This baked oatmeal recipe is the best way to start the day! It's easy, healthy, and delicious. Serve it for brunch, or make it ahead for breakfast all week.
This baked oatmeal recipe is my favorite breakfast of the moment. I love that it can serve a group for a special breakfast or brunch, but it’s also the kind of thing that you can make on a weekend and reheat on busy mornings throughout the week.
This blueberry baked oatmeal is made with healthy ingredients—think fresh fruit, almond butter, and whole rolled oats—but it tastes like a treat. The top is toasty and nutty, featuring a layer of pecans and coconut flakes that crisp up beautifully in the oven. The middle, on the other hand, stays soft and creamy, filling each bite with an amazing mix of textures. It’s lightly sweet, warmly spiced, and studded with bursty blueberries throughout. Go ahead, get a second slice.
Baked Oatmeal Recipe Ingredients
Here’s what you’ll need to make this healthy baked oatmeal recipe:
- Oats, of course! Whole rolled oats only, please! Quick oats will give the baked oatmeal a mushy texture, whereas steel-cut oats won’t soften in the baking time. Be sure to use certified gluten-free oats if you need this recipe to be gluten-free.
- Mashed banana – For sweetness. It also gives this recipe a slight banana bread-y flavor, which I love.
- Unsweetened almond milk – Or any milk you like! My homemade oat milk would be great here.
- Almond butter – Many baked oatmeal recipes call for eggs to bind the oat mixture together, but I love to use nut butter instead. It makes this recipe vegan, and it gives the oatmeal a rich, nutty flavor. Plus, it adds protein, fiber, and healthy fats, which make this recipe a satisfying breakfast.
- Pure maple syrup – It works with the banana to naturally sweeten the oats.
- Melted coconut oil – For richness. If you’re not vegan, melted butter works too!
- Baking powder – It helps the oatmeal bake puff up slightly in the oven, so it comes out soft and creamy, but not dense.
- Cinnamon – For warm depth of flavor.
- Blueberries – Fresh and frozen are both great.
- Pecans – For nutty crunch.
- Coconut flakes – They create the crispy, toasty topping.
- Brown sugar – It helps the pecan and coconut topping crisp up and caramelize in the oven.
- And sea salt – To make all the flavors pop!
Find the complete recipe with measurements below.
How to Make Baked Oatmeal
Have I mentioned? This healthy baked oatmeal recipe is super easy to make! You don’t need any special equipment, just a mixing bowl and an 8×8-inch baking dish. Here’s how to make it:
First, mix together the wet ingredients. Mash the banana at the bottom of a large mixing bowl. Then, add the almond milk, almond butter, maple syrup, and coconut oil and whisk to combine.
Next, add the baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Whisk again.
Then, add half the blueberries…
…the oats…
…and 3/4 cup of the pecans. Use a spatula to stir until the mixture is well-combined.
Transfer the oat mixture to a greased 8×8-inch pan. Use a spatula to spread it in an even layer.
Then, add the topping. Sprinkle on the remaining blueberries, the remaining pecans, and the brown sugar and coconut flakes.
Finally, bake! Transfer to a 350°F oven and bake for 40 to 50 minutes. The topping should be crisp and the middle should be mostly set.
Let cool for 10 minutes, and then, dig in! Tip: To give this baked oatmeal extra staying power, serve it with a dollop of Greek yogurt or your favorite non-dairy yogurt.
Blueberry Baked Oatmeal Recipe Tips
- Let it cool for 10 minutes before serving. This baked oatmeal recipe will smell AMAZING when it comes out of the oven, so it might be tempting to dig in right away. However, it’s actually best if you let it cool for 10 minutes before serving. Its sweet, spiced flavor will intensify in those few minutes out of the oven. Its texture gets better too—the topping crisps up and the middle becomes firmer.
- Customize it. This blueberry baked oatmeal recipe is fantastic as written, but it’s super flexible. Have fun changing it up! Swap a different berry for the blueberries, such as strawberries or blackberries, or skip the berries and add 1/2 cup chocolate chips, dried cranberries, or raisins. Use walnuts instead of pecans, or change up the spices. Nutmeg, cardamom, and ginger would all be delicious here.
- Meal prep it. This healthy baked oatmeal recipe is perfect for a weekend brunch, but it’s also a great breakfast to meal prep for the week. Bake it off on a Sunday, and store slices in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. Just pop them in the microwave to reheat. They’ll make you excited to get out of bed on busy mornings!
