Healthy Baked Apple Oatmeal
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This Healthy Baked Apple Oatmeal is perfect for breakfast! With oats, maple syrup, and diced apples this is a delicious baked oatmeal recipe.
Warm apples, hearty oatmeal, crunchy pecans.. what’s not to love about this easy baked oatmeal?
Gluten free, delicious, and simple to make – baked oatmeal is hands down one of our absolute favorite healthy breakfast recipes (which is why we have so many versions! Carrot Cake Baked Oatmeal, Chocolate Peanut Butter Baked Oatmeal, Blueberry Baked Oatmeal to name a few!)
Our favorite thing about baked oatmeal is that instead of having to stand by the stove and watch your breakfast, all the oatmeal ingredients get tossed together and baked in the oven for a simple meal!
This is a great recipe made with only 11 ingredients in under an hour and is easy to meal prep for the week and have for breakfast or snacks!
liz’s top tips for healthy baked oatmeal
- Meal prep friendly – Bake once, eat all week for breakfast. Rather than cleaning a sticky pan every morning, you’ll only have 2 dishes to wash! You can even enjoy it warm or cold!
- You can double the recipe and freeze these in individual portions for a quick reheated breakfast right out of your freezer!
Ingredients
Substitutions
Fresh Apples vs Canned Apples: Fresh apples work best in this recipe. We don’t recommend using canned apples. We love gala, fuji, or pink lady apples for this recipe.
Fruit substitutions: Baked oatmeal is pretty flexible and you can make a lot of substitutions to it. You can sub in any type of fruit or berry (bananas, pears, peaches) in this recipe for the apples. I’d check out this Chocolate Peanut Butter Baked Oatmeal or Healthy Blueberry Baked Oatmeal if you’re looking for something a little more decadent!
Maple Syrup: You can sub honey for maple syrup or agave. I have not tried this with stevia so I’m not sure how that would work. I tested this recipe with honey – both were delicious!
Vegan Baked Oatmeal: Sub egg for one flax egg, sub honey for maple syrup, make sure to use a dairy free chocolate chip
Gluten Free: make sure you’re using gluten free certified rolled oats.
Milk: You can use any type of milk in this recipe. Regular dairy/non dairy will work! Try our homemade Walnut Milk or Almond Milk.
Optional add ins: chopped nuts, chocolate, shredded coconut, or more fresh fruit would be delicious.
Steel Cut Oats: You can use steel cut oatmeal in this recipe. Use 1 cup of steel cut oats and 2 cups of liquid/milk. We have a Baked Steel Cut Oatmeal recipe that you can also follow!
Rolled Oats vs Quick Oats-Quick Cook Oats: I have not tried this with quick cook oats and wouldn’t recommend it. I don’t think that it will hold up/cook correctly with the smaller oats.
Baked Oatmeal Cups: I haven’t tried baking these in muffin cups but I think it would work! The only thing I would say is it will be harder to clean up and it might stick to a muffin tin. I would grease the muffin tins or use these silicone muffin liners. You can bake for a little less time.
Nuts: A 1/2 cup of chopped pecans or chopped walnuts would be a great addition to this recipe.
How to make Healthy Baked Oatmeal
- Mix all your ingredients together and pour into a greased 8×8 baking dish.
- Bake at 350° for 35-40 minutes until solidified. Cool, slice, add a drizzle of maple syrup and enjoy!
Pretty much any apple will work in this recipe. The best apples for baking are Pink Lady apples. They’re a little sweet and a little tart so I find them perfect in baking recipes!
Braeburn or Honeycrisp are also delicious and hold up well. Really – any apple will work in this recipe! We don’t recommend using Granny Smith or other tart apples in this recipe. If you’re looking to learn more about baking/apples check out this post goes in depth on the best apples for baking.
How to serve
This Healthy Baked Oatmeal is a complete meal in itself, but you can serve it with your favorite toppings. I like to serve it with greek yogurt. You can also add maple syrup if you’d like. It’s also delicious with Egg Muffins or Egg White Frittata.
Can I Make this in advance?
Yes you can make baked oatmeal in advance! We would recommend baking, cooling and reheating this, rather than letting the oat mixture sit overnight.
