To Go Baked Oatmeal with your Favorite Toppings- A standard baked oatmeal recipe is prepared in a muffin tin and topped with your favorite flavors (chocolate, fruit, etc.). A great grab and go breakfast!
I love the idea of everyone getting to personalize breakfast with their favorite flavors. A few months ago I came up with a standard muffin recipe. The idea is to use a basic muffin batter recipe, fill up a muffin tin with batter, then top off each muffin with your favorite flavors (fruit, nuts, chocolate chips, etc.). I got a lot of positive feedback about that recipe.  I thought, why not do the same with oatmeal? So, I came up with this recipe for to-go baked oatmeal with your favorite toppings.
It’s the same concept as the standard muffin recipe. You start by making a standard recipe for baked oatmeal. I say standard only because there are not any chunks of fruit or nuts involved at this point.
Fill a prepared muffin tin with the oatmeal mixture.
This plain oatmeal mixture is actually quite tasty all on its own. You could make this baked oatmeal without any additional toppings and it would be delicious.
But, I like to play around with different toppings. I went with chopped walnuts, dried cranberries, chocolate chips, and fresh blueberries.
Just sprinkle the toppings (I used about 2 tsp.) on each oatmeal cup. Then, press the toppings down into the oats with a spoon.
Bake for 30 minutes, and you end up with these beautiful babies.
These are such an awesome grab-&-go breakfast. They are perfect to make on a Sunday and eat throughout the work week. Or, you could even freeze some and defrost as needed.
If you like these baked oatmeal muffins, you’ll also love this Apple Cinnamon Baked Oatmeal Muffin recipe. 🙂
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To-Go Baked Oatmeal Recipe
Video
Ingredients
- 2 large eggs
- 1/4 cup canola oil
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/2 cup applesauce
- 1 1/2 cups skim milk or whatever milk you like
- 2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1 tbsp. ground cinnamon
- 3 cups old fashioned rolled oats
- 2 tsp. baking powder
- Optional: your favorite toppings fruit, nuts, chocolate chips, etc.
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a muffin tin with paper or paper/foil muffin liners.
- In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, oil, and brown sugar until sugar is dissolved. Add the applesauce, milk, vanilla, salt, and cinnamon. Whisk until well combined. Stir in the oats and baking powder.
- Fill the muffin tin with ¼ cup of the oat mixture in each muffin cup. Add your favorite toppings. Push the toppings down into the oat mixture with a spoon.
- Bake for 30 minutes. Let them cool for 5 minutes before eating. Store in an airtight container or freeze in a zip top storage bag.
Notes
Nutrition
I just made these muffins this morning and they were great! I made a few changes though. I didn’t want to add the 1 cup of brown sugar so I added 1/4 cup of honey and I increased the applesauce to a generous 1 cup. I was worried that they might be too runny but that wasn’t a problem. I added blueberries, raisins and dark chocolate chips as toppings. I found them sweet enough with those substitutions. Thanks for sharing that recipe. It will be a great time saver in our household!
Kathy
Thank you for the suggestions! I was wondering how to substitute the large amount of sugar with something else. I am trying to eat clean and reading comments about how to clean this up a bit. It sounds delicious!! Thanks again!!
I was hoping to do the same thing! Thanks for posting the modification.
I just pulled these out of the oven. They smell amazing. As I was out ring everything together I realized I didn’t have applesauce or enough vanilla. So I added a bit more milk and oil for the applesauce and added a touch of nutmeg. Waiting for them to cool down to try them. I can’t wait.
I have an allergy to applesauce and want to make this recipe. could I sub pumpkin or banana or something else instead?
You could absolutely trade out applesauce for pumpkin or banana. Yum!
I just made these and they’re in the oven. I am so excited to try them. I’m a college student and was looking for a healthy and quick breakfast and these are SO easy to make and I’m sure they’ll taste just as good. Thanks for the recipe!
Made these today and they are AWESOME!!!!!
Thanks for the recipe!!!! 🙂
How long do these stay good for?
