Baked Steel Cut Oatmeal
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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:
Baked 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
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655 Comments on “Baked Steel Cut Oatmeal”
Hi Alexandra! Hope you’re wonderful. I was wondering… I’ve been trying to brainstorm good work snacks, and was thinking this would be a very delicious afternoon treat with my tea in my frigid office. Along those lines, I was thinking it might be great to freeze individual portions, wrapped in plastic wrap perhaps?, that could then be defrosted over the course of the day and popped in the microwave for a little extra heat. Any thoughts on how that might affect the texture? Maybe best to sprinkle with some water before heating in the microwave, or wrapping in a damp towel to prevent any extra moisture loss?
Would love to hear your thoughts! Thanks!!
Hi Jen! I think these would make a great snack. And I think your ideas about adding water and wrapping a damp towel are great ideas. Maybe try just doing the sprinkling of water alone and see if it works? And if it dries out, next time around, try a towel, too. Let me know how it works out!
Love it! And so much easier than cooking oatmeal on the stovetop. I’ve tried the recipe a few different ways… subbing maple syrup with honey, walnuts (not roasted), without the egg, without the baking powder…and they were all delicious.
My fav is using fresh cranberries, a ripe banana and walnuts. The cranberries add that tang that’s so good and banana flavor really penetrated and hold up to the cranberries. Yum. Enjoy!
Oh I love this idea! I have a bag of fresh cranberries on hand that I never used for Thanksgiving. I’ll give this a go! Thanks so much for writing and sharing.
Alexandra I just made this recipe and it is wonderful! I followed your recipe exactly and used sliced apple but, I did add a tsp of chia seeds to get even more healthy, and an additional splash of milk to compensate for the moisture the chia would take up. Absolutely delicious!
Wonderful to hear this, Stacey! Love the idea of adding chia here.
Alexandra I have already made this recipe again!! I would give it 10 stars if I could!! This time I put in a TBS Chia, an additional 1/4 c. milk and I mashed up a banana and put in the liquid part, then blackberries and toasted walnuts. It’s such a versatile recipe and I just wanted to thank you for sharing. We will never eat boring oatmeal again!!
My daughter and I decided that the next batch will be Raspberry, with white chocolate chips and macadamia nuts!!! OH YES!! Can’t wait!
Oh yay! So nice to hear this, Stacey! And so great to hear your daughter approves, too 🙂 🙂 🙂 Best feeling.
Do you know what the nutritional info is for this?
I don’t, I’m sorry! You can use a site such as My Fitness Pal dot com to find out the nutritional info.
Made this this blueberries, pecans, and browned butter this morning. It was delicious!
Wonderful to hear, Molly! Thanks for writing 🙂 🙂 🙂
Finally made this and oh my goodness it’s so yummy. I mixed in a brown banana I had on the counter, too, and used a little less maple syrup. Might try doing without the syrup next time I have a banana. So delicious!
Wonderful to hear this, Sandra! Love the idea of using bananas as the sweetener. Thanks for writing.
Oh my, is this ever good! I rarely leave comments on sites, but this dish deserves one. From the caramel edges to the wonderful full mouth feel, and texture of the steel cut oats, it’s like rediscovering steel cut oats — and as they should be.
I thought it wise not to add cinnamon as it allowed the focus to be on the subtle sweetness and rich textures.
I used toasted walnuts, two small Pink Lady apples, about a Tblsp of flax seed, and 2% milk. I happened to have about a Tblsp of craisins on hand so threw them in for flavor contrast.
Thanks so much!
So wonderful to hear this, Judy! This is one of my absolute favorites. Thanks so much for writing 🙂
OMG. This is SO good!! I’ve wanted to try steel cut oats for awhile and had some blueberries so…….I made it with blueberries, extra cinnamon as we like cinnamon, and used vanilla almond milk. I used honey as I’m not a fan of maple syrup smell/taste or really any syrup smell/taste. I easily see where you could eat this in a day!! I can’t wait to try it with apples. Luckily I have 3 more bags of fresh frozen blueberries to use up before I try it with apples! This will be a staple for sure!
Wonderful to hear this! Thanks so much for writing. All of your additions/changes sound lovely.
This was an absolute hit at a ladies brunch. I used ramekins for baking/serving ease.
I had apples one half and blackberries in other half.
I mixed dry ingredients and distributed in ramekins the night before. I mixed milk/egg stored in fridge, only used the 1/4 cup maple syrup. Assembled the morning of the event, baked and served.
It does NOT need to be piping hot, so a great choice for a buffet.
There was one leftover which I ate cold the next day….still yummy!
Wonderful to hear this, Jean! And I agree: I love this one at room temperature or cold straight from the fridge :). Thanks for writing!
