There’s nothing better than a breakfast that basically makes itself! This baked oatmeal recipe comes together in a snap and tastes amazing.
I don’t use the term “the best” lightly, but this baked oatmeal? It really is the best. I have tried so many basic baked oatmeal versions and pretty much all of them were mediocre at best: Too thin, too mushy, too much fuss, too sweet, not sweet enough…
In the end, I decided to create my own recipe combining all the features I want in my baked oatmeal, and of course I had to share it with you here.
This baked oatmeal
- comes out thick, fluffy and cake-like
- is sweet enough to be delicious, but not too sweet – definitely still breakfast appropriate (I mean it is for me, if you’re very cathartic about your breakfast… maybe try my blueberry baked oatmeal without any refined sugar?)
- has just the right texture – not dry, not mushy, nope… just right, like the little bear’s bowl in the Goldilocks story
- is definitely 100% fuss-free to make, pinky promise
Ingredients you’ll need
Here is a visual overview of the ingredients in the recipe. Scroll down to the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post for quantities!
Ingredient notes
- Oats: This recipe works best with regular rolled oats. If you’re using old-fashioned, I recommend to let them soak for at least one hour. Quick oats come out too mushy. Please do NOT make this with steel cut oats, they need a lot more liquid and this recipe will not work. (Seriously, it doesn’t. If you try and it fails… You’ve been appropriately warned.)
- Milk: Use whatever milk your heart desires. Whole, 2%, 1%, skim, almond, giraffe… Well, maybe the giraffe milk is a bit too difficult to find, but I’m assuming it would actually work.
- Butter: You can use oil instead of the melted butter. The butter definitely makes it taste more luxurious though. And a little luxury for breakfast makes all the difference for those not-so-morning people among us.
Step by step photos
Ok, got all of your ingredients? Then let’s get this party started. (And yes, baked oatmeal is indeed a reason to party.)
First, you’ll add all the dry ingredients to a large bowl. Really, use a bowl large enough or you’ll curse yourself and the mess you made on your counter later.
Then, stir them well. This is important so you evenly distribute both the salt and the baking powder.
P.S: I definitely posed this “stirring” photo and I’m not actually stirring but holding the spatula very still. My husband says I’m crazy, but I prefer to call myself normalcy challenged.
Anyways, moving on:
Add all remaining ingredients (aka the “wet ingredients”) to the bowl. Yep, you can just add them all to the dry ingredients without needing to combine them in a separate bowl first. Less dishes, always.
Finally, stir the mix very well. It’s going to take a little bit of effort to break up those egg yolks and distribute them evenly.
(This is where the “large enough bowl” comes into play – if you’re cursing yourself right now because your counter is covered in unbaked oatmeal? Sorry to say, but I told you so).
Last but not least, pour everything into a greased baking dish and… Well, bake your oatmeal. You can also cover and refrigerate it up to overnight at this point, if you want to make your oatmeal ahead and bake it later!
And once it’s baked and cooled a little (yes, you do need to let it cool it a little… sorry, I know, it’s the hardest part of this recipe)… Slice it…
… and serve with all the fixin’s!
Serving ideas
While you can just slap a bar of this into your kids’ hands (and call it an oatmeal breakfast bar) while you’re hurrying them out of the house in the morning… You can also be classy about it and make it a sit-down breakfast.
Serve the oatmeal slices in bowls with extra milk, fresh fruit and maple syrup for everyone to add themselves.
(This exact classy scenario is also how my 3 year old once dumped an entire bottle of maple syrup over a single slice of oatmeal while I was trying to wrangle the baby into his carrier. Ah, the joys of motherhood.)
Make ahead instructions
In case you skipped over the step by step photos (come on, we both know 95% of you did)… here are the make ahead instructions again, plus some more:
To prep the oatmeal now and bake later:
Make the oatmeal up to adding the mixture to the baking dish. Cover and refrigerate up to overnight.
Bake in the morning, uncovered, as directed in the recipe. You’ll need to add around 10 minutes to the baking time because the oatmeal is very cold from being in the fridge all night.
To store the baked oatmeal:
Let the oatmeal cool to room temperature, then cover (or place the sliced oatmeal in a container with a lid). Place in the fridge for up to 3 days. Gently reheat in the microwave, if you like.
To freeze the baked oatmeal:
Let the oatmeal cool to room temperature. Slice into bars and wrap each well in plastic wrap. Either place in freezer bags or in freezer-friendly containers. Label with the name and use-by date (freeze for up to 3 months).
To defrost, remove the oatmeal from the freezer bag or container. Let sit on the counter for 10-15 minutes, until you can remove the plastic wrap. Place the oatmeal bars on a wire rack and defrost on the counter for a couple of hours. Reheat in the microwave, if you like.
And that, my friends… Is the very lengthy story of my baked oatmeal recipe.
tl;dr: Stir everything together in a bowl. Add to a baking dish and bake. Eat way too hot, burning the roof of your mouth, because you can’t resist the delicious smell. Or maybe that’s just me… The end.
(Just in case it wasn’t perfectly clear, this is humor in the sentence above. Obviously, do not eat the oatmeal way too hot. Eat it at a safe temperature for your precious mouth. Please.)
More baked oatmeal recipes
PS If you try this recipe, please leave a review in the comment section and add a star rating in the recipe card – I appreciate your feedback! Follow along on Pinterest, Facebook or Instagram.
