I’ve tried making a Carrot Cake Baked Oatmeal a few times in the past, but I’ve never gotten it quite right until today. It has been a long time in the making, so I’m very excited to finally add the Carrot Cake Baked Oatmeal to my baked oatmeal collection. This version is packed with carrots and is only faintly sweet, with the occasional pop of sweetness from the raisins and cheesecake-inspired topping. So, when I say “Carrot Cake” Baked Oatmeal, please know that it’s a little figurative. This is breakfast that is reminiscent of carrot cake, not a dessert for breakfast. But if you do want a sweeter dessert-like oatmeal, you can simply increase the brown sugar to about 1/2 cup or more.
What is Baked Oatmeal?
If you’ve never tried one of my baked oatmeal recipes, let me describe the texture for you. While the outer edges may get a little brown or crispy, the majority of the oatmeal is soft and moist, almost like a custard soaked oatmeal. Think bread pudding, but with thick oats instead of soft bread. And speaking of “thick oats” I do suggest using old-fashioned roll oats for this because they have such wonderful texture. People often ask if they can use instant oats, but this recipe is designed for old-fashioned rolled oats. Using instant oats will definitely change the texture and may throw off the moisture level since they absorb liquid differently than the thicker old-fashioned oats.
How to Serve Baked Oatmeal
Baked oatmeal is wonderfully versatile because it can be eaten hot out of the oven, chilled from the refrigerator, or reheated. I like to pour cold milk over top of the heated oatmeal for a nice temperature contrast. This is a great dish to prepare Sunday night so you can have a quick breakfast to reheat throughout the week. It will keep for about 4-5 days in the refrigerator, or can be frozen.
Want more Baked Oatmeal Recipes? Try Peanut Butter Brownie Baked Oatmeal, Sweet Potato Casserole Baked Oatmeal, Oatmeal Cookie Baked Oatmeal, or Blueberry Banana Baked Oatmeal.
Carrot Cake Baked Oatmeal
Servings 6Ingredients
- 1 lb. carrots ($0.89)
- 2 large eggs ($0.54)
- 1/3 cup brown sugar ($0.08)
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon ($0.05)
- 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg ($0.03)
- 1 tsp baking powder ($0.06)
- 1/2 tsp salt ($0.03)
- 2 cups milk ($0.75)
- 3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats ($0.51)
- 1/3 cup chopped walnuts* ($0.53)
- 1/3 cup raisins* ($0.57)
Cream Cheese Topping
- 4 oz. cream cheese, room temperature ($0.60)
- 1 large egg yolk ($0.27)
- 1/4 tsp vanilla extract ($0.21)
- 1 tsp lemon juice ($0.02)
- 2 Tbsp sugar ($0.02)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375ºF. Peel or scrub the carrots, then slice them into rounds. Boil or steam the carrots until they are extremely soft (I steamed for 15 minutes, but this will depend on the size of your carrots).
- Place the cooked carrots in a large bowl and mash with a potato masher. Add the eggs, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking powder, and salt. Whisk these ingredients together until well combined.
- Add the milk to the bowl and whisk until combined again. Finally, add the rolled oats, walnuts, and raisins and stir with a large spoon until combined. Pour the oat mixture into a 3 quart casserole dish coated with non-stick spray.
- In a separate small bowl, combine the cream cheese, egg yolk, vanilla, lemon juice, and sugar. Whisk or stir with a fork until smooth. If needed, microwave for 15 seconds to slightly warm the cream cheese mixture so it is slightly more fluid, then drizzle it over the oat mixture in the casserole dish.
- Bake the Carrot Cake Oatmeal for 45 minutes, or until the cream cheese mixture is slightly golden brown on top. Serve immediately, or divide into single portions, then refrigerate.
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Notes
Nutrition
How to Make carrot Cake Baked Oatmeal – Step by Step Photos
Preheat your oven to 375ºF. Peel or scrub one pound of carrots, then slice them. Either boil or steam the carrots until they are VERY soft. I steamed my carrots in about 1-inch of water for about 15 minutes, but if your carrots are larger around, they may take longer to get to the point where they are soft enough to mash.
Place the cooked carrots in a large bowl and mash them with a potato masher.
Next, add 2 large eggs, 1/3 cup brown sugar, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg, 1 tsp baking powder, and 1/2 tsp salt. Whisk these ingredients together until smooth.