More Favorite Breakfast Recipes
If you love this blueberry baked oatmeal recipe, try one of these yummy breakfast recipes next:
- Overnight Oats
- Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies
- Homemade Granola
- Blueberry Pancakes
- Breakfast Egg Muffins
- Healthy Breakfast Casserole
- French Toast Casserole
- Or any of these 60 Best Brunch Recipes!
Baked Oatmeal
Ingredients
- 1 ripe banana, mashed (½ cup)
- 1 cup unsweetened almond milk, at room temperature
- ¼ cup smooth almond butter
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- ¼ cup melted coconut oil
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- 2 cups whole rolled oats
- 1 cup chopped pecans
- 1 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar, for topping
- 2 tablespoons coconut flakes, for topping
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and grease an 8x8-inch or similar baking dish.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the mashed banana, almond milk, almond butter, maple syrup, and coconut oil. Add the baking powder, cinnamon, and salt and whisk again.
- Fold in the oats, ¾ cup of the pecans, and ½ cup of the blueberries. Pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish and smooth into an even layer.
- Top with the remaining ½ cup blueberries, the remaining ¼ cup pecans, the brown sugar, and coconut flakes.
- Bake for 40 to 50 minutes, or until the topping is crisp and the middle is set. Remove from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes before serving.
I love so many of your recipes, and I’m hoping to receive your new cookbook for mother’s day :). This one sounds like a great one. Can you share a suggested substitute for banana, or could I just leave it out? Thanks!
So glad you love the recipes! Unsweetened applesauce would be a good replacement for the banana here.
Did this recipe change? It’s there any way to get the corner recipe?
what a delicious change from overnight oats! i baked this up last night and left it sitting on the counter with a kitchen towel draped over it. it was so quick to assemble. loved that. subbed applesauce for the coconut oil and left nuts out. used coconut sugar instead of brown sugar to lower glycemic. next time i think i’ll add lemon zest too, as it pairs so well with blueberries. thank you for a great recipe!
i also forgot to add that i followed your idea of replacing the cinnamon with nutmeg, ginger and cardamom. what a great trio!
Hi Jude, I’m so glad you loved it! Lemon zest would be great here.
This sounds delicious! Can you make it the night before, store it in the fridge without baking it, the bake the next morning? Or should you bake it and then store it in the fridge then warm it up?
Hi Lisa, we haven’t tried assembling it ahead and waiting to bake it, but I think that would work fine (just wait to add the topping until right before you bake). It also reheats really nicely.
Your recipes look delicious!
Do you have nutritional information available- especially for the blueberry baked oatmeal or smoothie bowl?
Thanks,
Christy
Hi Christy, we don’t calculate nutrition info for our recipes. If you want nutrition facts for a specific recipe, I recommend using an online nutrition calculator like MyFitnessPal.
Hello, would like to make this recipe this week and wondering if using Oat Milk instead of Almond milk works or if there are any adjustments needed? I don’t have Almond Milk (or almonds to make milk) on hand. Thank you.
Hi, oat milk should work fine here!
What can you use in place of the coconut oil, my son and I are allergic
Melted butter or a neutral oil (avocado, vegetable, etc.) would work well!
Hi, this recipe looks great. What other oil can I substitute for coconut oil? Avocado or sunflower perhaps? I cannot use coconut oil and am looking for a good sub. Thanks, Barbara
Hi Barbara, avocado oil, sunflower oil, or melted butter would work here. Hope you enjoy!
This looks so good! Do you know if they can be reheated or left on the counter after baking?
Hi Gina, You can store leftovers for up to 3 days in the fridge. They’re easy to reheat in the microwave. Hope you enjoy!
Thank you so much for this recipe. You restored my faith in oatmeal. I got into a rut with overnight oats and thought I was ruined, but these are incredible! I used frozen banana slices and frozen mixed berries…WOW! I never thought I’d consider serving oats at a brunch party, but these will definitely be part of my next brunch gathering.
Thank you for this amazing recipe! It’s so delicious. I discovered it a few days ago, and I’m making it for the second time this morning. I didn’t have strawberries so I sliced up an apple instead, also I don’t have hemp seeds, so I added walnuts and cranberries. It’s officially a breakfast staple!
So glad you love it!