Made these today for my teenage swimmer and he loved them!!! Such a perfect pre-practice, pre-race snack!! The rest of the family enjoyed them too 🙂
How long do these last and how would I store them if I was not planning on serving these to a large group the same day?
Has anyone tried freezing these? I prefer making big batches of things and freezing leftovers but not sure this would freeze well?
Hi there,
I made these yesterday and while the flavor is delicious, they are pretty runny even after baking and aren’t a great “to go” snack. I followed the recipe above – do you have any advice for fixing the consistency for next time?
Thanks!
Katelyn
Katelyn, I have the same problem, they were runny at the bottom. They do taste really good though! Any helpful hints? I didn’t use cupcake holders maybe that was my problem?
Thanks
Kelsey
Kelsey,
You are absolutely right. I did some experimenting with these muffins, making some without liners, some with, some baking for 30, 35, and 40 minutes. The ones without liners did not work. They were so moist the bottoms fell out. I will update the recipe card to reflect this.
If you bake them in paper liners, let them cool, and store them in the refrigerator, they will hold together nicely. And, the longer you cook them, the dryer they get.
This recipe is intended to produce a moist oatmeal muffin, even if you use paper liners. So, if you would like something dryer for easier transport, I suggest cutting out the applesauce. That’s why the applesauce is in this recipe, to impart moisture.
Hope this helps.
I had the same problem. I baked them thinking they would be a great breakfast for my toddler. They’re runny and I used liners. I followed the recipe exactly, too. My batter was super duper wet and the result isn’t anything close to a muffin. :-/
Good news: they taste good! 🙂
Hi,
I’m wondering what you’d suggest as an egg substitute in this recipe? Thanks!
Taylor
Taylor, I think the easiest thing to do is to increase a few of the ingredients that are already in this recipe.
The egg provides moisture, binding, and leavening. Luckily, you can get moisture from the oil, binding from the applesauce, and leavening from the baking powder.
I haven’t made this recipe without the eggs. This is what I would try. Increase the oil by 1 tablespoon, increase the applesauce by 3 tablespoons, and increase the baking powder by 2 teaspoons.
Alternatively, you could substitute ground flaxseed and water for the eggs and keep the rest of the recipe the same. I’ve always been a big fan of putting flax in my oatmeal anyway. The flavors seem to work nicely together. To use flax as an egg substitute, add 2 tablespoons of ground flaxseed to a small bowl. Add 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons of water to the flax. Stir it together and let it rest for 5 minutes. Then, add this to the recipe instead of the 2 eggs.
Hope this helps.
Do you think you could do a 1:1 ratio of banana substitute instead of the egg? I have a student who has a egg, wheat, and nut allergy so I have to get creative!
I’ve just learned of substituting 1 tablespoon Chia seeds and 3 tablespoons warm water per egg. Have not tried yet…..
Could these be made with steel cut oats instead of rolled? I just have a TON of steel cut oats I would rather get through before going out and purchasing a different type lol. Please let me know! looking to make a batch tomorrow (only day off for 2 weeks – yikes! need breakfast plans stat!) Thanks! Love your Blog 🙂
Bre, it won’t turn out the same. You could substitute steel cut oats, but the end result will be a more firm, almost nutty oat muffin. And, it may need a little longer to cook. While you could do it, I would recommend going with old fashioned rolled oats for this recipe.
Can I just have a simple question if you don’t have any canola oil or coconut oil what can you use instead ?? And by the way that looks perfect
I used olive oil and it came out fine
if you must use steel cut, simply cook them first. Then mix the batter as usual. It should come out fine.
These look great! But please google how Canola oil is made. I will be changing the oil to vegetable oil. thanks.
In total agreement, no Canola…..coconut oil would do the trick
Hi,
These look yummy… but I live somewhere where old fashioned oats are not available, would this work with quick cook oats and just be smoother or would it end up as a sloppy mess?
Shona, I haven’t tried these with quick cooking oats. But I think it should still work. It will probably, as you mentioned, have a smoother texture. Let me know if you try it this way.