This oatmeal bake also reheats really well so feel free to bake it and then just pop it in the microwave or oven when ready to eat.
If you’d like to prep the dry ingredients and the wet ingredients separately for the batter that would work fine, but don’t mix your batter and leave it in the refrigerator overnight as it might absorb all the liquid.
Storage options
Storing: Do not store this healthy baked oatmeal at room temp. It likely will get moldy or stale if you don’t refrigerate it. This baked oatmeal will last in the refrigerator for up to a week.
Freezing baked oatmeal: Bake, slice and freeze your oatmeal. You can wrap this in individual portions to make it easier, allow slices to freeze and then put them in a ziploc bag or airtight container so they don’t stick together. Baked oatmeal will last about 3 months in the freezer.
Oatmeal bake does need to be refrigerated. It will get moldy if left on the counter because of the moisture and because there are no preservatives in the oatmeal.
How to reheat
You can easily reheat apple baked oatmeal! This oatmeal is great when microwaved or warmed in a toaster oven.
Every microwave and toaster oven will be a little bit different but it should be warmed through in under 1 minute in the microwave
Other healthy oatmeal recipes:
If you love oatmeal check out these other Healthy Oatmeal Breakfast Recipes. Here are some of our favorite healthy recipes that use oatmeal.
Healthy Baked Apple Oatmeal
Ingredients
- 2 cups old fashioned rolled oats
- 1 ½ cups almond milk
- 1 cup diced apples
- ¼ cup chopped pecans
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 beaten egg
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and prepare a greased 8×8 oven safe baking dish.
- In a large mixing bowl, add all of. the ingredients. Stir until combined.
- Pour the batter into the prepared greased 8×8 pan – it will look like there is too much liquid, but it will absorb, don't worry!
- Bake the oatmeal uncovered for 35-40 minutes at 350 degrees F, until the top is golden brown and the milk is completely absorbed. Enjoy warm or cold!
- Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Do not store this healthy baked oatmeal at room temp. It likely will get moldy or stale if you don't refrigerate it. This baked oatmeal will last in the refrigerator for up to a week.
Could this be made in a muffin pan?
I haven’t tried it. I’m sure it would work but would be more of a mess to wash/clean up and I’m not sure how it would impact the cook time. It might cook quicker. I would just follow the recipe and slice into squares 🙂 Same thing, less work!
Saw this recipe this morning and RAN to my kitchen to make it. I had to use 2% milk in place of almond milk(that’s what I had in my fridge) but this oatmeal was still absolutely delicious!! It gives apple cake vibes.
This is my go to for breakfast..I make them as rectangles and they are like a breakfast bar. I have tons of pears from my tree and make it with pears. I have shared this with friends and they love it too
If I double this recipe, what size pan should I use? Would it change the cooking time?
I would use a 9×13. I am not sure on the cook time. You can try baking it as directed it might need a few more minutes. Without trying it myself I can’t be sure!
I doubled the recipe and baked it in a 9×13 pan for about 50 minutes. I think 40-45 minutes would have been plenty of time.
My son and I love baked oatmeal and this recipe is no exception. It almost seems like it should be a dessert! I love making it ahead and having it for a few breakfasts for the week.
We have made this recipe several times! One of our very favorites! So much flavor!
Whoa whoa whao …. i DO NOT understand how something this simple to make with minial ingredients couuld taste that darn good?! Needed to use up an apple & stumbled across this gem of a recipe, ill be back for more soon :)))
I’ve made this a couple times now. Just love it. I used pears instead of apples. Added some dried cranberry & chopped pecans as well. So delicious.
I’ve made this several times and change it up with what I have on hand. Today I made it with apples, blueberries and walnuts. The blueberries are a fantastic addition. I always sprinkle a little extra cinnamon on top. I love this recipe!
Yum! sounds so good!
Really digging this baked oat recipe. I usually eat overnight oats with stewed fruit in the morning, but sometimes it feels like a slog. Bars feel like a treat even though the ingredients are basically the same (plus an egg). It’s just as easy to make ahead and measure out portions.
So glad you like them, Kay! thank you!
