A weekend version of porridge, if you will – apple baked oatmeal is a real treat of a breakfast and doesn’t need any more hands-on time than stove top apple porridge. If you’ve never had baked oatmeal, it’s rolled oats mixed with sweetener (maple syrup in this case), milk, eggs, spices, and fruit before baking up into a kind of oat cake. It’s delicious and makes a lot. Leftovers store well!

This is adapted from Sophie’s pear baked oatmeal recipe (which is vegan, if you’d like an egg-free option).

Recipe Rundown: Apple Baked Oatmeal

• Texture: kind of like a softer granola bar. Baked oatmeal has a lot of bite left in the oats, more than stove top porridge, and cuts into squares. The base is softer than the top.
• Flavour: very apple forward, with the spices and maple syrup coming through. It’s like apple pie baked oatmeal.
• Difficulty: pretty easy. Core and chop the apples, mix everything in one bowl, and bake right away.

Ingredients

• Apples: choose a good balanced eating apple, like Boskoop or Elstar. You want something that keeps its form well when baked.
• Oats: quick-cook oats don’t work here – they’re soggy and unpleasant. You must use rolled oats for the best results. I think extra-thick rolled oats would be fine, if a bit toothier. If this needs to be strictly gluten-free for celiacs, use certified gluten-free oats.
• Eggs: large eggs, at room temperature for the best results. This recipe doesn’t have a sub for eggs and I recommend using a vegan-specific recipe if needed.
• Maple syrup: go for the darkest syrup you can find – it has the strongest flavour. Use honey as a good alternative but note that honey is quite a bit sweeter than maple syrup, so the oatmeal will be sweeter.
• Coconut oil: I haven’t tested this but it should be fine with melted butter (vegan or dairy) in place of the coconut oil. I wouldn’t recommend using an oil that’s liquid at room temperature.
• Applesauce: this should be unsweetened applesauce, homemade or store bought. Sweetened will make the oatmeal too sweet.

For some more apple breakfast recipes, try my traditional German apple pancake, apple banana smoothie, and gluten-free apple crumble bars.

Step by Step Photos

I did have a photo showing the mixture in a bowl, but it looks the same as it does in the baking dish – you can see here how it should look before baking.

Step 1: mix everything in a large bowl and transfer to a baking dish.

Step 2: bake until lightly golden and firm to the touch.

How to Store

Storage: transfer to a sealed container and refrigerate up to five days. To reheat, place a square in a small pot with a splash of milk (to prevent sticking) and heat over low until warmed through. Baked oatmeal shouldn’t be refrigerated before baking.

Freezing: transfer fully cooled baked oatmeal to an airtight container and freeze up to three months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight and reheat. Individual portions freeze well for a make-ahead breakfast option.

Expert Tips

• Bake right away: the oats will soak up too much of the liquid if the oatmeal isn’t baked right after mixing, and it makes for an unpleasant final texture.
• Sweeten to taste: I find this fairly sweet (probably because I usually eat unsweetened porridge) and you can reduce the maple syrup, but note that it will be on the dry side with less.
• Make oatmeal cups: grease a 12-cup muffin tin and fill the cups right to the top with the baked oatmeal mixture. Bake for 30 minutes.

More Oat Recipes

Olive Oil Granola
Banana Porridge
Oatmeal Breakfast Brownies
Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal Cookies

If you make this Baked Apple Oatmeal recipe or any other vegetarian breakfast recipes on Occasionally Eggs, please take a moment to rate the recipe and leave a comment below. It’s such a help to others who want to try the recipe. For more OE, follow along on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest, purchase the Occasionally Eggs cookbook, or subscribe for new posts via email.