These look great, but I haven’t any canola oil to hand. Would coconut oil work?
I think coconut oil would work perfectly!
Roxy, I haven’t tried these with coconut oil. But I do believe that it would work just fine.
Works great
These are AMAZING! I made them last night and I had two before bed and three in the morning! I made dark chocolate blueberry ones, mini chocolate chip and banana ones, and put my favorite trail mix that has all kinds of dried fruit and nuts. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!
Thanks Megan! I love the idea of using trail mix in these muffins! Great idea!!
Made these last night to bring camping this weekend as they are light to carry when out hiking. I made ones with walnut, raspberry and chocolate and they are to die for! Thank you for sharing this recipe as they were so quick and easy to make!
Thanks Amanda! I’m so glad you liked them.
Walnut, raspberry, and chocolate sounds like an amazing flavor combination!
These look great. I have a few quick substitution questions as I look in my own fridge for ingredients:
1. Would it work to use water instead of milk? I usually make my instant oatmeal with water; we never have milk in the fridge.
2. Would frozen berries work just as well as fresh ones?
Chrissy,
I think that milk would work better, but I do believe that water would work.
Also, frozen berries would work perfectly in this.
Hope you like them!
Invest in some instant dry milk. I sneak that stuff into my baked goods, and my family (including husband) never notice. They all “hate” powdered milk – and asked me why I had it. I told them I drink it. HAHA! ((Not on your life!!!)) — And. Once you have it, and you’ve run out of milk – use water and powdered milk and make up a cup or so… just what you need for the recipe. 🙂 Lots of luck!!!!
When substituting milk I mix powdered milk and water until it looks like rich milk. My dad use to mix regular milk with mixed powdered milk to save money (6 kids). Yuck!!!
I’m lactose intolerant and vegetarian so I’ve made mine with almond milk and they are great. I did add a grated apple too. This is my to go breakfast. Thanks for this recipe!
Wanting to make these but I don’t have applesauce. Any substitute or will they still turn out the same without it?
Lori,
The purpose of the applesauce in this recipe is to keep the muffins moist without having to use a lot of fat.
This recipe produces a very moist oat muffin and it’s pretty forgiving. You could leave the applesauce out and the muffins would still probably be pretty good. Or, you could add a little extra oil and milk as a substitute for the applesauce (maybe an extra tablespoon of oil and an extra 1/4 cup of milk).
Hope this helps.
I actually substituted the applesauce with plain chobani greek yogurt (no fat and protein). It worked out well. I think next time I am actually going to skip the oil. Mine were very moist and the bottoms of the cupcake foil was sitting in oil that leaked out.
Hi Amanda,
I am thinking of making these for my daughter’s high school swim team for one of their morning breakfasts (moms are in charge of providing breakfasts after their 5 AM swim and before school :). I was thinking of trying to add vanilla protein powder in because getting them protein is always a challenge. How would you suggest adding that in and not making the recipe fail?
Thanks,
Tracy
Tracy,
That’s a little tricky. I think this is a situation where it would take a couple of trial runs to get the consistency right.
Protein powder can make some baked goods dried out and rubbery. But, the good news is, this is already a really wet batter. So, I think it can be done.
Here is what I would try.
Swap out some of the oats for the protein powder (maybe 1/2 cup to 1 cup, I would not try to swap out more than 1 cup).
If that turns out a little dry, I would add more applesauce to the batter to increase the moisture of the final product.
Hope this helps.
Thanks so much. I am going to experiment this weekend and I will let you know how it goes.
Great! Good luck 🙂
Could you substitute greek yogurt for the oil to get the extra protein?
I was just reading your question about adding in more protein – often when I bake, I take a little of the dry ingredients and replace it with chia seeds. I’m a new mom and am starving all the time with breastfeeding. Per every ounce of chia seeds there are four grams of protein and 10 grams of fiber. It helps keep me full and energized much longer.
That’s a good tip with the chia seeds!
How long will these last? Do they need to be refrigerated?