Home » Recipe Type » Breakfast » Baked Steel Cut Oatmeal
★★★★★120 reviews //By Alexandra Stafford onAugust 9, 2013 (updated December 4, 2021) Jump To Recipe
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This baked steel cut oatmeal is one of my all-time favorite recipes. The whole thing can be assembled the night before and popped in the oven the following morning. Or it can be assembled and baked immediately. It is infinitely customizable to your preferences — you can make it dairy-free, vegan, with or without nuts, and with any fruit your heart desires 🙂
Yesterday, while three movers packed away our lives into boxes, I snuck one last dish into the oven, a mixture of steel cut oats, cinnamon, maple syrup, and coarsely chopped almonds, a dish I have been addicted to in some form or another since March.
For months, I made this baked oatmeal using rolled oats and, as suggested, always mixed up the dry ingredients the night before baking, which allowed for easy preparations in the morning. But about a month ago I discovered that when steel cut oats replace the rolled oats, the morning effort disappears altogether: the entire dish — egg, milk, melted butter, baking powder and all — can be assembled the night before baking.
I love this oatmeal. When it bakes, the mixture separates into distinct layers, the nuts forming a crisp-like topping, the berries bobbing underneath, the creamy oats and custard forming the foundation. The steel cut oats, flavored with cinnamon and maple, remain firm and chewy, which along with the nuts offer the loveliest texture throughout. I could eat the whole pan in one sitting.
I love these oats with berries. I love them without. I love them freshly baked. I love them cold, straight from the fridge. I like them with walnuts. I love them with almonds. I could eat them at every meal. I like them so much that whenBen tells me he can’t make it home for dinner, I think, “Yes, I get to eat my oats!” And while these oats are the perfect kind of thing to make for a crowd, at the moment I’m not at all upset that my children don’t like them. This isthe kind of dish I hope so very much you will all whisk up tonightbefore hitting the hay, so you, too, have something to savor, with friends or without, all Saturday morning long.
PS: Favorite Blueberry-Almond Smoothie
You can make these oats with or without berries:
I like my Pyrex 8-inch square baking dish for this one:
By mid morning the pan usually looks like this:
By noon:
By early afternoon:
Individual bowls of steel cut oats:
This is also delicious with apples:
Baked Steel Cut Oatmeal
- Author: Alexandra Stafford
- Total Time: 1 hours 5 minutes
- Yield: Serves 4-6
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Description
Inspired by Heidi Swanson’s recipe in Super Natural Every Day via Orangette
I like my Pyrex 8-inch square baking dish for this one. You can also use six 6-oz ramekins.
If you are mixing this at night and baking in the morning, follow the recipe through step 2, omitting the fruit. Store mixture in baking vessel or in a Tupperware. In the morning, give the mixture a stir. Scatter berries (if using) into an 8-inch baking dish. Pour milk-oat mixture over the berries; then proceed with recipe.
As I noted, I like these baked oats both with berries or other fruit and without, so don’t hesitate to make them if you don’t have any berries on hand — they are so good on their own. I have used both almonds and walnuts. I do toast the walnuts. I don’t toast the almonds — it doesn’t seem to matter. The mixture can be assembled the night before, though it doesn’t have to be.
Update, Oct 2014: Almonds are my preference. Peeled, sliced apples are also my preference. I omit the cinnamon. I also now do 1/4 cup maple syrup as opposed to 1/3 cup.
If you are making individual portions, I think the easiest method is this: mix dry ingredients as instructed in step 1; spoon about three tablespoon of the dry ingredients into six 6-oz ramekins; then pour liquid over top. The liquid will reach the top of each ramekin. To prevent a catastrophe, I suggest lining a 9×13-inch baking dish with parchment paper and placing the filled ramekins in the dish to bake.
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup steel cut oatmeal
- ½ cup (60 g) almonds (sliced, untoasted are great) or walnuts halves, toasted and chopped
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon, optional
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt or kosher salt
- ¾ to 1 ½ cups (90 to 185 g) blueberries, optional—I like using 1 peeled, sliced apple
- 2 cups (475 ml) milk, 2% or whole
- 1/4 to 1/3 cup (80 ml) maple syrup, I find 1/4 cup to be sweet enough
- 1 large egg
- 3 tablespoons (45 grams) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Instructions
- See notes if you are refrigerating this overnight. Otherwise, preheat the oven to 375ºF. In an 8- or 9-inch baking pan, mix together the oats, the nuts, baking powder, cinnamon, if using, and salt. Place the sliced apples or berries on top.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the milk, maple syrup, egg, butter, and vanilla. Pour the milk mixture over the oat mixture, and shake the pan to distribute.
