Who needs those autumn-themed candles when you’ve got Apple Cinnamon Baked Oatmeal in the oven? NO ONE. This warm and cozy oatmeal casserole, of sorts, is the epitome of fall vibes. Not only will this baked oatmeal make your house smell amazing, but it’s an easy way to meal prep breakfast for the week ahead. It’s cozy, delicious, filling, and EASY. 🙌
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What is Baked Oatmeal?
If you’re new to baked oatmeal, it’s kind of like bread pudding, but made with oats instead of chunks of bread. It’s sweet, rich, hearty, and absolutely amazing. The texture is soft and moist, but not goopy like traditional oatmeal can be, and it gets just a little bit crispy around the edges of the baking dish. You can eat it hot out of the oven and the leftovers can be eaten cold or reheated in the microwave. I like to pour a little cold milk over top for a delicious hot-cold combo. Baked oatmeal can also be frozen in single-serving containers for quick reheatable weekday breakfasts!
Ingredients for Apple Cinnamon Baked Oatmeal
This apple cinnamon baked oatmeal combines our usual baked oatmeal base with apples that are coated in a little cinnamon and sugar, and then baked until they form an apple pie-like layer on the bottom of the oats. Here are the ingredients you’ll need to make this incredible apple cinnamon baked oatmeal:
- Fresh apples: Pick a sweet or semi-sweet variety of apple, like Fuji, Gala, or Honeycrisp. And, of course, take advantage of the fresh fall apples for the best price and flavor!
- Oats: Make sure to use old-fashioned rolled oats for this recipe, not quick oats or minute oats, to achieve the best texture. Quick oats are too thin and will create a mushier texture.
- Milk and eggs: Milk and eggs create a custard that keeps the baked oats soft, tender, and moist. I like to use whole milk, but you can substitute it with non-dairy milk if needed.
- Brown sugar and applesauce: Using both broth sugar and applesauce to sweeten the baked oatmeal creates an even bigger apple pie-like flavor without having to use too much added sugar.
- Spices: Cinnamon, cloves, and vanilla make these baked oats that classic fall aroma!
- Lemon juice: A little lemon juice brightens up the baked apples and really makes their flavor shine.
- Cornstarch and baking powder: These two ingredients are added for texture. The cornstarch helps thicken the apple juices as they bake, creating a pie-filling-like texture. The baking powder lightens the oat mixture just a touch so it’s not quite so heavy.
How to Serve Apple Cinnamon Baked Oatmeal
Baked oatmeal is pretty versatile. You can eat it either hot OR cold. I love it just out of the oven with a little cold milk poured over top, but it’s also great cold after it’s been refrigerated overnight. You can top it with some nuts or even some whipped cream for an even more dessert-like treat!
How to Store The Leftovers
After baking, divide the oatmeal into single-serving portions and refrigerate until completely cool. The baked oatmeal can be stored in the refrigerator for 4-5 days, or you can transfer it to the freezer for longer storage (about three months). Refrigerated or frozen baked oatmeal can be reheated quickly in the microwave.
Apple Cinnamon Baked Oatmeal
Servings 6 (about 1.3 cups each)Ingredients
Baked Apple Layer
- 4 medium apples (about 2 lbs. total) ($2.66)
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice ($0.06)
- 2 Tbsp brown sugar ($0.06)
- 1 Tbsp cornstarch ($0.03)
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon ($0.05)
- 1/8 tsp cloves ($0.02)
Baked Oatmeal Layer
- 1.5 cups unsweetened applesauce ($0.91)
- 1/4 cup brown sugar ($0.12)
- 2 large eggs ($0.18)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract ($0.59)
- 1 tsp salt ($0.05)
- 1 tsp baking powder ($0.06)
- 1 tsp cinnamon ($0.10)
- 1.5 cups milk* ($0.72)
- 2.5 cups old-fashioned rolled oats ($0.72)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375ºF. Core and dice the apples.
- Place the diced apples in the bottom of a 9×9-inch (or 2 qt.) casserole dish. Add the lemon juice, brown sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, and cloves. Stir until the apples are coated in sugar and spices.
- Cover the dish with foil and bake for 15 minutes.
- While the apples are baking, prepare the baked oatmeal mixture. In a large bowl, whisk together the applesauce, brown sugar, eggs, vanilla, salt, baking powder, and cinnamon. Then add the milk and whisk to combine again.
