Those of you who get my newsletter know I’ve started actually prepping my breakfasts along with my lunches – who is she, so organized and prepared for life??? (if you don’t get the newsletter, you’re missing out! sign up on the popup on the blog) Okay it’s mostly a joke, I’m not actually prepared for lunch, but having a delicious breakfast everyday sure does feel close to it.
My favorite of late has been baked oatmeal cups. Don’t be thrown off by the name if you’re not usually an oatmeal fan. This is like a muffin but more filling and full of oat-y goodness, so if your issue with typical oatmeal is the texture then you’ll probably enjoy these!
I try to always have options for you so that everything you make can be the perfect dish for YOU. These are absolutely perfect for that. As you’ll see in the recipe, you have options for each element that makes up these cups. Let’s take a look at the elements:
- the oats: pretty obvious, and also no substitutions for this piece! The good part is that if you need a gluten free breakfast, just use gluten free oats and you’re set
- milk: you can use plant based milk or dairy milk, whatever you’ve got on hand
- sweetener: depending on the flavors you’re going for I suggest using maple syrup or brown sugar. you could probably use granulated sugar, but I didn’t test that and I wanted to use something that would add additional flavor, like the syrup and brown sugar
- spices: whatever makes sense based on the flavors you’re going for! Salt is key in all cases, though, as it’s a natural flavor enhancer
- additional flavors: you’ll want something with additional liquid, like mashed bananas or pumpkin puree. if you want to go for a more neutral flavor here, unsweetened applesauce is perfect.
- extras: here’s where you can go wild with the extra things to add in! I would suggest no more than 1.5 cups of extra thing, whether that’s chocolate chips, frozen fruit, nuts, or a combination. you can also throw in 3-4 Tbsp of peanut butter to add that extra nutty flavor that’s so good.
That’s it! Below is the template recipe along with some suggestions for some tasty versions that I love. Also, this recipe scales really well, so you could easily double it to make 12 instead of 6!
Choose Your Own Adventure Baked Oatmeal Cups
makes 6 cups
Ingredients
base recipe
- 1 1/2 cup (120g) oats
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp cinnamon, or other spice(s)
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 3/4 cup milk, any kind
- 1 egg
- 1/3 cup sweetener, maple syrup OR brown sugar
- 1/2 cup unsweetened apple sauce OR mashed, ripe banana OR pumpkin puree
- 3 Tbsp peanut butter, optional
- 1 – 1 1/2 cups mix ins – chocolate chips, nuts, fruit
suggested variations
Peanut Butter Banana – use brown sugar as the sweetener, use ripe, mashed banana, and include the peanut butter.
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip – use maple syrup as the sweetener, use pumpkin puree, omit the peanut butter, and add in 1 cup of chocolate chips
Fruity – use brown sugar as the sweetener, use unsweetened apple sauce, and add in 1 cup frozen fruit and 1/2 cup almonds for texture
How to do it
- prep: preheat the oven to 350* and spray 6 cups of a muffin tin with baking spray. set aside
- combine the dry ingredients: in a medium bowl combine the oat, baking powder, and spices. set aside
- combine wet ingredients: in a large bowl, whisk together the milk, egg, sweetener of choice, unsweetened apple sauce/banana/pumpkin, and peanut butter, if using.
- bring it all together: add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix to combine. stir in any mix ins and evenly divide among the muffin cups. These don’t rise much so you can fill the muffin cups pretty full
- bake: bake for 25-30 minutes until springy when pressed on the top but not liquid feeling. Let cool and store in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
- enjoy: eat cold from the fridge or heat up in the microwave for 30 seconds. enjoy!