Baked Oatmeal With Mixed Berries

If you love oats for breakfast, but want a new spin on a bowl of oatmeal or a jar of overnight oats, let me introduce you to the concept of baked oatmeal, which is essentially like eating bread pudding for breakfast, except it’s healthy. But the best part is that baked oatmeal is super easy to make and it’s budget friendly when you use frozen berries. The edges and topping of baked oatmeal are a bit crispy, but the inside is soft and squishy in the best way possible.

HOW TO MAKE BAKED OATMEAL:

Grease a baking dish:

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit or 190 degrees Celsius, and grease a 9-inch square baking dish. You can use butter or oil, like coconut oil, depending on if you’d like to make the recipe dairy free or not. And I just use a paper towel to make sure that the baking dish is well coated.

Mix together the dry ingredients:

Like many of my baking recipes, you’ll mix the wet and dry ingredients separately, and then combine them together.

So for the dry ingredients, you’ll start with 2 cups of old-fashioned rolled oats, and I’m using certified gluten-free oats. And once those are measured out, you can add them to a large mixing bowl. I also like a little crunch factor in my baked oatmeal, so to the oatmeal, you can add a 1/2 cup of sliced almonds, though if you have another nut you prefer, go ahead and swap that in. For a little sweet warming flavor, add 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon, and then add 1/2 a teaspoon of baking soda and 1/2 a teaspoon of kosher salt.

Stir the dry ingredients together until they’re well combined, and then set this bowl off to the side for now.

Whisk together the wet ingredients:

In another mixing bowl, you’ll mix together the wet ingredients, and that includes 1 3/4 quarters cup of milk, and you can use dairy or dairy free, a 1/4 cup of honey or maple syrup to lightly sweeten it, two large eggs, which are the binders that turn what would otherwise be a simple oatmeal recipe into a baked oatmeal breakfast casserole. 2 tablespoons of melted butter or coconut oil, it’s up to you. And 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract. Whisk that all together until it’s lightly frothy, and then pour these what ingredients into the bowl that has your dry ingredients.

Add the frozen berries and bake:

All right, now it’s time for the berries.

You’ll need 2 1/2 cups of frozen mixed berries, and I love frozen berries for a couple of reasons. First, they’re budget friendly. Second, they’re easy to find during an off-season like winter. And third, I love how the frozen berries become extra soft and mushy as they’re baked, even more so than fresh berries. But you could, of course, use fresh berries as well in this recipe, if they’re in season, or you can find them easily in your market.

So add the berries to your bowl and then stir all of that together. Your milk may turn a bluish purple from the berries, but that’s totally fine, and it just means that that berry goodness is getting mixed throughout. Pour this whole bowl of ingredients into your baking dish and then use a spoon or spatula to spread it throughout and sort of flatten the ingredients down, making sure that the oats are nestled really good in the liquid. Now, you don’t have to do this part, but if you’re planning to serve this up for a brunch or family gathering, I like to dot the top with a few extra berries and sliced almonds.

It just gives a better nod to what your family and friends will find inside this baked oatmeal recipe when you slice into it and serve it up.

I guess it’s sort of like garnishing one of my savory recipes with a little sprinkling of herbs on top, except in this case, it’s berries and sliced almonds.

Bake the oatmeal for about 40 to 45 minutes or until it’s set, and that just means that it’s no longer liquidy, and the oatmeal has plumped up from absorbing the wet ingredients and the edges are slightly golden. All ovens bake a bit differently, so do check on it at the 40-minute mark, but it might still take a few more minutes. When you remove it from the oven, it’s gonna smell amazing with that sweet cinnamony flavor wafting through your kitchen. And if you have kiddos, I guarantee you that they’ll come running.

Slice and serve with yogurt (if you’d like):

I love how the berries on top sort of look like they’re oozing into the oatmeal and then you’ve got those crunchy little bits of almond. You guys, this recipe is so good and it’s so versatile.

To serve it up, just scoop out a portion with a spatula or large spoon, and place it in a bowl.

You can eat it plain while it’s warm and soft straight from the oven, or dollop a few spoonfuls of your favorite yogurt on top whether it’s dairy or dairy free, to amp up the protein and really drive those breakfast vibes home. You can bake it up, portion it out into individual containers or store in one large container, and then reheat it throughout the week.

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