Stir together this wholesome Baked Oatmeal recipe before bed, pop it into the oven when you wake up, and you can sit down to a hearty bowl of oatmeal with the family without any standing by the stove and stirring!
Easy Baked Oatmeal Recipe
This breakfast recipe is easy and delicious and it’s a nice way to change up how you usually serve oatmeal. It somehow feels more decadent baked in a pan like this—and it’s a nice hands-off way to cook oatmeal if you can’t be near the stove to stir.
Baked Oatmeal with Blueberries
This is one of my favorite baked oatmeal recipes because it tastes so rich and comforting, but it’s full of whole grains—and fiber and fruit. It’s perfect on busy weekdays (especially if the kids wake you up early!) and you can make it ahead of time and simply warm it up as needed.
Ingredients in Baked Oatmeal
This baked oatmeal recipe has steel cut oats—and it’s a much easier way to cook them than cooking them on the stovetop!—coconut milk, water, honey, eggs, blueberries, and some spices. I buy the small canister of steel cut oats and then remind myself to make this dish once or twice to use it up!
TIP: You can use maple syrup instead of honey if you prefer.
Baked Oatmeal with Rolled Oats
If you’d rather use rolled oats, you can substitute them for the steel cut ones. See the Notes section at the bottom of the recipe for the details.
Can I make this without coconut?
Okay, fine, I guess I understand how not everyone loves coconut as much as I do! Simply use regular milk (or a plain unsweetened nondairy milk) and omit the shredded coconut. The coconut adds nice flavor, but it’s totally fine if you want to leave it out.
How to Make Baked Oatmeal Step-by-Step
Here’s a look at the process involved in making this simple breakfast. You do need to start it the night before so the steel cut oats have a chance to properly soften, but otherwise, all you really need to do is stir it together.
- THE NIGHT BEFORE: Generously grease a 3-quart casserole or 9-inch square baking dish with coconut oil.
- Whisk together the eggs, coconut milk, honey, and vanilla until smooth—then add water, the steel-cut oats, and salt.
- Pour mixture into the prepared dish, press the berries gently on top, and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate overnight.
- In the morning, preheat the oven, remove plastic wrap, and bake until set in the middle.
- Drizzle with a little extra honey and sprinkle with coconut.
This looks great but I’m worried my kids won’t eat it! Help!
And that is a common concern when feeding our families, isn’t it? Here are some tips.
- To serve this to older babies, omit the sweetener and plan to drizzle some onto your serving. You can serve it in small pea-size pieces or mash it in warm milk and spoon feed it.
- For toddlers, they may enjoy topping their serving with some yogurt or nut butter! And start with a small serving at first so you don’t overwhelm them with too much of a new food.
Tips for Making the Best Baked Oatmeal
- Steel-cut oats require a fair amount of liquid and cooking time, so do plan to stir this together the night before to allow them time to soak.
- You can use maple syrup instead of honey if you prefer.
- Use 1 1/2 cups rolled up in place of the steel cut oats if you’d like.
- Use fresh or frozen blueberries, according to what you enjoy most or have on hand
- Serve this warm with additional milk, cream, or yogurt as you like. (It’s also pretty good cold, which is handy if your serving cools off while you’re tending to the kids…)
I’d love to hear if you make the recipe, so please comment below with feedback!
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PinDescription
This recipe is adapted from Brown Eggs and Jam Jars: Family Recipes from the Kitchen of Simple Bites. You can use either fresh or frozen berries in this.
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon coconut oil
- 2 medium eggs
- 5 ounces canned coconut milk
- 1/3 cup honey, warmed
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups water
- 1 cup steel-cut oats
- 1/4 cup shredded, unsweetened coconut
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup blueberries
Instructions
1. THE NIGHT BEFORE: Generously grease a 3-quart casserole or 9-inch square baking dish with coconut oil. In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, coconut milk, honey, and vanilla until smooth. Add 2 cups water, the steel-cut oats, and salt. Mix well.
2. Pour mixture into the prepared dish, press the berries gently on top, and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate overnight.
3. In the morning, preheat oven to 350 F . Remove plastic wrap and bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until set in the middle.
5. Drizzle with a little extra honey and sprinkle with coconut. Serve hot with additional milk if you like.
Notes
Leftovers can be stored, covered, in the fridge for 3-5 days. Serve cold or reheat as desired.
You can use maple syrup instead of honey if you prefer.
Use 1 1/2 cups rolled up in place of the steel cut oats if you’d like.
