Blueberry and Almond Baked Steel Cut Oats
This delicious baked steel cut oats recipe, prepped the night before, is the perfect nutritious breakfast. Click on the recipe for many more adaptations!
This oatmeal. I could write an ode to this oatmeal.
It is dreamy and divine and desired by my children several times a week (although admittedly, I don’t make it that frequently for them). I tend to reserve it for Saturday mornings or for when company is in town.
While hearty and nutritious, the creamy, custardy texture speaks of breakfast decadence and special occasions. Don’t tell my kids it’s easier to prepare than most breakfasts I do make them.
I’m all about serving it sporadically so they are surprised and excited and tell me I’m the best mom ever. I’m clearly not above manipulating compliments from young children.
Besides loving the nutty, chewy taste and texture of the steel cut oats and the vanilla and almond and blueberry flavors (there’s a lot to love in this baked steel cut oatmeal, what can I say), the part I adore most is the overnight prep.
The entire dish is quickly stirred together (10 minutes tops) and refrigerated overnight. The next morning? Preheat and bake, baby.
Not only is this oatmeal completely delicious right out of the oven but it makes really great leftovers to either reheat or dive into straight from the refrigerator (no judging).
Oh, and if blueberries and almonds aren’t your thing, then be prepared to meet the most adaptable recipe on the planet. Sub in apples for blueberries. Maybe even bananas! Oh my. Walnuts (lightly toast ’em) for the almonds or leave the nuts out altogether.
Don’t use almond milk? Why, no problem. Pour in that regular old cow’s milk you have in your fridge.
Am I allowed to admit right now that I’m posting this really because I can’t wait for you to report back on your variations.
I’m thinking neither you nor I have any excuse not to be whipping this up tonight for the perfect Saturday morning breakfast. I’ll think of you while devouring in the a.m. if you’ll think of me.
One Year Ago: White Chicken and Spinach Lasagna
Two Years Ago: Breadstick and Pizza Casserole
Three Years Ago: BBQ Pulled Chicken Sandwiches {Slow Cooker}
Blueberry and Almond Baked Steel Cut Oats
Ingredients
- 1 cup steel cut oats
- ¾ cup sliced almonds
- 1 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon
- ⅛ teaspoon nutmeg
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 2 ⅔ cups almond milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 eggs
- ⅓ cup pure maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil or butter, melted
- 1 – 2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
Instructions
- In a medium bowl mix the oats, almonds, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt together.
- In another bowl or in a liquid measuring cup, whisk the milk, vanilla, egg, maple syrup and coconut oil (or butter) together until smooth. It’s ok that the coconut oil/butter will solidify and form small clumps. It’ll work itself out in the warm oven, promise.
- Pour the wet ingredients over the oatmeal mixture and stir to combine.
- Lightly grease a 9X9-inch baking dish (can use a similar sized baking dish of any shape – 9X9-inch or larger but smaller than a 9X13-inch).
- Toss the blueberries over the bottom of the dish. Give the oatmeal mixture a final stir and pour over the top of the blueberries (if using frozen blueberries, the oatmeal will definitely take on more of a blue-ish hue than if using fresh). Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight (8-12 hours).
- In the morning, preheat the oven to 350 degrees, uncover the baking dish and bake for 55-60 minutes until the mixture is set and oats are tender but still slightly chewy. Stir to combine, if desired, or just scoop out in portions as is.
- Serve with additional milk (to stir into the oatmeal), if desired.
Notes
Recommended Products
Recipe Source: sent to me by my sister, Emily, after she tweaked and perfected and raved about it (originally from here by way of here)
Made it with a mix of fresh açaí and blueberries. So yummy. But um, I tripled it and cooked it in a 9×13 pan. It was too much and overflowed. I think doubling it would have been fine though. Also I cooked it immediately rather than waiting overnight. It seemed fine. But I don’t know what it would have been like if I had left it. Also, my oven is gas with no temperature markings and a ton of temp variation anyway, so I just bake things till I smell them etc, so I think I overbaked it too. Despite all that, all my kids liked it except for one who cried about the sliced almonds despite eating mixed nuts practically every day.♀️ Thanks for all the recipes! We’re in S America currently and oatmeal is our go to breakfast now and your site has kept my kids happy!
Love this! I substituted the blueberries for mashed bananas and pecans for walnuts. Delicious! Tasted just like warm banana bread.
Thanks, Mel! This is so good.
Made it for Easter to rave reviews.
Great neighbors brought over some peaches that were not sweet enough for the fam, so they went in the next round of oatmeal. Fantastic that way, too. Had some extra chia seeds and those were good in there as well.
I used 4 cups blueberries. I put a scoop of vanilla on a bowl of it after it came out of the oven. Good!
I used 4 cups of blueberries and used a deep pan. We ate it for dinner and I topped each bowl with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. It was a great healthy dessert!
Has anyone tried this recipe in muffin cups for individual servings? or smaller individual serving dishes?
This was yummy. I was looking for something with steel cut oats and lots of protein so I made a significant modification. I searched high and low for this info, so I’m leaving it in the comments, just in case someone else wants to know too. I added 6 eggs to this recipe so that it’d have more protein. The end result texture had custardy hunks on the top. I doubt people would know it was egg. I will definitely be adding eggs again. Other changes: 1) Adding more melted fat (I used 2 tbsp butter) because that’s what I do to my oatmeal and why not. 2) Accidentally left out the baking powder.
Darn I wish I’d read this comment before making! I added three eggs in total as I also prefer eggy, high protein oatmeal. Good to know it’s tasty with even more eggs, I’ll try more next time I make it!
Great base recipe to play with! This oatmeal is just delish and I’m not a religious oat eater. I only used 1/4C of maple syrup and thought it was still perfectly sweet with all of the blueberries (used 1.5C frozen blueberries). I will try a little less syrup next time! I was out of milk, but used 2/3C cream + 2C water and it turned out perfect. I’ll definitely be going after some more flavors in the future – peaches and cream, cherry almond, apple pie, banana bread, etc.
This is definitely a keeper and I am trying, at the suggestion of another reviewer, coconut milk and cream (4 C + 1 1/3 C water) subbed for the almond milk and adding fresh pineapple for the blueberries, so I will let you know how it tastes! (I double it because I have a large family with lots of hungry boys!)
Long time favorite. I figured out I can throw it all in the instant pot except blueberries and sliced almonds and pressure cook for 4 minutes natural release for 15. I add blueberries after its cooked. Fridges and reheats super tasty.
Whoa, that’s awesome!
I am always a big fan of using the instant pot over cooking something in the oven for an hour. But I am wondering do you still soak it overnight or just whip it all up and throw it in the IP? Thanks for the amazing idea Lindsey and of course the initial brilliance from Mel.
This was PERFECT. It’s the solution to my steelcut oatmeal dilemma. I love the oats, but I don’t like the crockpot solution and I also don’t want to babysit them on the stove for a half hour or more… This tasty so lovely. I used chopped almonds cause that’s all I had, and honey in place of the maple syrup. Perfect sweetness. Thanks!
This was amazing!!! I have a second batch of it in my fridge for tomorrow!