Baked Steel Cut Oatmeal
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
This baked steel cut oatmeal is one of my all-time favorite recipes. The whole thing can be assembled the night before and popped in the oven the following morning. Or it can be assembled and baked immediately. It is infinitely customizable to your preferences — you can make it dairy-free, vegan, with or without nuts, and with any fruit your heart desires 🙂
Yesterday, while three movers packed away our lives into boxes, I snuck one last dish into the oven, a mixture of steel cut oats, cinnamon, maple syrup, and coarsely chopped almonds, a dish I have been addicted to in some form or another since March.
For months, I made this baked oatmeal using rolled oats and, as suggested, always mixed up the dry ingredients the night before baking, which allowed for easy preparations in the morning. But about a month ago I discovered that when steel cut oats replace the rolled oats, the morning effort disappears altogether: the entire dish — egg, milk, melted butter, baking powder and all — can be assembled the night before baking.
I love this oatmeal. When it bakes, the mixture separates into distinct layers, the nuts forming a crisp-like topping, the berries bobbing underneath, the creamy oats and custard forming the foundation. The steel cut oats, flavored with cinnamon and maple, remain firm and chewy, which along with the nuts offer the loveliest texture throughout. I could eat the whole pan in one sitting.
I love these oats with berries. I love them without. I love them freshly baked. I love them cold, straight from the fridge. I like them with walnuts. I love them with almonds. I could eat them at every meal. I like them so much that when Ben tells me he can’t make it home for dinner, I think, “Yes, I get to eat my oats!” And while these oats are the perfect kind of thing to make for a crowd, at the moment I’m not at all upset that my children don’t like them. This is the kind of dish I hope so very much you will all whisk up tonight before hitting the hay, so you, too, have something to savor, with friends or without, all Saturday morning long.
PS: Favorite Blueberry-Almond Smoothie
You can make these oats with or without berries:
I like my Pyrex 8-inch square baking dish for this one:
By mid morning the pan usually looks like this:
By noon:
By early afternoon:
Individual bowls of steel cut oats:
This is also delicious with apples:
PrintBaked Steel Cut Oatmeal
- Total Time: 1 hours 5 minutes
- Yield: Serves 4-6
Description
Inspired by Heidi Swanson’s recipe in Super Natural Every Day via Orangette
I like my Pyrex 8-inch square baking dish for this one. You can also use six 6-oz ramekins.
If you are mixing this at night and baking in the morning, follow the recipe through step 2, omitting the fruit. Store mixture in baking vessel or in a Tupperware. In the morning, give the mixture a stir. Scatter berries (if using) into an 8-inch baking dish. Pour milk-oat mixture over the berries; then proceed with recipe.
As I noted, I like these baked oats both with berries or other fruit and without, so don’t hesitate to make them if you don’t have any berries on hand — they are so good on their own. I have used both almonds and walnuts. I do toast the walnuts. I don’t toast the almonds — it doesn’t seem to matter. The mixture can be assembled the night before, though it doesn’t have to be.
Update, Oct 2014: Almonds are my preference. Peeled, sliced apples are also my preference. I omit the cinnamon. I also now do 1/4 cup maple syrup as opposed to 1/3 cup.
If you are making individual portions, I think the easiest method is this: mix dry ingredients as instructed in step 1; spoon about three tablespoon of the dry ingredients into six 6-oz ramekins; then pour liquid over top. The liquid will reach the top of each ramekin. To prevent a catastrophe, I suggest lining a 9×13-inch baking dish with parchment paper and placing the filled ramekins in the dish to bake.
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup steel cut oatmeal
- ½ cup (60 g) almonds (sliced, untoasted are great) or walnuts halves, toasted and chopped
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon, optional
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt or kosher salt
- ¾ to 1 ½ cups (90 to 185 g) blueberries, optional—I like using 1 peeled, sliced apple
- 2 cups (475 ml) milk, 2% or whole
- 1/4 to 1/3 cup (80 ml) maple syrup, I find 1/4 cup to be sweet enough
- 1 large egg
- 3 tablespoons (45 grams) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Instructions
- See notes if you are refrigerating this overnight. Otherwise, preheat the oven to 375ºF. In an 8- or 9-inch baking pan, mix together the oats, the nuts, baking powder, cinnamon, if using, and salt. Place the sliced apples or berries on top.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the milk, maple syrup, egg, butter, and vanilla. Pour the milk mixture over the oat mixture, and shake the pan to distribute.