I have made this recipe several times now and it is defiantly my new favourite way to eat pats! Warm and cozy, not too sweet and filled with good stuff. Its a great way to start the day! (or for an afternoon snack!)
LOVE it!!! – I add a few tablespoons of ground flax seed to it too. You’d never know….
Wonderful to hear this, Darlene! Thanks so much for writing. Love the idea of adding some flax seed for a boost of nutrients.
Can this be made without egg?
Hi! Yes, a number of people over the years have made it without the egg. This is one comment:
“I veganized it by using a flax egg (1tbsp ground flax and 3tbsp water), almond milk, and used one whole banana instead of the butter, they turned out AMAZING!”
I also think aquafaba (whipped chickpea cooking liquid) might work: 3 tablespoons aquafaba: beat it lightly with a whisk or fork till it thickens slightly and becomes foamy. (equivalent of 1 egg)
Had already made some again this morning (once again with smashed bananas instead of maple syrup), but I have a question, if not a very important one: How do you get those almonds so pretty on the top? Did you sprinkle them? Mine always mix in.
Hi Sandra! Are you adding fruit? I have to be honest: I think this came out so pretty once and only once because I didn’t add any berries or apples, so the almonds just floated to the top. I am not someone who arranges nuts in a pretty fashion ever — I still don’t understand how people make pecan pies with beautifully arranged nuts bobbing on top — so I’m guessing it had to be because of the lack of fruit. Next time I make this, which will be soon, I will omit the fruit and see if I get the same result.
The bananas were all mushed and mixed in, so … yes, but I’m surprised that stopped it. I’ll try it without next time and pray for an almond miracle. 🙂
Ok, sounds good, keep me posted!
Is the butter necessary? I have to be careful because of high cholesterol. Any recommended substitutions?
Hi Debra! One woman commented a little bit ago saying she used mashed banana in place of the butter. I also think you could get away with simply omitting it.
Hi there! Have you had anyone true this without egg? Was thinking of doing half coconut milk (in the can the thick kind) and almond milk! Do you think that would work as a custard? Thanks so much in advance!
Hi Anita! Yes, a number of people over the years have made it without the egg. This is one comment:
“I veganized it by using a flax egg (1tbsp ground flax and 3tbsp water), almond milk, and used one whole banana instead of the butter, they turned out AMAZING!”
I also think aquafaba (whipped chickpea cooking liquid) might work: 3 tablespoons aquafaba: beat it lightly with a whisk or fork till it thickens slightly and becomes foamy. (equivalent of 1 egg)
I was scrolling through my email this morning, thinking “Hmmm, what do I want for breakfast?” And then I saw your newsletter, and this recipe. Ding, ding, ding! I read all the comments, and so added a chopped apple, some fresh cranberries that were languishing in my fruit drawer, and chopped walnuts. Although it’s only me in the house these days, I have to wonder if this 8 x 8 pan will be empty by bedtime. Thank you for a wonderful breakfast treat!
So nice to hear this Meg! There have been times when I have polished this whole pan off throughout the course of the day. Love the sound of all of your additions!
Hi Ali! I hope you’re having a great day!
Have you ever made a savory recipe with oatmeal? (besides bread)
Lisa, I can’t believe this, but I have never turned this into a savory oatmeal. I absolutely think you could omit the maple syrup and vanilla and use the recipe as a template. Sautéed mushrooms and onions and maybe some greens or sausage I think would all be fabulous here. Roasted squash, too!
Curious about two of the options. 1 appears to be with sliced almonds that find their way to the top and make a delicious looking brown, glazed crust. Another option has blueberries that floated to the top. You mentioned the berries and custard separating into layers; however, I didn’t see layers. Wondering if different additions have different results.
Hi Sharon! Yes, this custard separates into layers in various ways 🙂 Oddly: blueberries seem to sink below, whereas apples float on top. If you use almonds without any other fruit, they too will float on top. The most consistent thing is that the custard layer always seems to be on the bottom. Did you add fruit?
I’m vegan. Any substitute for the egg? Planning to use non-dairy milk for the 2%.
Hi Susan! Yes. This is what one commenter did:
“I veganized it by using a flax egg (1tbsp ground flax and 3tbsp water), almond milk, and used one whole banana instead of the butter, they turned out AMAZING!”
I also think aquafaba (whipped chickpea cooking liquid) might work: 3 tablespoons aquafaba: beat it lightly with a whisk or fork till it thickens slightly and becomes foamy. (equivalent of 1 egg)
Yum! Really delicious! I made the mixture the night before, and put into 6 shallow ramekins (or small gratin dishes), and they baked in 30 minutes! I didnt add fruit, and in that case next time, I might use the full 1/3 cup maple syrup, but I bet the apples would be great! I got hungry sooner than I usually do with breakfast, so I think next time, I will serve with a serving of Greek yogurt for some added protein and staying power. Otherwise, yes, I would probably eat half a pan by lunch, too 🙂 Thanks for another great breakfast dish!
