them for lunch. My kids sometimes heat them up for breakfast so they are a warm breakfast cookie, but they eat them cold as well. I think they would make a great lunchbox item for back to school.
Made mixed berry, strawberry and peach so far and like all of them. Will try the rest of flavors and so glad they freeze well. So good not making it everyday and I prefer the baked texture. Thank-you so much for all you do has been a great help to me.
I have never had baked oatmeal and saw your recipes. I want to bake for family in the morning. Can I use almond milk instead of whole milk? How will this affect the recipe?
I have never used almond milk but I have used coconut milk and it works fine. I just use a little less of it. So, yes I think almond milk would work fine. It might just taste a little different, but besides that I think it will be good.
I’m so glad I found your oatmeal!!! I have however modified it to diabetic freindly by using 1/2 Splenda and 1/2 sugar free syrup or honey instead of regular sugars. It’s great!! I’ve made mixed berry several times and apple cinnamon today. My family loves it and can’t tell it’s not made with real sugar.
I am so glad to know that it works diabetic friendly! I have other people ask that question, but no one has let me know if it works or not, so now I know what to tell people that ask me that. Thank you for letting me know!
I so love all your recipes, tips, tricks and posts. I am blessed to have found your site.
So just curious…the pictures make it look like the texture is like thick oatmeal that you would eat with a spoon, but in some of the comments, people were making them in muffin tins and saying they are more like the consistency of a healthy cookie…just curious what the texture is supposed to be like…thick oatmeal with a spoon or more like a cake/muffin/cookie that you could cut / hold with your hand?
The texture is not like a bowl of oatmeal. That is why so many of my readers that don’t like regular oatmeal love baked oatmeal. It is not as soggy or mushy as a regular bowl of oatmeal. It is more dry than regular oatmeal. We do eat it with a spoon though. The best way I can describe it as a cross between a bowl of oatmeal and a cake. It is bar like. So, yes more like a healthish cookie type of thing. And yes they work great in a muffin tin. When made in a muffin tin you can just pick it up and eat it, so it is great for taking on the go, making ahead, for freezing, and for kids. I make them both in a 9×13 pan and in muffin tins depending on what I want them for. I hope that helps.