- Transfer pan to the oven and bake for 55 to 60 minutes (Note: Several commenters have had issues with browning too quickly, so I advise checking after 30 minutes, and if it looks as though it is browning quickly, turn oven down to 350 and check periodically for doneness), or until the top is golden and the oat mixture has set. Remove from the oven, and allow to cool for a few minutes before serving.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 55 minutes
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
608 Comments on “Baked Steel Cut Oatmeal”
Made with diced apples. It was excellent. Turned down to 350 half way through and it didn’t burn.
So happy to hear this, Jane! I love this one so much 🙂
Can’t wait to try this! How long do you bake the individual servings in ramekins? I’m thinking of prepping them on Sunday to reheat each morning for breakfast.
Great! The small ones can take nearly as long — I would start checking after 35 minutes, but know that depending on the size and material of the pan, they may take as long as 45-50 minutes or longer.
I’ve made this baked oatmeal a number of times and always receive rave reviews. I don’t like maple syrup except on pancakes so I substitute part honey, part brown sugar. O usually double the recipe. Sometimes o use fresh berries, other times frozen, I’ve used bananas and also used apples. I like apples with pecans best. Or berries with any kind of nuts. Mmmm. Making it again tonight for brunch tomorrow & I put the whole thing together in the baking pan at night. It’s awesome in the morning!
When you double the recipe, will it fit into a 9 x 13 pan?
Thanks!
Yes!
Has anyone tripled the recipe, using apples and then used individual cups? Or could that be too much of a leap? Im also wondering if anyone has ever frozen individual servings for a grab and go breakfast?
I love this recipe! I have been making it every Sunday night to have for breakfast during the week. I usually use an Aldi dried fruit medley in place of the blueberries. Last week I didn’t have almonds so i used pecans instead. Still good, but I prefer almonds. Made the single ramekin servings the first time, but now I just make it in the pan, cut in 6 serving sizes, sticl in fridge until it firms up enough and individually wrap for more of a grab and go breakfast. So good!
This recipe came out so yummy and almost exactly as pictured! Prep was pretty easy., too. I was too tired to chop almonds last night so I used a pistacihio cardamom granola for the topping. Yummm!
Could I freeze the baked oatmeal?
I’ve never tried but I don’t see why not! Go for it.
Can a non dairy option be used for the milk… like almond or soy milk?? Thinking of the vegans in my life…..
Yes! I’ve had success with almond milk. I imagine oat milk might work, too … just purchased my first carton of Oatly and really like it. I would just omit the egg.
This recipe is AWESOME! I have been making with Pecans which is also yummy! Everyone who has tried it has asked for the recipe! I was wondering if there is any nutrition information available?
So happy to hear this, Michael! I don’t have the nutritional info unfortunately. If you enter the ingredients into a site like “My Fitness Pall”, you should be able to get the info.
Would this would with Old Fashion Oats?
Really delicious. I have oatmeal for breakfast almost every day and made this today to shake things up. Delicious. Glad I found your site – will check out other recipes here.
Wonderful to hear this!
I have made this baked oatmeal numerous times and everyone loves it! I have used pecans and apples, blueberries and raspberries, mashed banana and pecans. and dried cherries and almonds. It so versatile and sure to make everyone happy. It’s on the menu for our New Year’s bunch. Thanks for a great recipe!
Wonderful to hear this, Kathy!
I’m a huge fan of steel cut oats, but they are tricky for my 1 YO to eat with her fingers. These baked oats are perfect for young eaters! I prep the night before and put in the oven when she wakes up. By the time she nurses and I get her ready for daycare, the baked oats are ready for us. Great quick breakfast as leftovers, too. I often add chia seeds, flax seeds, diced banana, and dried coconut, too.
Awwww, this is so sweet to hear. Thanks so much for writing.
I wanted to know if we have to use steel cut oats or if I can just use quick oats?
