Spring is passing me by. I’m so utterly immersed in projects for my cookbook that I’m nearly missing the magnolias blooming outside. Fortunately, my dog Cookie always reminds me to slow down for a minute.
She starts pouncing on me every evening as the sun goes down, in her persistent, borderline desperate, but always cute sort of way. “Hey! Hey hey hey! Hello in there! Let’s go outside!” She gets her walk, and I catch some blooms as the sun sets.
I’ve also been forgetting to eat breakfast, which is a dangerous game. I got a big slap on the wrist for it last week, when I was photographing food and had to pause and sit down for a while. Shaky, lightheaded, sweaty—hypoglycemia symptoms are not cute, and never welcome. It was a reminder that I really have to eat well. We all do, or it will catch up with us eventually. My symptoms just come on sooner than most.
That’s why I started cooking in the first place. I couldn’t afford to eat out for every meal, but I had to eat well. So, naturally, I had to learn how to cook. Frontier Co-Op asked me how I cook with purpose—I cook with wholesome ingredients, so I’m properly fueled for my days. Then, I find greater purpose in sharing those recipes with you all.
I feel good about sharing recipes that make me feel good. As a reminder to eat breakfast, I made some blueberry baked oatmeal for the week.
Healthy Baked Oatmeal Notes & Tips
This baked oatmeal recipe is loaded with wholesome ingredients—oats, nuts, maple syrup and blueberries. A couple of eggs bind it all together, and a light drizzle of butter on top makes it taste like a treat.
This baked oatmeal keeps me full all morning long, especially when I serve it with a big dollop of Greek yogurt.
Change It Up
I loved it as written below, but the recipe is highly adaptable. I used frozen blueberries (right from the bag), but you can use any fruit you’d like. You could also change up the nuts and spices.
I think an apple version would be great in the fall, and raspberry-banana might be fun with cashews and coconut milk in the summer.
I used Frontier’s cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla. I love that their spices have stories that you can trace back through their labels. Like, the Fair Trade ceylon cinnamon that I used in this recipe came from a co-op of farmers in Sri Lanka. The vanilla comes from Madagascar, where Frontier helped dig 49 wells to provide clean water to nearly 25,000 people.
Please let me know how you like this recipe in the comments. I hope it becomes a staple in your kitchen, too!
Craving more healthy oat breakfast recipes? You’ll love these:
- Favorite Overnight Oats
- The Very Best Granola
- Homemade Bircher Muesli
- Apple Steel-Cut Oatmeal and Perfect Steel-Cut Oats
Watch How to Make Baked Oatmeal
Blueberry Baked Oatmeal
- Author:
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 40 mins
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 6 to 8 servings 1x
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: By hand
- Cuisine: American
This naturally sweetened baked oatmeal recipe features blueberries (or any fruit you’d like), wholesome oats, nuts and warming spices. You can bake some now and enjoy oatmeal for the rest of the week! Recipe yields 6 to 8 servings.
Ingredients
- ⅔ cup roughly chopped pecans
- 2 cups old-fashioned oats
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon fine-grain sea salt (or ½ teaspoon regular table salt)
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 ¾ cups milk of choice (almond milk, coconut milk, oat milk or cow’s milk all work)
- ⅓ cup maple syrup or honey
- 2 large eggs or flax eggs
- 3 tablespoons melted unsalted butter or coconut oil, divided
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 12 ounces or 1 pint fresh or frozen blueberries (or 2 ½ cups of your preferred berry/fruit, chopped into ½” pieces if necessary), divided
- 2 teaspoons raw sugar (optional)
- Optional toppings for serving: plain/vanilla yogurt or whipped cream, additional maple syrup or honey for drizzling, and/or additional fresh fruit
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 9-inch square baking dish. Once the oven has finished preheating, pour the nuts onto a rimmed baking sheet. Toast for 4 to 5 minutes, until fragrant.
- In a medium mixing bowl, combine the oats, toasted nuts, cinnamon, baking powder, salt and nutmeg. Whisk to combine.
- In a smaller mixing bowl, combine the milk, maple syrup or honey, egg, half of the butter or coconut oil, and vanilla. Whisk until blended. (If you used coconut oil and it solidified in contact with the cold ingredients, briefly microwave the bowl in 30 second increments, just until the coconut oil melts again.)
