Baked oatmeal cups are an excellent option for a healthy breakfast or snack! These oatmeal cups use simple pantry ingredients that are easy to meal prep for the week or stock your freezer with for a wholesome, healthy breakfast option. The best part? You can either stick to a basic recipe or easily switch it up with a couple of different variations!
It’s ironic because before changing my eating habits, I never ate any oatmeal, and to be truthful, I hated it. Today, I’ve grown to appreciate oatmeal and enjoy many healthy oatmeal recipes, especially baked oatmeal cups.
You might think these are similar to muffins because you make them in a muffin pan, but they are very different. The texture is denser than a muffin and not as sweet.
Baked oatmeal doesn’t use any flour and use less sugar. In fact, in some recipes, skip the sugar altogether or sweeten it with some pure maple syrup.
Our favorites include this banana baked oatmeal, blueberry banana baked oatmeal, berry baked oatmeal, apple cinnamon baked oatmeal, and pumpkin baked oatmeal.
Today, I want to share my basic baked oatmeal cup recipe and some different yummy variations, so you never get bored with this simple breakfast recipe!
I’ve also learned different cooking tips, meal prep hacks, freezing tips, and the ins’ of making healthy baked oatmeal cups. So, I want to share all of that knowledge with you in this post.
Jump to:
- Reasons you’ll love this breakfast recipe!
- Ingredients
- Shopping tips
- How To Make Baked Oatmeal Cups
- Variations
- Serving suggestions
- Storage tips
- How Long Can I Keep Oatmeal Cups In The Refrigerator?
- Can You Freeze Baked Oatmeal Cups?
- How To Reheat Frozen Oatmeal Cups For Breakfast
- Other Baked Oatmeal Recipes
- Baked Oatmeal Cups
Reasons you’ll love this breakfast recipe!
- They are cheap! Baked oatmeal cups use basic pantry ingredients and some simple ingredients from the refrigerator. All you need for a basic recipe is rolled oats, cinnamon, baking soda, eggs, and milk.
- Kids love them! These are perfect to grab on the way to school or for after school snacks.
- They are perfect for meal prep and freezer cooking. You can make a double or triple batch of baked oatmeal and have a healthy breakfast for days or months.
- These reheat well. Keeping with meal prep and freezer cooking, oatmeal cups reheat well. This is important because what’s the point of making them ahead of time if they taste gross after reheating.
- They are portion-controlled. This is one of the first things that turned me on to baked oatmeal cups. It’s easy to track calories when you know the amount you’ll be eating ahead of time.
- Many variations. You can switch up baked oatmeal with spices, flavors, and ingredients.
- Another way to sneak in some superfoods. You can stir in chia seeds, hemp hearts, or flax seeds to boost Omega-3s, fiber, and protein.
Ingredients
Here are the ingredients you will need to make a basic version of healthy baked oatmeal cups.
Rolled oats. You are going to use rolled oats for baked oatmeal cup recipes. Rolled oats are also called old-fashioned oats, so you might see that when shopping in the stores. My favorite brand is Bob’s Red Mills or the Thrive Market Brand.You can also find rolled oats in the bulk section at your grocery store.
If you want to make this recipe gluten-free, buy rolled oats that are certified gluten-free!
You don’t want to use instant or minute oats because that’ll result in mushy baked oatmeal. Steel-cut oats won’t cook all the way, creating a hard and crunchy baked oatmeal.
Cinnamon for warm flavor.
A pinch of salt to balance out the flavors.
Baking powder helps the oatmeal cups rise.
Coconut sugar gives the oatmeal the perfect amount of sweetness. Of course, you can leave the sugar out altogether and sweeten the baked oatmeal cups only with pure maple syrup after baking. You can also use honey or other sweeteners.
Eggs act as a binder to the other ingredients.
Plain greek yogurt adds moisture and protein to the recipe. This helps to create a tender baked oatmeal recipe. You can also swap in mashed banana, pumpkin or nut butter. Shredded carrots will also add moisture.
Pure vanilla extract gives another layer of warm flavor.