- Transfer pan to the oven and bake for 55 to 60 minutes (Note: Several commenters have had issues with browning too quickly, so I advise checking after 30 minutes, and if it looks as though it is browning quickly, turn oven down to 350 and check periodically for doneness), or until the top is golden and the oat mixture has set. Remove from the oven, and allow to cool for a few minutes before serving.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 55 minutes
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: oatmeal, steel cut, oats, overnight, baked
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Leave a Comment & Rate this Recipe
Pat —Reply
This was the best recipe ever Used 2 apples and about 6 sliced strawberries
Did this in my toaster oven with a splat mat on top Caramelized and deliciousThanks!
★★★★★
Alexandra Stafford —Reply
Yum! Great to hear about the toaster oven, too 🙂 🙂 🙂
Jess —Reply
I made exactly as written and it was delicious! The only issue was that some of the egg settled to the bottom and was kind of scrambled/curdled. Any idea what would cause this? I will be making again but will try without the egg probably.
★★★★
Alexandra Stafford —Reply
Hi Jess! The only thing I could think of is if the milk and egg were maybe not whisked together well enough? The mixture does sort of separate into layer, and the egg layer will look custardy, but it shouldn’t look curdled.
Stephanie —Reply
Have you ever baked this and then frozen and reheated later? I want to try for post partum.
Alexandra Stafford —Reply
I have not, but I imagine it would work well. Maybe freeze smaller portions so you can remove them from the freezer as needed?
Lee —Reply
I’ve made this 3 times now, I love this recipe. My go-to fixins are peaches and chopped crystallized ginger with a pinch of nutmeg. Maple syrup is quite expensive here, so the last batch I used dark brown sugar and added a bit more milk to make up the missing liquid and it turned out great. I’d like to try the individual ramekin method but don’t see adjusted baking time… should I pull them earlier than the suggested 30 minutes?
★★★★★
Alexandra Stafford —Reply
Great to hear this, Lee! I love brown sugar in oatmeal. Thank you for sharing your notes regarding the extra milk… love this idea. Regarding the timing, I would start checking at 30 minutes — they might be done but they might need more time. I have to confess I haven’t made the little ones in ages, and I’m not remembering the timing.
Belinda Clark —Reply
This is so good. I didn’t have a lot of the ingredients so I tweaked it. I used 1/4 cup of splenda Brown sugar, 1/2 cup walnuts and 1/2 cup of raisins and no egg. It was really good. Hopefully I will have some Apple next time.
★★★★★
Alexandra Stafford —Reply
Great to hear, Belinda! Thanks so much for writing and sharing your notes 🙂 🙂 🙂
Cecil —Reply
This is delicious. I make this each each week on Sunday evening so my breakfast is ready for the week, I just switch up the fruit. My absolute favorite is topping it with fresh sliced peaches!
★★★★★
Alexandra Stafford —Reply
Great to hear, Cecil! Fresh peaches sound heavenly here 🙂 🙂 🙂
jen bond —Reply
Oats came out chewier than I had hoped- BUT I see that I cooked at 350 and not 375!
have you ever used the quick cook steel oats?Alexandra Stafford —Reply
Hi! I have not used the quick-cook steel oats here. Is that what you used? Or are you hoping to use them here?
TERESA M HOFFMAN —Reply
Unreal delicious. Took 5 minutes to throw together. About an hour to bake. Halved the recipe and used 1 large Envy apple, and nonfat milk cuz thats what I have. Can’t stop eating it- its so wonderfully tasty & satifying. I have tried all kinds of “overnight oats” and can’t stand them so my faith in your recipes panned out again.
★★★★★
Alexandra Stafford —Reply
So great to read all of this, Teresa 🙂 🙂 🙂 I love these baked oats so much as well. The addition of apple is my favorite. Thanks for writing!
Lisa —Reply
I’ve made this twice now and I love it, it’s so easy!!! I use A LOT of blueberries so I have to cook mine longer but I don’t mind. The second time I did unsweetened coconut and slivered almonds, baked covered with foil for about 45 minutes, removed from oven, added an 18 ounce container of blueberries, re-covered and baked for another 20 minutes or so. It’s soooo good!!!! Adding the blueberries later keeps them from bursting so much. I think next time I make it I am going to half the ingredients. The full recipe I get 6 1 cup servings and since I add extra fruit and some almond butter to mine after reheating, it’s a lot!!! Halving the recipe might make it more manageable for my breakfast. Thanks for the great recipe!