Whisk in 2 cups of milk until combined, then add 3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats, 1/3 cup chopped walnuts, and 1/3 cup raisins. The walnuts and raisins are optional. I actually forgot to add them this time because I was too busy following a Facebook discussion about bad drivers, so I ended up adding them to my bowl just before eating, which is another option.
Next, in a separate small bowl, combine 4 oz. room temperature cream cheese, 1 large egg yolk, 1/4 tsp vanilla extract, 1 tsp lemon juice, and 2 Tbsp sugar. Stir them together until smooth. This is basically a mini-batch of cheesecake, FYI. ;)
Spread the oat mixture into a 3 quart casserole dish that has been coated in non-stick spray. Press it down so that all the oats are as close to being in the liquid as possible. Warm the cream cheese topping, if needed, to make it pourable, then drizzle it over the oats (I microwaved it for 15 seconds. Just be careful not to COOK it in the microwave).
Bake the oatmeal for 45 minutes, or until the outer edges are a little brown and the cream cheese topping is golden brown.
Serve the Carrot Cake Baked Oatmeal immediately, or divide into single portions and refrigerate until you’re ready to eat.
I like to pour a little cold milk over my hot Carrot Cake Baked Oatmeal to get a nice temperature contrast. You can eat this oatmeal cold or hot!
Disgusting. Didn’t have enough sugar.
I’ve made several baked oatmeal recipes in the past and each one turned into a sloppy, soupy mess by the end of baking time. This one is perfect!
I followed the recipe, using 1/2 cup brown sugar and baked in a 9×13 dish for 35 minutes. Thank you, it is delicious.
Yum! I love including more vegetables in my diet.
I like to buy frozen chopped carrots. That way there’s no washing, peeling, or chopping. I just dump the bag into a pot and start cooking. :)
Absolutely love this recipe. But was just wondering if anyone has tried it without cooking the carrots? I just feel like I’m boiling away all the good nutrition. Could you do it with raw grated carrots like a carrot cake is made?
Hi, Chantel! Since we haven’t tested this recipe without cooking the carrots, I can’t guarantee the results will be equally successful– but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try it out and let us know how it goes! ~Marion :)
Thanks for the reply Marion. I’ll do a small batch as a test run and report back :)
So I just made zucchini bread baked oatmeal using this recipe as a guideline. I had a 12 oz zucchini to use up, so I grated it and subbed that for the carrot. I used 1/2c walnuts, no raisins, and I upped the brown sugar to 1/2c because I was worried about the lack of sweetness from the carrot. I skipped the “frosting”.
It was barely sweet, and tasted like zucchini bread – it’s right on the line where I almost wanted more sugar, but didn’t add any. My husband commented on how pretty it looked with the green stripes, and said, “I can’t taste the zucchini”, so win!
This turned out great. I subbed Swerve brown sugar for the sugar, macadamia nut milk for the milk, pecans for the walnuts , So Delicious vegan cream cheese for the cream cheese, ginger for the cinnamon and lime juice for the lemon juice. I have a lot of food sensitivities. It was just like a slightly sweet carrot cake and very tasty, also stuck with me all morning. Excellent recipe.
This was my first encounter with baked oatmeal, and it did not disappoint. I am not a morning person, but halfway through the week am wholly appreciating the ease of microwaving this satisfying yet not overly sweet breakfast.
I love this recipe SO MUCH, and I have made it more times than I can count!
I’ve doubled the recipe easily. and baked in two pans.
I’ve substituted cooked, pureed butternut squash for the carrots and it came out delicious and with an awesome texture! I’m sure sweet potato or pumpkin would also be delicious substitutes if that’s what you have on hand.
One time I didn’t have a lemon, so I added a SMALL (emphasis on SMALL!) pinch of cream of tartar in the cream cheese for that little bit of acidity. It worked great! Lemon is preferable for that added brightness, but this worked when I had nothing else!
I always bake in a 13×9 glass pyrex, so I lower the cooking time to 30 minutes and it’s always perfectly done! This makes it easy for me to cut into 8 equal portions. I just pull out one and microwave it for a minute to warm it up!
I’ve frozen individual slices with the cream cheese topping on it for easy breakfasts when I’m busy. I pull it out the night before, and it thaws overnight beautifully!
Truly, this is my favorite recipe on this website!
Best for breakfast ,I’m sure both olds and kids would love this recipe Thanks for sharing!.
Has anyone tried freezing individual portions of this yet? I would love to have this for a fast grab and go breakfast.
Please let me know. Thank you kindly.
I have. It reheats well in my opinion.