So nice to hear this, Nancy!! And I think I need to start adding some protein every time I make this so I STOP eating the entire pan over the course of the day 🙂 🙂 🙂 So glad you liked it. Thanks for writing!
Today, I serving it with Brown Cow Maple Yogurt, and scooped it up together! It was a perfect combination!
That sounds SO good!! Love Brown Cow yogurt.
This is the best-baked oatmeal I have ever made. I have been through the baked oatmeal gambit and haven’t liked the recipes and this is an exception! It tastes delicious, good enough for breakfast, lunch, and dinner and yesterday I went to bed thinking about how excited I was to have this for breakfast! The second time I made it I microwaved a frozen overripe banana, mashed it up, and included it with mixed frozen berries. This doubles so easily, and it going to be my new go-to daily breakfast!
So wonderful to hear this! I love that you went to bed dreaming about this … story of my life 🙂 🙂 🙂 Thanks so much for writing!
Made this early morning and it was delicious. Prepped it in two separate bowls last night, using the Coach’s Oats (think they are cut steel oats) from Costco. Added a small banana and some blueberries, also using 2 T olive oil and 1 T butter also, I used 1 3/4 C 1% milk, 1/4 C vanilla soymilk. . Divided it into 5 servings. I track my food on Lose It app…..for 5 servings it is 297 calories, 13.2 grams fat, 3.9 grams fiber, 8.4 grams protein. I used mostly olive oil and may use it all in the future to make it more heart healthy.
And, must say, this is the first time I have enjoyed a baked oatmeal recipe. The ones I have tried previously were awful. So, thanks for the recipe! Now I want to look through your book again and see what else I can make.
So nice to hear all of this! Thanks so much for sharing all of your notes — so helpful for others. I love the idea of using olive oil here and will try that next time around. Thanks for writing!
Oh My Goodness. I can hardly believe just how good this baked oatmeal is. Before I could stop myself, I had eaten 1/3 of the prepared recipe. The only change I made was adding a bit of unsweetened coconut for even more texture. Delicious!
Love the idea of coconut, Ruth! Yum! Thanks for writing. So great to hear all of this 🙂
Wow, best baked oatmeal I’ve ever had. I followed the recipe except used quick cooking steel cut oats and walnuts, and it was delicious. Next time I’d cut back a little on the salt. What a treat!!! Thanks for sharing this recipe!
So nice to hear this, Larissa! And great to hear that quick-cooking steel cut oats works here. So good to know!
Ali, thanks for sharing this version of baked oatmeal! It made my kitchen smell wonderful, tastes delicious and is our new favorite breakfast. Love your cookbook too. Your mom’s peasant bread always turns out great!
So nice to hear ALL of this, Cathy! Truly means the world. Thanks for writing 🙂
Holy steel cut oats! I bought them at the beginning of the pandemic frenzy having never tried them. This recipe is practically dessert! We did it with apples and walnuts and almond milk and I Wouldn’t change a thing… Although I think I might have to make it with blueberries over the weekend. Another winner, thank you!
So nice to hear this, Jillian! Apples + walnuts sound lovely. Blueberries are great too!
This is the best oatmeal recipe I’ve ever made. Seriously. I have some in the fridge ready to be baked in the morning and I can’t wait!
So nice to hear this, Cathy! Thanks for writing!
Can I use quick cook steel cut oats?
I have not tried, but someone commented recently saying she had great success using quick-cooking steel cut oats, so go for it!
Can this recipe be refrigerated after baking?? I’m looking for a baked oatmeal recipe that can be refrigerated and then portioned out for breakfasts over the following days.
Yes, absolutely! If you are going to reheat them after refrigeration, you might need to add more liquid.
Made this orning per your excellent instructions using apple slices. I have a very picky husband but he has learned to trust anything that I have made from Alexandra cooks and he loved this. This oatmeal and your focaccia as toast was a perfect breakfast on Sunday morning! We mad a toast to you! Cheers!
Thank you for all your great recipes!
Cheryl
Awww Cheryl, I love this 🙂 🙂 🙂 Thank you. So great to hear that your husband approved of the oatmeal, and your Sunday breakfast sounds absolutely perfect. Thanks so much for writing!
love this recipe — helps me with healthy breakfast meal prepping for a week!
So nice to hear this! Thanks so much for writing 🙂 🙂 🙂