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 Frontier Co-op ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon fine-grain sea salt (or ½ teaspoon regular table salt)
- ¼ teaspoon Frontier Co-op 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, 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.
- I prefer this baked oatmeal served warm, but it is also good at room temperature or chilled (I’ll leave that up to you!). This oatmeal keeps well in the refrigerator, covered, for 4 to 5 days. I 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!
AlohaNoreen
Hi Kate and Cookie,
I added the butter or coconut oil to the oats. This way it doesn’t need rewarming, nor does it clump up.
Susan Moore
Trying it for my 78 yr old husband who is recovering from a heart attack and doing well. We’re starting on a healthier plan of eating and am excited to try this!!! Will let you know how he likes it!!! Our daughter says it’s wonderful!!! Thank you for sharing! God bless you!
Kate
I hope he recovers well! I’m glad this one was a great one for your family. Sending your family my thoughts, Susan!
Shawna
Waaay too salty – I’d put 1/4 tsp sea salt next time. My kids had to add quite a bit of maple syrup to make this palatable. It was seriously very salty. But potentially good with less salt.
★★
Kate
I’m sorry you didn’t enjoy this recipe. You can adjust next time. Are you sure it wasn’t more than that? Fine grain should be subtle.
Rachel
OMG….
This recipe has become a staple for me and my 9 mo old. I usually make it 2/3 x a month using frozen mixed berries and we’ll eat it for breakfast for the week.
The last time I made it I did frozen cherries and added 1tsp of almond extract.
So good I couldn’t stop munching the day I made it!!!
50 out of 10 would recommend making it that way!
*I aso reduced the salt to just a pinch.
Kate
I love it! Thank you for sharing, Rachel.
Kash
Tried this and I thought it tasted awesome! It is really high in calories so next time I may just bake as a desert but overall easy and great tasting! Would make this again for sure, will probably find some lower calorie alternatives but overall Love it! Thanks!
★★★★★
Kate
I’m happy you enjoyed it, Kash! Thank you for your review.
Emily
I am sorry to write this but this was probably the worst thing I have ever tasted. I am not a picky eater… I can eat many things but this was straight out terrible. I added a lot less salt than the recipe mentioned and it was still inedible. I think the fact that you mix the baking powder with the dry ingredients and then it just gets stuck on the bottom and top in a massive concentration due to not mixing together the wet and dry ingredients. It was a waste of materials and my time.
★★
Kate
Hi Emily, I’m sorry to hear you are disappointed by this recipe. I tested this method several times and found it worked. Maybe mixing your ingredients more may help. Also, ensure you are using aluminum free baking powder.
Kelli Stone
Just made baked oatmeal for the first time. Its so good! It won’t be the last. I made it with blueberry raspberry and strawberries, delicious!
★★★★★
Kate
Great to hear, Kelli! Thank you for your review.
Sara Hulse
Hi! I can’t eat eggs or flax. Do you think I could substitute eggs with applesauce? Thank you!
★★★★★
Kate
I don’t think it would work here, sorry!
Sylvie
Could I use a really mild Olive Oil instead of the Coconut Oil? On a Mediterranean diet for cholesterol and the Coconut Oil is a no-no for me. Thank you for your wonderful recipes!
Kate
Hi! Unfortunately, butter or coconut oil worked the best for me.
Camille
Love the concept. I agree that it was way too salty. I found that adding the salt to the dry ingredients (when you don’t actually stir them with the wet ingredients) also made the distribution really uneven so some parts of the dish were inedible. I ended up throwing mine away and am going to make it again adding (way less) salt to the wet ingredients before combining in the pan.
★★★
Kate
Hi Camille, I’m sorry to hear you found this too salty. I have made this several times while testing and since and haven’t quite got that same taste. O appreciate your feedback and may revisit at a later date.
Crystal
This is an awesome recipe. I like adding some orange zest and a dollop of honey cream cheese on the side. Thanks for sharing!
★★★★★
Kate
I’m glad you loved it, Crystal! I appreciate your review.
Katie
Sooooo salty. Had to throw the whole thing out. Would have been good otherwise.
★★
Kate
Hi Katie, I’m sorry to hear you didn’t enjoy this one.