Unsweetened coconut milk (you can use almond milk or your milk of choice)
Shopping tips
Our favorite place to purchase organic baked oatmeal ingredients is online at Thrive Market. They offer great prices, and everything gets delivered straight to your door. If you’re already a subscriber, you can view my oatmeal grocery list for easy shopping. Not a subscriber yet? Join here and get 40% off your first purchase. Need more information? Check out my Thrive Market Review.
How To Make Baked Oatmeal Cups
- Start by combining all the dry ingredients first in a large bowl. If you’re using cinnamon, nutmeg, or other spices, you want to make sure all the oats are coated with everything before adding wet ingredients, or you’ll have clumps.
- In a separate bowl, combine all wet ingredients and pour all of those contents in with the dry ingredients.
- Make sure everything is combined well!
- Divide the oatmeal batter mixture in a 12-cup muffin tin sprayed with cooking spray or use muffin liners.
- You want to make sure the liquid is evenly divided and that the oats in each cup are covered with liquid. I usually take a spoon and press down on each muffin cup to ensure the oats are covered in liquid.
- If you want to make them all a little different, add a few toppings to them (like chocolate chips or fruit).
- Then, bake for 30 minutes in a 350-degree oven to ensure every baked oatmeal cup cooks perfectly. However, every oven is different, so I recommend keeping an eye on them for around 25 minutes, so they don’t overcook.
- Take them out of the oven and then let them cool for 5 minutes in the pan. Then, finish cooling on a wire rack. If needed, slide a knife around the edges of the baked oatmeal cup; this helps remove it from the muffin tin.
- Serve warm or store the oatmeal cups for the week or freeze them!
You can also cook this baked oatmeal recipe in a 8 or 9 inch baking dish for 25 – 30 minutes in a 350-degree oven.
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Variations
- Stir in dried fruit like cherries, blueberries, cranberries, or mangos! Add between ¼ – ½ cup.
- Pecans, almonds, cashews, and walnuts are all delicious in this baked oatmeal recipe. Add between ¼ – ½ cup.
- Stir in ½ cup of cacao powder for a rich chocolate flavor.
- Swap in different spices and extracts. Almond and lemon extract are delicious. Start with ¼ teaspoon and add more if needed.
Serving suggestions
After I warm up the baked oatmeal cups, I like to drizzle a little bit of pure maple syrup over the top and serve them with:
- Fresh berries and yogurt
- Peanut butter and banana
- A smoothie on the side
Of course, you can also eat this on its own!
Storage tips
I find that baked oatmeal cups store great in both plastic storage bags and glass containers. If you’re not going to freeze them, then in my experience, baked oatmeal cups keep fresh longer in the refrigerator and not sitting on the counter. After the baked oatmeal has cooled, I put them in a bag or a glass container and store them in the refrigerator.
How Long Can I Keep Oatmeal Cups In The Refrigerator?
Baked oatmeal cups will keep up to 7 days (maybe even a little longer in the refrigerator). I advise keeping the amount you want for the week in the fridge and storing the rest in the freezer.
Can You Freeze Baked Oatmeal Cups?
Yes! Not only can you freeze baked oatmeal cups, but you should!
You can keep what you want to eat for the week in the refrigerator, but honestly, I tend to freeze them if we don’t eat them.
- You lay them flat in a large gallon-sized freezer bag (you can use a reusable bag) for a couple of hours or until the baked oatmeal cups are frozen. Then put the bag wherever needed in the freezer.
- If you’re going to grab one on the go, you can wrap them individually in plastic wrap before putting them into the freezer bag.
Do you love the idea of having oatmeal recipes ready ahead of time? Check out my tutorial on how to meal prep oatmeal for the week for more ideas.
How To Reheat Frozen Oatmeal Cups For Breakfast
The easiest way is to microwave them, which I do most often.
- I remove it from the freezer and remove the plastic wrap if used.
- Then, I place it on a microwave-safe dish, wrap it in a paper towel, and reheat for 30-45 seconds or until it’s hot. The paper towel keeps the moisture in, which prevents it from drying out.