- Finally, stir the dry oats into the applesauce mixture and stir until fully combined.
- After the apples come out of the oven, give them a good stir, then pour the oat mixture over top. Return the dish to the oven (uncovered) and bake for an additional 30 minutes.
- After baking for 30 more minutes the oats should be golden brown on top and you may see some of the apple cinnamon layer bubbling up around the edges. Let the oats cool for about five minutes before serving.
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Equipment
Notes
Nutrition
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How to Make Apple Cinnamon Baked Oatmeal – Step by Step Photos
Preheat the oven to 375ºF. Core and dice four medium apples (about ½ lb. each).
Place the apples in the bottom of a 9×9-inch or 2-quart casserole dish. Add 1 Tbsp lemon juice, 2 Tbsp brown sugar, 1 Tbsp cornstarch, ½ tsp cinnamon, and ⅛ tsp cloves. Stir until the apples are evenly coated in sugar and spices.
Cover the dish with foil and bake the apples for 15 minutes in the preheated 375ºF oven.
While the apples are baking, begin preparing the oat mixture. In a large bowl, whisk together 2 large eggs, 1.5 cups unsweetened applesauce, 1 tsp vanilla, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp cinnamon, and ¼ cup brown sugar.
Add 1.5 cups milk to the applesauce mixture, then whisk again to combine.
Add 2.5 cups rolled oats (not quick oats) and stir until everything is evenly combined.
After the baked apples come out of the oven, give them a stir, then pour the oat mixture over top of the apples. Place the dish back into the oven (uncovered) and bake for 30 minutes more.
After 30 minutes the oats should be golden brown around the edges and you might see some of the apple cinnamon layer bubbling up around the edges. Remove the baked oatmeal from the oven and let it cool for about 5 minutes before serving.
The bottom layer will be sweet and tender baked apples and the top layer will be a soft baked oatmeal. SO GOOD!
I like to eat my apple cinnamon baked oatmeal with a splash of cold milk on top!
This oatmeal is one of the most delicious things I’ve ever put in my mouth. Thank you, Beth!
Renee – I think some people have used a flaxseed + water mixture, but I’ve never tried it myself, so I can’t vouch for the results. I don’t know the quantities either, but I’m sure a quick google search for “flax egg replacement” will tell you how much to use in place of one egg.
Is there something I can replace the eggs with? I have a boy who can’t eat eggs.
Denae – Some of the baked oatmeals that use yogurt are fine with baking soda/powder combo, but I think the rest are probably better with just baking powder.
Do you recommend making the change to the baking powder in your old recipes as well or just removing the foil?
Have you tried freezing individual portions of this and defrosting in the morning for quick breakfasts? I wonder how it holds up.
I made a pan of this, and my daughter is thrilled to get “apple pie” for breakfast!
I added a bit of allspice, cardamom, and nutmeg – I’m a warm spice nut! We’ve had it with milk and maple syrup, and with ice cream.
This was so good! Definately the best of the three baked oatmeal recipes I’ve tried, with blueberry banana in second. I added raisins.
Kulio – I’ve never tried refrigerating it over night, but I’m sure it would work just fine. The baking with the foil thing is what I used to do with the baked oatmeals, but I don’t bother with it anymore. It works better without! :)
Can you mix this up the night before and bake it the next morning with good results? Also – you say you baked it half the time with foil on top and half without?
Adrienne – Many people have reported using soy and almond milk with great results :D
Yum! I’m going to make this over the weekend.
Adrienne, I’ve used soy milk in several of Beth’s fantastic baked oatmeal recipes and they turned out fine. Just cut the milk back by 1/4 cup or so since it’s thinner than cow’s milk. Or if you forget like I did a couple of times, bake it for 10-15 minutes longer until the center is cooked.
I love the idea of the apple pie bottom and oatmeal top, can’t wait tot ry this!
this sounds ridiculously good! love all of your oatmeal recipes!
I was very excited the find this new recipe because someone just gave me a whole basket of apples Monday and I found a place by my job that sells oatmeal in bulk for 1.49lb. So I made some last night and I was blown away by how good my house smelled! I didn’t have any cloves, but I added half a teaspoon of nutmeg since I had that handy. It was so good that I had two pieces, yum!
Oh, and I had a falling out with moo milk too and use vanilla almond for the recipes. I don’t think it really adds that much sugar, most of the sweetness I noticed came from the apples.