Use fresh or frozen blueberries.
Use canned coconut milk, not the kind sold in the dairy aisle for best flavor.
You can swap in regular milk or another nondairy milk if you prefer.
Has anyone frozen this?
★★★★★
I have and the berries got a little weird but it was otherwise okay!
Is it 5 ounces of coconut milk or 15 ounces (about a usual full can amount)? Just wanted to confirm before I make this great recipe!
5 ounces, so a little over 1/2 cup. Sorry if that amount seemed odd!
Do you have any suggestions on getting the sweetness without maple syrup or honey if making for a baby under one year? TIA!
I think you could omit the maple syrup/honey and stir in 1 mashed very ripe banana just before you bake. I bet that would be yummy!
Do you have a good substitute for eggs in this recipe?
You can use 2 tablespoons ground flaxseed instead of the egg. The consistency isn’t exactly the same, but it works!
I misread the directions and left the mixture out on the counter (not in fridge) overnight and then baked in morning. It has kind of a funny taste. Is it not safe to eat it?
It’s probably not safe to eat eggs that were out of the shell at room temperature all night. I’m sorry that happened!
Hi, I was wondering if this recipe would work the same with the quick cooking steel cut oats, I assume you were using the regular kind but all I can seem to find is the quick 3 minute cooking kind? Would they still need to sit overnight? Thanks!!
I haven’t tried it with the quick cooking ones but I looked around at a few other recipes and it sounds like you can do it with those without letting them sit. I’d still mix the oatmeal and let it sit while the oven preheats so it has at least a little time sitting just to be sure it will work! You may also want to increase the oats to 1 1/2 cups to make sure it’s not too much liquid for the dry ingredients to absorb in a shorter amount of time.
The blueberries and honey made this a big hit for my 14 month twins. The coconut milk added a lovely flavor as well. They enjoyed practicing eating with a spoon too! Thank you
★★★★★
I’m so glad!
This recipe was delicious! Prepped it last night and baked it this morning- it started browning ~the 50 min mark so I took it out then. I left out the shredded coconut and instead added 1/2 teaspoon of chia seeds as that’s what I had on hand. The coconut milk really gives it a good flavor and I love the consistency of the steel cut oats (first time using them).
Thanks for the recipe!!
★★★★★
I’m so glad to hear that you enjoyed it!
Hi! The baked oatmeal recipe link is broken…didn’t work. Can you check? I got to this page from the Week 3 podcast link. Thanks!
Sorry about that! I fixed it and here it is: https://www.yummyfamilyfood.com/recipes/breakfast/baked-oatmeal-recipe/
I’ve made this twice, but I’m having trouble with the thickness. The ONLY thing I’m doing differently is using rolled oats in place of steel cut. (I have celiac disease, and I can’t easily find gluten-free steel cut in stores.) Is it really 2 cups of water? It is VERY liquid at first. I have to refrigerate overnight, then bake, then refrigerate again to get it to firm up. I’ve even cut the water in half, and I still have to cool it down to get it to thicken. My whole family LOVES this recipe, so I want to find out how to make it right! 🙂
Hi Jenn! Rolled oats don’t need nearly as much water as steel cut, as you’ve learned, so you you might need just two cups total liquid. So maybe try one cup water and one cup coconut milk, rather than using the full can? Or, if you really love the coconut flavor, use the full can and about 1/4 cup water. I am happy to try this for you if you can give me a few days since this is my best guess but I can’t say for sure until I try it out!
Hi! Were you able to figure this out with rolled oats as opposed to steel cut? I know it was over a year ago… but I thought I’d ask anyway. I’d like to give this recipe a try. Thank you!
Sorry for taking so long on that! Use 1.5 rolled oats (so an extra half cup) and the rest of the recipe is the same. It’s super yummy!
I just made this! Delicious! I substituted maple syrup for honey and skipped the vanilla (I was out). I also added a dash of cinnamon to the mix. Turned out really good. I’ll make it again! One note – the shredded coconut toasted very quickly and I burned the first batch. Maybe because I used my toaster oven. It only took about 20 seconds to burn!
Thanks for letting me know that Stephanie—I bet it was the toaster oven since they can get really hot really fast (and the heating mechanisms are usually closer to the food), but I’m glad that you otherwise enjoyed it!
Thanks for sharing your twist on one of your favorite recipes! It took closer to an hour to come together for me this morning, but everyone loved it. Will be making again.