You can use rolled oats, but the timing is different. The original recipe is linked to above in the notes — click on that to find the time for using rolled oats.
Hi!
Can i use already cooked steel cut oats?
You probably could, but I think the end result will be mushy in texture. Can’t say for sure because I’ve never made them.
What a wonderfully forgiving recipe! It’s my first time baking steel cut oats and I’m in love! I made substitutions based on what I had at hand and used honey instead of maple syrup, almond milk instead of dairy, coconut oil instead of butter, pumpkin seeds and an apple. It smelled amazing as it baked! Thank you so much I cant wait to make this again!
So happy to hear this, Colleen!
As a woman who barely tolerated oatmeal in all other forms (besides with chocolate chip cookies I was shocked that I can now wholeheartedly recommend this recipe to anyone who will listen. Thanks for sharing it. I’ve made it multiple times and don’t see any reason to stop.
So happy to hear this, Nina!
Looking forward to trying this recipe but wondered if I can omit the egg? Just wondering if anyone has tried this.
This recipe is quite versatile…have made it successfully using nonfat milk or with homemade almond milk and today I tried just plain water (increased to 2 & 1/4 cups) which is by far my favorite way as it turned out perfectly cooked inside & crusty & soufflé-like outside. Any way it is yummy. Thank you, Ali!
I am excited to try this as I love Steel Cut Oats! Wondering – what would happen if you omit or sub out the maple syrup? I know that I am in the unpopular minority with an aversion to maple – but I simply “just can’t” with it!
I’m one of those people that has to have a breakfast that’s basically grab and eat – I am in no way considered a morning person, I can barely push the button on the coffee maker when I get out of bed so this recipe is a godsend! I mixed this up last night and popped it in the fridge. Though I did leave out the baking powder til I stirred in the blueberries this morning (didn’t want it to fizz out overnight). I used honey instead of maple syrup – to me that is for french toast and pancakes only. I might have needed to bake it longer than I did but the taste was incredible! This is the perfect way to make myself eat breakfast without waiting two hours for the coffee to kick in first lol. Next time I think I’ll add some peaches too……
Oh wonderful! So happy to hear this, Jane! Peaches will be delicious!
Delicious!
Are used almond milk and coconut oil as substitutes. My fruits and nuts were dried blueberries, lemon zest and lemon juice, and hazelnuts. It’s amazing.
Yay! So happy to hear this Patricia!
Is the consistency something like that of a soft, chewy granola bar, or is it still something so soft it would fall apart if not served on a plate? Looks tasty, can’t wait to try!
It’s kind of custardy with some texture on top. It falls apart on a plate. Love this one … hope you do, too!
Amazing. I make it once a week so I can have it for breakfast everyday. I’ve made a couple substitutions that turned out well. I used honey instead of maple syrup and pecans for almonds (sometimes). I think you could probably interchange the nuts and fruit to just about anything and it would be delicious! Great recipe ☺️
So happy to hear this, Allie!! I love how adaptable this recipe is, too 🙂
Can this be cooked in short mason jars, instead of ramekins? Jars I have, ramekins, I don’t!
No, Mason jars are not safe to use in the oven.
This is so good, not sure if this is for breakfast or dessert. Followed your recipe exactly as written and it came out perfect.
I hear you Beth 🙂 🙂 🙂
Hi, looks fabulous but here’s an important Question: can I use Bob’s Gluten Free instead of the regular steel cut oats in this recipe??? (Need a fast answer please!)
Thanks
Bob’s Gluten Free steel cut oats? Or Bob’s Gluten free rolled oats?
I have hated oatmeal for 26 years and am now obsessed because of this recipe. I’m huge on texture and the steel cut oats with the almomds makes all the difference. I love it with a berry mix or with fresh or frozen peaches. Thank you!
So happy to hear this, Hailee!
This recipe is delicious! I modified it with tart cherries + vanilla almond milk, with just under 1/4 cup of maple syrup. So adaptable, and the method is way less fussy than my other fave: Food and Wine’s Creamy Steel Cut Oats with Dried Cherries and Almonds.
So happy to hear this, Ashley!
Can I use frozen blueberries?
Yes!
Yes!