I have an intense love for cranberries, but you can usually only find them in the supermarket for a few months out of the year. So this year, I bought a couple extra bags and tossed them in the freezer so I could enjoy them for months after the season had ended. Well, that day is today and I used some of my cranberry stash to make this delicious Apple Cranberry Baked Oatmeal. And if you didn’t happen to stash any cranberries last fall, you can sometimes find them in the freezer section year-round. Baked oatmeal is one of my favorite breakfast meal preps because it’s SO easy to make and the leftovers are great. Plus, it’s freezer-friendly!
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What is Baked Oatmeal?
Baked oatmeal is a lot like bread pudding, but instead of chunks of hearty bread baked into the custard, it’s rolled oats. The end result is a soft, moist, scoopable oatmeal that is not at all gloopy like those instant oatmeal packets. It’s filling, rich, slightly sweet, and one of my absolute favorite ways to enjoy oats.
Ingredients for Apple Cranberry Baked Oatmeal
Baked oatmeal recipes are super simple by nature, and this apple cranberry version is no exception. Here’s all you’ll need to make this baked oatmeal recipe:
- Applesauce: Unsweetened applesauce keeps the baked oatmeal soft and moist, adds a delicious apple flavor, and provides some natural sweetness to the baked oatmeal so you don’t have to add as much sugar.
- Eggs: Eggs combine with the milk to create the custard that helps the baked oatmeal bake firm up into a scoopable texture instead of the thick porridge-like texture that you get with stovetop cooked oats.
- Brown Sugar: A little extra sugar helps balance the tart flavor of the cranberries and makes the baked oats just sweet enough that you feel like you’re having a treat.
- Vanilla: Vanilla extract helps the oats taste extra rich.
- Cinnamon: A touch of cinnamon gives the baked oatmeal a warm and cozy flavor.
- Salt: Salt helps all of the individual flavors of the oatmeal pop.
- Baking Powder: A small amount of baking powder gives the baked oatmeal loft so it’s not quite so dense.
- Milk: Milk softens the oats and combines with the egg to create a rich custard.
- Cranberries: Cranberries give the baked oatmeal a deliciously sweet-tart flavor and gorgeous pink color. We used cranberries that had been previously frozen, but you can use fresh as well.
- Old-Fashioned Rolled Oats: Oats are the main ingredient, the star of the show. Make sure to get old-fashioned rolled oats instead of quick oats because they have a lot more texture and will keep your baked oatmeal from being too mushy.
Is It Breakfast or Dessert?
Baked oatmeal can be served as either breakfast or dessert! It’s only slightly sweet, so it’s still a balanced breakfast, but it’s delicious enough that I’d happily eat it as a dessert or sweet treat. If you want to make it even more dessert-like, try topping it with a simple streusel before baking. Just combine ¼ cup flour, 2 Tbsp brown sugar, 2 Tbsp white sugar, and 3 Tbsp softened butter until it forms a crumbly mixture that resembles wet sand. Sprinkle that over the baked oatmeal before baking and it turns this baked oatmeal into a decadent dessert!
How to Serve Baked Oatmeal
People always ask if baked oatmeal is supposed to be served hot or cold, and the answer is that it can be enjoyed either way! I love it when it’s still warm out of the oven and topped off with a splash of cold milk. But when I’m eating the leftovers for meal prep, sometimes I eat it cold and sometimes I warm it in the microwave. It’s totally up to you!
Whether you enjoy it hot or cold, I love to add a little milk or half and half to my bowl, or even a scoop of Greek yogurt for extra protein. If you have any walnuts on hand, they would also make a great topper for this Apple Cranberry Baked Oatmeal flavor. Or, if you want it a little sweeter, try topping it with some maple syrup!
How to Store The Leftovers
To store the leftovers of your baked oatmeal for meal prep, divide it into single portions and place them into air-tight food storage containers. They can be refrigerated for up to five days. Or, once cooled in the refrigerator, you can transfer them to the freezer for longer storage (about 3 months). To reheat frozen baked oatmeal either let it thaw in the refrigerator overnight and then microwave until hot, or reheat straight from the freezer using the microwave’s defrost function.
Apple Cranberry Baked Oatmeal
Servings 6Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups unsweetened apple sauce ($0.95)
- 2 large eggs ($0.28)
- 1/4 cup brown sugar ($0.14)
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract ($0.30)
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon ($0.05)
- 1/2 tsp salt ($0.02)
- 3/4 tsp baking powder ($0.04)
- 1 cup milk* ($0.48)
- 1 cup cranberries (frozen or fresh) ($0.67)
- 2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats ($0.58)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375ºF. Add the apple sauce, eggs, brown sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, salt, and baking powder to a large bowl and whisk together until smooth. Add the milk and whisk until smooth again.
- Slice the cranberries in half (no need to thaw if frozen) and add them to the bowl of wet ingredients along with the rolled oats. Stir until everything is evenly combined.
- Pour the oat mixture into a 2-quart casserole dish. Bake the oatmeal in the preheated 375ºF oven for 45 minutes, or until the surface is a light golden brown and it is no longer sticky in the center. Serve hot or refrigerate until ready to eat.
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Nutrition
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How to Make Cranberry Apple Baked Oatmeal – Step by Step Photos
Preheat the oven to 375ºF. In a large bowl, whisk together 1.5 cups of unsweetened applesauce, 2 large eggs, ¼ cup brown sugar, ½ teaspoon vanilla, ½ teaspoon cinnamon, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¾ teaspoon baking powder.