- Reserve about ½ cup of the berries for topping the baked oatmeal, then arrange the remaining berries evenly over the bottom of the baking dish (no need to defrost frozen fruit first). Cover the fruit with the dry oat mixture, then drizzle the wet ingredients over the oats. Wiggle the baking dish to make sure the milk moves down through the oats, then gently pat down any dry oats resting on top.
- Scatter the remaining berries across the top. Sprinkle some raw sugar on top if you’d like some extra sweetness and crunch.
- Bake for 42 to 45 minutes (if using frozen berries, 45 to 50 minutes), until the top is nice and golden. Remove your baked oatmeal from the oven and let it cool for a few minutes. Drizzle the remaining melted butter on the top before serving.
- Serve as-is or with toppings of your choice. I prefer this baked oatmeal served warm, but it is also good at room temperature or chilled. This oatmeal keeps well in the refrigerator, covered, for 4 to 5 days. If desired, simply reheat individual portions in the microwave before serving.
Notes
Recipe adapted from my baked oatmeal with blackberries and bananas, which was originally adapted from Super Natural Every Day by Heidi Swanson.
Make it gluten free: Be sure to use certified gluten-free oats.
Make it vegan: Use non-dairy milk, flax eggs and coconut oil.
Make it nut free: You can skip the nuts, or use pepitas (green pumpkin seeds) instead.
▸ Nutrition Information
This post is sponsored by Frontier Co-Op and I received compensation for my participation. Opinions are my own, always. Thank you for supporting the sponsors who support C+K!
Lyn Reasbeck
Absolutely delicious! Turned out beautifully and I’ve shared it with friends and family. It was recommended to me by a dietitian.
Perfect breakfast as I batch cook for the week ahead.
★★★★★
Kerry
Hi Kate
I felt this was a bit dense and I also saw parts of the egg cooked so I’m wondering if I didn’t whisk enough or maybe cooked too long?
Kate
Hi Kerry, I’m sorry to hear that! Did you fully blend your wet ingredients?
Elise
Hello,
I love your site…it’s my go to for many recipes.
Made this and ended up using pineapple as I realized last minute I was out of blueberries.
However, I found this recipe salty.
I think next time I will not add the salt, or just use 1/4 tsp.
★★★★
Sue
I agree! I love this recipe and make it almost weekly but I cur the salt down to 1/4 tsp too. It was way too salty with 1/2 tsp!
Wendy
I love this recipe and my family does too (adults, tweens and toddlers)! I have made it several times. I’ve made adjustments from time to time, depending on who I was serving it to (left out the nuts, or less nutmeg for me). It reheats well the next few days and it’s a good, filling breakfast. Thank you for this dish !
★★★★★
Kate
You’re welcome, Wendy!
Carissa
Mine turned out a little too wet throughout (will see how it reheats) next time I want to omit all fruit and just serve it with a side of fresh fruit. Flavor is great though! Looking forward to trying it again
★★★★
Kate
Thank you for sharing, Carissa!
Jenn
Hi, I wanted to tell you how much I love this recipe – have made it three times in the past two weeks! It’s perfect for a make ahead breakfast. Plenty of protein with the nuts and milk and eggs. I also added a mashed banana the last two times I made this (only because I didn’t want them to go to waste). Please keep up the great work – love your recipes!
★★★★★
Kate
Thank you, Jenn! I’m glad you did. I appreciate you sharing.
Elisha
This recipe is delicious! I added 2T chia, used coconut milk and call else the same. It will become a regular at my house! Thank you!
★★★★★
robert martin
I’ve made baked oatmeal recipes in the past but this was far-and-away the best one I’ve tried. It’s a perfect blend of flavor and textures. Not sure where all the “overly salty” reviews are coming from, but I couldn’t disagree more. Perfect as is.
★★★★★
Kate
I’m glad you think so, Robert! I appreciate your review.
Laura Beatty
Way too salty! Why wouldn’t you mix the dry and wet ingredients before putting them in the pan. That just makes since. Salt and finer ingredients fall to the bottom of the bowl through the oatmeal. I would change this recipe that is posted so people stop not liking it.
★★
Kate
I’m sorry you didn’t love this one, Laura. I appreciate your feedback. I have made it both ways and retested it and just didn’t have the same experience.
Stacey MacLean
This looks wonderful! I’m wondering if I can put it all together the night before, put it in the frig overnight and bake it in the morning?