The best baked oatmeal recipe! Love this and make it often. I freeze the leftovers and pull out as needed. Top with some yougart and honey and it’s perfect!
I love this recipe! Its so easy to throw together with ingredients I have on hand and it tastes great! I serve it with a bit of greek yogurt as suggested. I’ve actually made it three times in the last two weeks because it’s that good.
Just made this for the first time today. OMG! It is so good! The texture is perfect! Will definitely be making this again! 😋
So glad you enjoyed it, Gail!
My neighbor brought me some apples from their trees and I immediately whipped this up. So delicious! I omitted the nuts and the in a little extra cinnamon because… cinnamon!
Yum! What a great neighbor 🙂 Enjoy!!
so good and easy!! just make sure you use a good apple! made it first with gala apples and it was just okay but made another batch using granny smith and it’s amazing! i also used about two cups of apples instead 🙂
When hovering over the serving number, changing from 4 to 6, the nutrition facts per serving remained the same. Am I doing something wrong?
No, the nutrition facts are the same. The nutrition facts are per serving. The recipe as written yields 4 even squares, AKA 4 servings. If you adjust the recipe for 6 servings, cut it into 6 squares and you’ll have the same exact serving size and same nutrition facts!
Best healthy baked oatmeal that there is.
I am amazed at how great it came out.
Instead of 2 TBL maple syrup, I used three. I didn’t use ginger or nutmeg.
For left-overs, I found it better cold than microwaved.
The only problem I might have is stopping at one or two pieces.
I tip my chef’s hat to you both!
THE best! Switched pecans for walnuts and added cranberries! Delish! We are enjoying it all week!
Super easy to make, very healthy and whole ingredients, vegetarian and delicious. I made it the night before and had breakfast for four days. I definitely recommend.
I tried it but it was bland. Was there something I did wrong? I did put a bit of honey on top and got a bit better. It seemed like everyone liked it so I am thinking it is me. It is such a healthy recipe and I like your other recipes. Thank you
Hi Sarah! Just saw your other comment come through, we review all comments before they’re posted which is why it didn’t immediately show up. I wonder if your apples weren’t that sweet? It seems like you just maybe you like your oatmeal sweeter if you liked it with honey on top. I’m not really sure what to say! Sorry you didn’t like it! It shouldn’t have been dry though, this is a very moist recipe. Did you let the batter sit for too long before baking?
This was great! I doubled it for our family of 6 for second breakfast. I subbed monk fruit for the maple syrup for calories’ sake since I am getting a little too hefty these days. I also subbed the almond milk with some watered down cream that was on the verge of souring. I also accidentally cracked a third egg in there but it wasn’t eggy, thankfully.
Somehow we finished the whole thing. There’s no way my kids were that hungry, so the taste must have been what they were after on their third servings. Will definitely make again.
This was so yummy! I added brown sugar, mashed banana, blueberries and some mini chocolate chips. Definitely made it not so healthy but well worth the treat topped with some yogurt! A must have recipe you can play around with!!
Delicious! I followed the recipe exactly except for using walnuts instead of pecans. I only had a 9×9 pan available, but it still came out great (just had to reduce the baking time). I love recipes that I can make and then have a quick breakfast to heat up for the following few days.
What would be a good way to add more protein with this? I’m thinking of trying this recipe with peanut butter, but any other recommendations are encouraged. I’m really looking forward to tryin this, thank you
I wouldn’t try to add protein into this, I’d pair it with something else that is high in protein lik e or
I make it with soy milk to add more protein. If I’m out of soy I’ll add 3/4 cup cup peanuts to 2 cups water to make peanut milk. I often add 1/2 cooked chickpeas to a blender with whatever milk I use. It doesn’t make it taste like beans, but it adds a more complex/richer flavor, plus more protein.
The only reason I didn’t rate this recipe is that I made modifications to fit what I had on hand. I used skim milk and almonds instead of almond milk and pecans. I also added an extra tablespoon of maple syrup because I have a sweet tooth. I’ve made this recipe several times and keep going back to it. I love eating it reheated with fresh berries on top.
glad you liked it! you could still leave a rating 🙂