Once the previous ingredients are evenly combined, add 1 cup of milk and whisk again until evenly combined.
Slice one cup of cranberries in half (if frozen, no need to thaw) and add them to the bowl along with 2 cups of old-fashioned rolled oats. Stir the cranberries and oats into the milk mixture.
Pour the oat mixture into a 9×9-inch (or 2-quart) casserole dish.
Bake the oatmeal for 45 minutes or until it’s golden brown on top and the center is no longer wet.
Serve the apple cranberry baked oatmeal warm or divide into single portions and refrigerate until ready to eat!
I like to enjoy my Apple Cranberry Baked Oatmeal with cold milk poured over top! 🤤
Do you think you could make this with cranberry sauce? I have a jar whole berry cranberry sauce but no fresh cranberries.
Ooh, that actually sounds pretty good. You might be able to swirl it into the oats before it’s baked.
Made this and it was great. I just wanted to chime in and say I tried the ripe banana to sub for applesauce like you suggested and it was really good…awesome way to use up odds and ends of yummy things you have in the kitchen
I made this recipe every other week when my first was starting solids and just popped it in the oven today after about a year! My second is starting solids and this is a great Baby Led Weaning recipe! I substitute blue berries because I found the cranberries a bit too tart. Thanks!
Is there a substitute for the apple sauce? It’s the only ingredient I do t have in hand. Thanks!
You can use mashed banana, but that will change the flavor quite a bit.
Have you had positive results freezing this and then reheating later?
Thanks!
I don’t know if I’ve frozen/reheated this particular one, but I have with several of my baked oatmeal recipes and they turn out great. :)
Just made this and it was delicious!! I was a bit short on applesauce so I added a little extra milk and it turned out perfect. It would be great with nuts added too!
Oh wow. My new breakfast fave. I had to do a switcheroo b/c I was trying to use what was in my pantry and had only dried cranberries and fresh apples, but it came out delicious.
i don’t think mine came out right. i baked it for 48 mins and it was still gooey inside like oatmeal. i just used a regular baking pan but i used aluminum foil to make it square, and the mixture was about 1 inch deep. is that the problem??
It will still be moist and soft when baked, but not liquidy. Kind of like bread pudding. It doesn’t really get dry.
I found your website today, and I’m a complete and total fan. I made this as a desert tonight. Followed the recipe except I used dried cranberries and it was amazing, I put a scoop of ice cream on top and the family loved it. And my family will not eat regular oatmeal no matter what you dress it up with. I will be making this and your other flavors as well many times again. Thank you…
I would totally buy a cookbook of just your oatmeal recipes also! I have only within the last few months discovered the awesomeness of baked oatmeal. I made this, and I used dried cranberries (it was like maybe 2.5 oz, i think, just a small bag from the local Dollar Tree). I also added an extra cup of oats, made it in a muffin tin – got 12 muffins, plus 12 mini muffins. Ate this on the go all week. LOVE LOVE LOVE your site. THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!
Prep last night and refrigerated. Baked this morning. The taste was amazing. But it turned out more of a cake & muffin texture rather than the pic showed. I did make some adjustment:
1. I used 1/8 honey instead of brown sugar.
2. Used one egg and an egg white.
3. I think this is the most important one resulting in cake & muffin texture: I used quick oat instead of old-fashioned one since that’s the only version I got in the pantry.
And also I subbed dried fruit for fresh cranberry. And let them soak them in the water beforehand. Please help me out of here. The outcome was not bad, and i like it. But I REALLY want the texture just like you made them. Many thanks.
Yes, I think the main culprit is the quick oats. They have a much finer texture than old-fashioned rolled oats, so they’ll act more like flour and give you a more cake-like texture. Not using that second egg yolk may have also affected it because that extra fat will create a denser texture (not as light and caky).
This recipe held up very well to rough measurements and substitutions. I made a 1.5x batch using white sugar instead of brown and raisins instead of fresh cranberries. The raisins softened and plumped up while cooking, which was fantastic :). My baking powder measurement was pretty rough, as were my measurements for some other ingredients, I added extra cinnamon, and I omitted the vanilla. It was still delicious.
I will definitely be making this again, and in different flavors. Thank you for the recipe!
I just made this with a few revisions because of dietary restrictions and because of what I had on hand, plus I doubled the recipe.
First, I veganized it with soy milk and Ener-G egg replacer. Then, since I didn’t have any apple sause but had tons of apples, I pureed four medium sized apples, which yielded about three cups of apple sauce. And since I can’t find fresh cranberries in March, I just used a bag of frozen mixed berries.
As for baking a double batch, I used a 9 x 13 casserole dish. I covered it in foil and baked at 375 for 45 minutes. Then I removed the foil and baked for an extra 15 minutes. It’s cooked perfectly and it’s delicious.
I just discovered your blog and must say thank you! I plan on using it often.
Over the last few months I have made most of your baked oatmeal recipes. I make a batch on Sunday and have an easy go-to breakfast the rest of the week and because there are so many flavors I never get bored.
The apple cranberry flavor was one of the first baked oatmeals I made. I liked it but felt like it needed more apple. I made the recipe again today and subbed chunky applesauce for the unsweetened and I cut down on the brown sugar since the chunky sauce had sugar in it. It turned out great and has more of the apple flavor I wanted.
I prepared this the night before then threw it in the oven when I woke up and the timing worked really well and the texture wasn’t altered. The only thing that I would change is either use less cranberries or more sugar because we found it a little to tart.