Kate
Hi Stacey, I don’t recommend letting this sit overnight. The oats will soak up all the liquid and it won’t quite bake up the same. You could try mixing wet & dry and keep it separate until you are ready to bake. Let me know if you try it!
Kate
I made this for a party so assembled it the night before (along with a strata). Clearly I didn’t read the comments ahead of time… but it actually was delicious and turned out great!
★★★★★
Kate
Does anyone happen to know how many points this would be for one serving, made with the recipe as is?
★★★★★
Chris
Making th..is for the 2nd time with a large can of apples a handful of pecans, dates chopped and a handful of deciccated coconut. Beaut recipe for this Aussie senior as we eat this over 4 days. Thanks for the great recipe Kate.
★★★★★
Kate
You’re welcome, Chris! I’m glad you enjoy it.
Liz
HUGE HIT! Made this for me and my toddler. He gobbled it up. Read reviews and decreased salt to 1/4 tsp. Let it rest for a while after baking and it set it perfectly. Seemed too wet at first, but it just needed to cool! This will be in our breakfast rotation. Love all your baked recipes!
★★★★★
Kate
That’s great to hear, Liz! Thank you for you review.
Jamie
SO delicious!! This is going straight into the rotation!!
★★★★★
Charlotte Kieckhafer
This oatmeal was absolutely delicious! Tonight I doubled the recipe and used a 9×13 pan and it baked up beautifully. I’m usually sensitive to salty food and can taste it right away if it’s salted too much. My husband and I didn’t find this to be salty at all. I made the recipe as is and wouldn’t change one thing, well…maybe might have to triple next time since my kids all ate seconds. Thank you for your website! I frequent your site very often and I’ve never ran into a recipe I don’t care for. Great work, Kate!
★★★★★
Kate
Great to hear! I’m happy you and your husband both enjoyed it, Charlotte.
Kate
Hi! I doubled this recipe this morning and was wondering how long you baked it for? Thanks!
Kate
Hi Kate, how long did you end up baking it for?
Charlotte Kieckhafer
Unfortunately I don’t remember how long I baked it for. My oven tends to run 5-10 degrees cooler so it’s hard to say.
Bri
This is a great recipe! Topped it with lemon greek yogurt and it was fab!
Very easy to get creative with! (Added PB2, dried mixed berries and a sprinkle of dark chocolate chips.)
I want more oatmeal in my diet and am trying to decrease my sweets so I am going to have a pan of this around consistently for a treat to start and end my day!
★★★★★
Kate
Sounds delicious! Thanks for sharing how you made it.
grace
Absolutely love this recipe! I have used the original recipe multiple times in the past year but, recently have had to change my diet due to health issues so I can’t have any egg or flax. Instead I used a gelatin egg and it worked great! (Also I only use 1/4 tsp of salt)
★★★★★
Kamila
Delicious recipe and a fantastic way to prep your breakfast ahead. It feels like having a cake for breakfast :P I love how versatile it is and I look forward to trying it out with different fruit and topping combos. Thank you! :)
★★★★★
Kate
You’re welcome, Kamila! I appreciate your review.
Jo
Can this be frozen and then thawed out and baked later?
★★★★★
Kate
Hi Joe, I haven’t tried it so I can’t say for sure. I’m not sure how well it will hold up.
Mrs. Price
Hi! I live in high elevation (Colorado). How would you alter your recipe to compensate? Thanks :)
★★★★★
Kate
Hi Mrs. Price. I’m not sure without trying it. Sorry!
Dinali Alexander
So good! Was skeptical about the nutmeg but followed the recipe anyway and the nutmeg worked so well in it. I made half the recipe, then panicked when it was in the oven because I realized I forgot to halve the frozen blueberries, but it was still to die for, in fact I will do the same next time. No issues at all with saltiness or sogginess as I’ve read in a lot of comments – was perfect. Love that it’s not so sweet, great for breakfast. Baked for 45 minutes in 9×9 pan and used Himalayan pink salt. Will most definitely make again. Thank you!
★★★★★
Kate
You’re welcome! I’m excited you plan to make it again.
Jacqueline
I just wanted to say this is my go-to recipe. I use all kids of fruit and added seasonings but wet to dry ratio is always perfect! My fave is apple or pear with walnuts but I’ve done berries, shredded carrot and all work. I’m going to try a chocolate one next!
★★★★★
Kate
That’s great to hear, Jacqueline! I appreciate your review.