Hi Jeanine and Phoebe,
I love your recipes! Thank you for making cooking and feeding my family fun and inspiring. I have a question about this oat recipe. I heard that oats need to be soaked before cooking and eating. If I soak the oats will that ruin the recipe? Or should I not soak the oats and will that still be healthy to eat? Thank you in advance for considering my question.
Hi Nancy, I’m so glad you’ve been enjoying the recipes! We don’t soak our oats (unless we’re making overnight oats), so I think the texture would be quite different here. It might be more mushy.
Thank you for your answers to my questions, that the oats aren’t soaked for this recipe. I just made the recipe with soaked oats and it was incredibly delicious. It wasn’t too mushy – more like an oatmeal cookie just out of the oven. I’ll try it again without soaking the oats, but heard that soaking the oats makes them easier to digest, even if baked or cooked otherwise.
Hi Nancy, I’m so glad that worked out! I’ve heard that too (about many grains), but I’ve never had an issue with oats so I don’t soak.
I love love love this recipe! The first time i made it as suggested (though with eggs and without sugar using the tips given) and it was deliciously perfect. It hits every note from soft and bready to crispy and toasty. Since that first time I’ve tried a variety of fruit combinations. Peach is by far our household favorite – Texans ya know! Though yesterday I was missing Hawaii and decided to go for tropical. I used pineapple, mango and roasted cashews in the mix with a spice mixture of turmeric, ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, and a tiny bit of black pepper, then sprinkled toasted coconut flakes on top during the last few minutes of baking. Beyond words! Seriously I can’t even begin to describe the juicy tropical perfection of this experiment. My husband said bag it and sell it! 😀 Thanks for the inspiration y’all!
Hi Vanice, That variation sounds amazing! I’m so glad you’re enjoying this recipe.
Do you happen to know measurements to make this in a 9″x13″ casserole dish? Will be trying to feed 16 coworkers and I do not have two 8″x8″ pans. Please and thank you!
I think about 1.5x the recipe would fit in a 9×13 dish.
Do you think I could make this the night before and leave it uncooked overnight, then cook in the morning?
No it doesn’t turn out. I’ve tried and wasn’t impressed. Turns soggy.
I reckon is you keep the dry and wet separate and combined in the morning might work
Can I eliminate the banana? What would I use instead of the banana?
I would like to try and make this but I have a coconut allergy so I would need to use something other than coconut oil. Do you think unsalted vegan butter would be fine? Or are there any other replacements that you think would work?
I think the vegan butter should be fine – that would be my next choice.
Hi what is the nutrition information for this recipe please?
323 Calories Per Serving
I’m embarking on a plant-based diet & one of the things “they” shun is coconut oil. Can I substitute something for the coconut oil?
Thank you
Hi Janet, I haven’t tried it with another oil so I’m not sure, I don’t shun coconut oil, it’s considered a good fat to me, but everyone has an opinion 🙂
I made this recipe, and I have to say…. this is a winner for sure!
I was reading the comments regarding if it freezes well, how long it keeps, how it turns out made ahead of time, etc.
I have good news! I made a few batches and tried all of these things to see what would happen!
1.) If you make this the night before, one of two things can happen: it will dry out, and burn more easily the next morning OR the bottom will get so soggy, it will have an almost slimy consistency the next day. My suggestion here is if you make it the night before, try using a fruit that isnt banana or strawberry. I had peaches and it was perfect.
2.) When serving the oatmeal days after, always splash a little almond milk over it before heating. It brings it back to that day 1 consistency.
3.) This freezes very well, if you dont use banana. Again, it gets a slimy texture like making it the night before and baking in the morning, if not worse. I just found the banana did not keep very well either way. The blueberry oatmeal recipe I made with peaches came out almost the same as the day I made it!
4.) If you’re allergic to peaches/ not a fan, the original recipe calls for strawberries and bananas, which is fine. But of you want to make it ahead/freeze it, try just replacing the bananas with more blueberries on the bottom. This also turned out pretty well!
5.) If you like vanilla flavoured yogurt/greek yogurt, you should try it. The recipe is great, but the yogurt elevates the dish to something that feels like I’m cheating on my diet.
Sorry for the long post, but I became curious about some of these questions and wanted to answer them. I hope this helped!
I’m so glad you loved the recipe, thank you so much for your thoughtful tips!
Hi! When you say make ahead and freeze, do you mean construct ahead and freeze, or bake, freeze then reheat?
Thanks
Yep, I bake and then reheat.