Vegan Baked Oatmeal with Fresh Berries

Vegan Baked Oatmeal Recipe with fresh berries. The perfect healthy, hearty breakfast and great to serve for crowds! This version is vegan and gluten free.

Did I ever tell you about the time that I ate so much oatmeal in high school that I didn’t eat it again until after grad school, almost 8 years later?

It’s true. I ate a packet (or two) of instant oatmeal every single day from 9th until 11th grade and even to this day, I am completely turned off by the idea of instant oatmeal.

Thankfully, I do not feel the same way about baked oatmeal. It’s one of the few ways that I’ll eat oatmeal and if you haven’t tried baked oatmeal before well, this is the baked oatmeal recipe you’ve been waiting for.

Traditional oatmeal can be bland, goopy, and flavorless. Baked oatmeal is soft yet chewy, packed with flavor and perfectly sweet! It’s my favorite (and usually only) way I enjoy oatmeal and I cannot wait for you to try it as well.

Ingredients for Vegan Baked Oatmeal 

Here’s what you’ll need for this healthy baked oatmeal recipe. 

Dry Ingredients: 

• 1 1/2 cups quick cooking oats. I don’t recommend steel cut oats, but old fashioned oats will work here if you can’t find quick cooking oats. The quick cooking oats produce a tender, cake-like baked oatmeal. 
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/4 cup chopped walnuts; any kind of nut works or you can omit all together. 

Wet Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons ground flax seeds + 4 tablespoons water to make a flax egg. This is essential for binding the oatmeal and for adding in a healthy dose of omega-3 fatty acids. 
• 1/2 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk (or any kind of milk really). If you can’t find vanilla almond milk, then I’d recommend adding in 1 teaspoon vanilla extract along with milk of choice. Soy milk or oat milk will work great here, but I don’t recommend coconut milk as the coconut flavor is often too strong. Dairy milk will also work. 
• 1/3 cup 100% pure maple syrup
• 2 tablespoons melted butter (I use Earth Balance)
• 1 large ripe banana

Fresh berries and more almond milk, for serving.

How to make this vegan baked oatmeal recipe

Start by slicing bananas and placing them in a single row on the bottom of the baking dish. As the oatmeal cooks, the bananas will almost melt into the oatmeal and caramelize; adding both texture and decadent taste.  

In a small bowl, whisk together the ground flaxseed and water and let sit for 5 minutes until slightly gelled. 

In a separate large mixing bowl, combine the oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, baking powder and salt. Add in the flax seed mixture, almond milk, maple syrup, and melted butter. Stir in the chopped walnuts, then gently top the oatmeal mixture on top of the layered bananas. 

Bake for 30 minutes, or until golden brown and set.

How to serve these baked oats: 

Serve the oatmeal warm from the oven with ice-cold vanilla almond milk, extra chopped nuts and fresh berries. Oh my goodness, the juxtaposition of the warm, creamy oatmeal and the cold refreshing almond milk, crunchy nuts and sweet berries is incredibly delicious. 

For a more decadent breakfast bowl, drizzle almond butter or peanut butter on top. 

Variations

Once you try this recipe, there are so many ways to mix and match it. You can use chopped pecans or peanuts instead of walnuts. You can also stir in chocolate chips along with the chopped nuts for sweet twist. 

Any fresh fruit works for topping, try fresh cherries, ripe pears, or lightly softened chopped apples cooked with warm spices like nutmeg and cinnamon.  

Tips for Success 

Here’s the secret to really good vegan baked oatmeal. You’ll need two things, a ripe banana and a flax egg.

The banana layer on the bottom becomes soft and caramelized, adding in more natural sweet sugar to the oatmeal and gives it a really good texture. Don’t skip it!

The flax egg helps to bind the oats together without the use of an actual egg. If you aren’t familiar with flax seed, you can buy it milled or in the whole seed form. I usually prefer the seeds as anything that’s ground already will become rancid faster, but the milled version is what you will need in the majority of recipes and I know that it’s a pain to grind flax seeds every time you need them. Therefore, to prolong the shelf-life, keep them in the fridge or the freezer.

 

This oats recipe keeps for a few days in the fridge, and can be prepped ahead of time. 

I make a batch of this vegan baked oatmeal a few times a month, especially on Saturday or Sunday. I love that it keeps well in the fridge and is easy to scoop out and warm up on busy weekday mornings.

When I have company, I will assemble the oatmeal in the evening and then pop in the oven in the morning so it’s fresh and warm for everyone.

More Vegan Breakfast Recipes: 

Vegan French Toast Casserole
Potato Hash Bowl
Vegan Eggs Benedict
Simple Vegan French Toast 
Vegan Sourdough Waffles

If you try this vegan baked oatmeal recipe, let me know! Leave a comment, rate it, and tag your Instagram photos with #delishknowledge . I absolutely love seeing your creations. Happy cooking! 

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