Expert tip: These don’t take long at all to reheat. If you’re worried about them drying out, then pace a coffee cup of water in with the baked oatmeal cup as it heats up. The steam from the water will keep it from drying out
You can also reheat these in the toaster oven, but this takes longer, so I typically don’t use this method.
- Set the toaster oven to 350 degrees and cook the oatmeal cups for about 5-7 minutes. This will make the outside a little more crisper than the microwave method.
Expert tip: While this isn’t completely necessary, you can take the baked oatmeal cup out of the freezer the night before to thaw a bit before warming up, and this will reduce cooking time with both the microwave and toaster oven method.
Other Baked Oatmeal Recipes
- Carrot Cake baked Oatmeal
- Zucchini Baked Oatmeal
- Cinnamon Raison Baked Oatmeal
- Cashew Honey Baked Oatmeal
Baked Oatmeal Cups
Equipment
- Mixing Bowls
- 12-cup muffin pan
Ingredients
- 3 cups rolled oats
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 cup coconut sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/4 cup unsweetened coconut milk you can use almond or dairy
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- In a large bowl combine the rolled oats, cinnamon, salt, and baking powder. Give a couple stirs so all the spices and ingredients are evenly distributed.
- In another medium bowl whisk together the coconut sugar and eggs until smooth. Stir in the yogurt, vanilla, and milk.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir until everything is combined.
- Spray a 12-cup muffin pan with cooking spray and divide the batter among the 12 cups. Use a spoon to push down the oats so they are all covered in the liquid. Add any toppings at this time.
- Baked for 30 minutes.
- Remove from oven and let cool for about 3 minutes. Serve warm or place on a wire rack to completely cool to store in the refrigerator or to freeze.
Video
Notes
- Stir in dried fruit like cherries, blueberries, cranberries, or mangos! Add between ¼ – ½ cup.
- Pecans, almonds, cashews, and walnuts are all delicious in this baked oatmeal recipe. Add between ¼ – ½ cup.
- Stir in ½ cup of cacao powder for a rich chocolate flavor.
- Swap in different spices and extracts. Almond and lemon extract are delicious. Start with ¼ teaspoon and add more if needed.
- You lay them flat in a large gallon-sized freezer bag (you can use a reusable bag) for a couple of hours or until the baked oatmeal cups are frozen. Then put the bag wherever needed in the freezer.
- If you’re going to grab one on the go, you can wrap them individually in plastic wrap before putting them into the freezer bag.
- I remove it from the freezer and remove the plastic wrap if used.
- Then, I place it on a microwave-safe dish, wrap it in a paper towel, and reheat for 30-45 seconds or until it’s hot. The paper towel keeps the moisture in, which prevents it from drying out.
- Or set the toaster oven to 350 degrees and cook the oatmeal cups for about 5-7 minutes. This will make the outside a little more crisper than the microwave method.
Nutrition
Trying making any of these baked oatmeal cups to have a super healthy breakfast ready to go! Share a picture and tag me on Instagram or Facebook if you decide to make these!
Marcia says
Do you how many Weight Watcher points are in one muffin?
Brooklin says
Hi there, just made these and can’t wait for them to finishing baking to try one! Curious if you could substitute honey for the brown sugar?
Tammy Overhoff says
I’ve swapped in pure maple syrup with no problem so I think honey could work but I never tried it. Would love to know if you did and how it turned out.
Laurel says
This is my new favorite way to eat oatmeal….. I do love your steel cut oat recipe too! I like that with these oatmeal cups, I can have different flavors throughout the week and I love the portion size. My muffin tin is old, so I just lined it with some foil muffin cups . The foil cup comes off easily before hearing them up in the microwave. Great recipe!
Sophia Kuschel says
I’m making these for a friend who cannot have Greek Yogurt due to Chemo treatment! What can I use as a replacement? Could I eliminate altogether??
Alison says
Very good they turned out great, would love a base nutritional value available( knowing it depends on the toppings) much easier for those who track our macros.
Lou says
Nutritional info please.
Angela says
These look delicious. Do you have the nutritional info for these?
Michelle says
I can’t wait to try this recipe! Do you have nutritional info for this?
Angela Sampson says
What is nutritional value?