Printable recipe
The Best Baked Oatmeal
Recipe details
Ingredients
- 6 cups rolled oats uncooked
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 4 large eggs
- 4 cups milk
- 1 stick butter melted
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Instructions
- Heat oven to 375°F and lightly grease a 9×13 inch baking pan.
- Combine oats, brown sugar, baking powder, salt and cinnamon in a large bowl. Add eggs, milk, melted butter and vanilla and mix very well.
- Spread in prepared pan. Bake for 40 minutes, or until set. Let cool for 5 minutes, then slice into bars to serve.
Shelbie says
Nice flavor and moist
Nora says
I’m so glad, Shelbie!
Jessica says
William this turn out horrible if I leave out the eggs? My son has an egg allergy, sadly. I’ve tried “flax egg” in the past and it was a terrible substitute 😂
Nora says
Jessica, first off… had to chuckle about the autocorrect in your comment, I had to leave it, haha! William will not turn out horrible 😉 and the oatmeal will also be fine if you use 1 cup applesauce or 1 cup Greek yogurt… or a combination. It will lose some fluff and be a little denser, and it does lose a little bit of the “I stick together” texture. But yes, serve it with a spoon and it’s just fine!
Carolyn Karn says
Is this made with quick oats? Can I use quick oats?
Nora says
I always use oats from a small local producer and they call them “small flake oats”. As long as you use quick oats that are simply rolled oats cut smaller that should work fine! If you have instant quick oats though, they will not work well in this recipe. Hope this helps!
Carolyn Karn says
Thank you! Im just now making it a second time, my whole little family loved it!
Rhonda says
This is a keeper, easy to prepare all ingredients are usually on hand and delicious
Phyllis Wright says
Absolutely delicious with a few changes. I’m doing WW so I used zero calorie brown sugar. I added a little more cinnamon, allspice, and fat free half and half. When I ate it I topped it with zero calorie nonfat Greek yogurt mixed with a little honey and cinnamon. I forgot to soak the oats but the texture was fine.
Judy says
This is a wonderful recipes. I can always depend on Nora to give me tasty and easy recipes for my family
Lora says
Couldn’t find my usual recipe but this sounded very similar and it was even better! So good – we have been eating the leftovers for a few days.
Karen Casey says
Awesome goodness!! Thank you for this recipe. it truly is the best! I did make a few substitutions to make it low-calorie. I replaced the brown sugar with brown sugar sweetener, (I use Swerve), I used unsweetened applesauce in place of the butter, and egg beaters instead of real eggs. I also halved the recipe and put it in an 8×8 pan that made 6 servings. Not sure of the calories of each serving, however, I imagine it cut quite a few and it tasted awesome!
Ashley Blanchard says
Thank you for this recipe! I work at a daycare and use it weekly. Even the picky ones love it. While it’s still hot I top with jam. We call it breakfast cake.
Lindsey says
My daughter and I made this for breakfast. We added 1 whole honey crisp apple diced.
Paige says
This *is* the best baked oatmeal recipe. I do measure the cinnamon and vanilla with my heart haha but the texture is perfect. Thanks!!
Brenda Eichelberger says
Hubby loved it with vanilla and blueberries on top
Wendell K Tinker says
Brilliant recipe and very nicely written up! Thank you! Looking forward to experimenting with adding some nuts or fruit.
p.s. since growing one almond takes 3.2 gallons of water, please help to discourage use of almond milk! Literally anything else is better 🙂
Nora says
I’m glad you enjoyed the recipe, Wendell! And I know, you are very right about the almond milk. Unfortunately, it’s still the most commonly used dairy substitute and I have to walk a very fine line between serving my readers’ needs and sharing my personal views. It’s not easy!
Amie says
This has been my go-to baked oatmeal recipe for at least a year now! The BEST!
Julie says
Even though I messed it up by halving it and putting it in a springform pan that leaked AND my oven tells me it’s at 375 when it’s really only 350, this came out great! Thank you! Do you have any advice for those of us who might want to make this as muffins? Thank you!!
Josie says
Can I use Greek yogurt instead of milk
Nora says
No… You can, however, use Greek yogurt thinned out with water, or almond milk, if that’s what you prefer.
Anna says
My pickiest eater loves this stuff. Mom approved.
Nora says
I’m so glad, Anna!
myrto says
Could you add metric? in grams???
Nora says
Done 🙂
Susan says
I added blueberries, yummy.
Nora says
I’m so glad, Susan!
Devorah says
Can this be made with steel cut oats? Perhaps by preparing the night before (which is always a great morning shortcut!) so it can soak up liquids?
Nora says
Devorah, I have never tried baked oatmeal with steel cut oats, so unfortunately I cannot advise on this.
Maxie B says
Delicious!
Nora says
I’m glad you enjoyed the oatmeal, Maxie!
Carolynne says
this was great and produced a high yield! I only had chocolate oat milk that was dairy free in the cupboard but it worked well. I also subbed half the sugar for peanut butter which also worked as I thought this was a lot of sugar.
Nora says
I’m glad it worked out well with your substitutions, Carolynne!
Dee says
Did I miss the measurements of ingredients?.
Nora says
The measurements are in the printable recipe card. Just click “jump to recipe” at the top and it will take you right there. Hope this helps, Dee!
Jennifer says
If I half the recipie, how long will I bake for ?
Amy Forgione says
Question: When you say to soak the old fashion oaks, am I soaking them in the milk from the recipe or separate from the liquid that’s called for?
Recipe sounds delicious
Nora says
Amy, you soak them in the liquid from the recipe!