★★★★★
Alexandra Stafford —Reply
Great to read all of this, Lisa! I love your idea of adding the fruit halfway through baking to keep them from bursting so much. And yes, I think halving is a great idea. Thanks for writing 🙂 🙂 🙂
Russ —Reply
I have made a few baked steel-cut oats recipes but wasn’t happy… Until I tried this one! It was delicious! I didn’t have an apple so I used a thinly sliced pear. It was excellent with the pear. Next time will try the apple. I saw the author comment that some were saying in browned too fast. Thanks for that note. So, I covered it with foil for the first 30 minutes then. took it off for the last 25. Soooooo good. This is definitely a keeper for prep ahead for weekday breakfasts. My current mood/add-on is a dollop of plain yogurt, some toasted walnuts, and a sliced banana. Kind of a breakfast parfait of sorts and very satisfying!
★★★★★
Alexandra Stafford —Reply
So nice to read all of this, Russ! Thanks so much for writing and sharing all of your notes regarding foil and toppings, all of which sound delicious. I love pear in this one, too 🙂
TERESA M HOFFMAN —Reply
Insane and hard to not over eat. Make it a lot and it’s great warmed up in microwave. Also make my own iteration using frozen or canned TART cherries and adding 2 tsp Cooks Almond Extract. Soooo good. Thx.
★★★★★
Alexandra Stafford —Reply
Great to hear, Teresa 🙂 🙂 🙂 Love the idea of tart cherries here. Thanks for writing.
Helena —Reply
I’ve been making this for years, and my kids (who like oatmeal) and my husband (who does not) all love it. I double it in a 9×13 so we can eat it through the week. I’ve made it with many combinations of fruit and nuts, and we enjoy them, but now I almost always use chopped apples (about three large apples for the double batch) and toasted pecans, because that was our favourite combination, and I use 1/4 cup of maple syrup for the double batch, which we find perfectly sweet with all the apple. I also toss everything together in the pan and mix it up in the evening and refrigerate it overnight, which makes it really easy to pop in the oven for breakfast. I haven’t noticed any problems with this way of doing things! We sometimes drizzle a little cream on top for a touch of richness.
★★★★★
Alexandra Stafford —Reply
So great to hear this, Helena! Thanks so much for writing and sharing your notes. I love chopped apples as well, and I know I would love the addition of pecans, too. Yum!
Kirsten —Reply
What is the nutritional value per cup if used with almonds and blueberries? Thank you. It’s very very good!
★★★★★
Karen —Reply
Excellent recipe! Easy to make and tastes great. I made the overnight version with blueberries and almonds. Froze the leftovers after breakfast. 1/4 cup maple syrup was plenty sweet and buttered the baking dish.
★★★★★
Alexandra Stafford —Reply
Great to hear, Karen! Thanks so much for writing 🙂 🙂 🙂
Midori Marinelli —Reply
I am excited to say I have the oatmeal with apples baking in the oven as we speak! Do you have a nutritional breakdown of this recipe per serving?
★★★★★
Alexandra Stafford —Reply
Hi Midori! Great to hear 🙂 I do not have nutritional info, unfortunately.
Greta —Reply
Love this recipe and I lean on it often. However – 3 Tbspn butter is very rich (and fattening). For a healthier version I’ve omitted the butter and increased the fruit. Absolutely fabulous! Blackberries/raspberries that I’ve frozen are a favorite combo.
★★★★★
Carol Ciccone —Reply
This was absolutely amazing & I am not a fan of oatmeal!!!
★★★★★
Alice —Reply
I found cleaning up the baking pan difficult and would suggest spraying the baking pan with an oil spray prior to pouring in the oat/milk mixture.
★★★★★
Becky —Reply
Great breakfast for cold mornings! I prepped it all for overnight stay in the fridge using sliced apples. I waited to add nuts until it was cooked and sprinkled in my bowl to avoid sogginess. Mine was ready in 35 minutes. No need to cook as long as recipe states. Nice and custardy! Some baked oatmeal’s tend to be too solid and dry.
★★★★
Bren Baum —Reply
I made this today for the first time. I followed the recipe exactly. It was so good. It was a little heavy on the almonds for my taste though . I used sliced almonds so next time I will chop them smaller and use less.
I can’t wait to try this with peaches and apples. I’ll also try this without fruit too. Thanks for the great recipe.★★★★★
Alexandra Stafford —Reply
Great to hear, Bren! Thanks so much for writing and sharing your notes 🙂
