Baked Steel Cut Oatmeal
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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 when Ben 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 is the kind of dish I hope so very much you will all whisk up tonight before 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:
PrintBaked Steel Cut Oatmeal
- Total Time: 1 hours 5 minutes
- Yield: Serves 4-6
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
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
608 Comments on “Baked Steel Cut Oatmeal”
It look so tempting and delicious. I cannot wait to try this at home. I will add some more dried fruits and nuts to try with a simple twist. Great Job.
I added only a cup of almond milk with my first batch, a mistake on my part. it turned out like granola bar pie (still moistish on the inside but drier than expected) but i am not complaining 😀 i love that this recipe is still quite forgiving and flexible. thanks for putting life back into drab oatmeal!
So happy to hear it wasn’t completely ruined 🙂 I love this one, too. I need to try it with almond milk. Thanks for writing in!
What are your thoughts on omitting the egg? Do you think it would make a huge difference? I don’t eat eggs as a vegetarian and will likely attempt to make this without it. Let me know of your thoughts 🙂
Thank you!
Hi Aditi, I think the egg is essential for the custard (egg + milk) to set. Have you baked other similar dishes without the egg? I think you should maybe consider some sort of egg substitute? I worry the milk will curdle. What kind of milk would you be using?
I have quick steel cut oats…..will that work?
I veganized it by using a flax egg (1tbsp ground flax and 3tbsp water), almond milk, and used one whole banana instead of the butter, they turned out AMAZING!
Hi! Thanks for the recipe. I chose this one because I had lots of steel cut oats and wasn’t sure what to do with them. I have only made one other baked oatmeal before, so I don’t have a lot to compare but I found this one didn’t set as firm as I was expecting. The last one I made was able to be cut in squares and eaten with a fork. This one was more like a normal oatmeal texture. I will see if after refrigerating it, it firms up. I also found it a bit oily, but I substituted coconut oil for the butter so I’m not sure if that’s part of my problem.
It had great flavour though and we really enjoyed it. I ended up using honey instead of maple syrup because it’s what I had. If you are wanting to cut back on sugars in your diet I think it will still taste good with less. Overall a great breakfast! Thanks
I’ve made this several times over the years now and people always ask for the recipe. I recently had to stop eating dairy, and I use coconut oil for the butter and coconut milk for the milk and it’s still super tasty. It’s definitely a favorite, especially since I can make it the night before I expect company in the morning.
I’ve made this many, many times and everyone always loves it – even those people who don’t really like oatmeal! I usually put in half the amount of maple syrup and it is still sweet enough. I also use half walnuts and half almonds Thanks for this wonderful recipe!
has anyone tried using instant steel cut oats with this recipe. I would imagine that they would not need an overnight soak and could be baked right away, but not sure
I have used quick cooking steel cut oats and it still turns out great. I don’t soak them tho….I never have exec with regular steel cut oat. Always turns out great!
I love this recipe and have tried it with all different nuts and fruits. I always make a double batch and find it is firm enough to cut and freeze (almost never makes it to the freezer). Then I can microwave it and eat it like a muffin, or break into a bowl microwave and top with milk. I especially like to make it with cherries and almonds (use 1 t. almond extract) or pecans (toasted). Thanks for this recipe. Has anyone tried this with barley?
So smart! Love this idea. It might help keep me from eating the entire batch in one sitting.
I love this recipe! I have added it to my weekly food prep rotation. I substitute with Almond Milk, 1/4 cup honey instead of the Maple syrup and I use pecans. Can you tell me how I can get the nutritional information?
I cannot unfortunately. Check out “my fitness pal dot com”
I love your recipes. How can I save them to my Pinterest board or how can I print a recipe?
Thank you Susie! Sorry for the delay here! If you hover over the image a “P” should pop up in the upper-left corner — click that for pinterest. As for printing, there is a print button in each recipe box — is there a recipe in particular that hasn’t been formatted for printing? Let me know and I can get it in print-friendly format asap!
Sounds great! Before I try it, please let me know if there’s a similar recipe without the custard layer (absent milk and eggs). Thanks!
Hi Joe,
Can you clarify just a bit? Do you want to make this without egg and milk? I think it would be a little tricky, because I’m not sure it would set. But let me know, and i’ll do some more thinking.
Yes, that is correct. I would like to exclude the custard layer (milk and eggs?). If there’s not a way to make such an item successfully, please just let me know…but that would be my preference. Thank you!!
Hi Joe!
I’m not totally sure how to advise because I’ve never tried, but I think you could do it — you essentially would be doing the equivalent of baking polenta: cornmeal + water + seasonings. So here, you would do oats + water + seasonings. The resulting texture will be different. Without the egg/milk custard, you will have more of a porridge, but I’m sure it will be delicious. Give it a go!
This is one of my many go-to recipes from you, Ali. I am all for simplifying life, thus through everything into a mason jar and shake it up. I first make my own almond milk with 3 TB of organic almond butter mixed well with 1 & 1/2 cups of filtered water which yields 2 cups of milk for the recipe – all ingredients are added to the almond milk base. I love adding raspberries & blueberries in Summer or apple & cranberries in the Fall. This recipe has such versatility & is a healthy easy way to begin every morning. Thank you SO much Ali XOX
Omg! I love that idea! I thought you had to make almond milk with whole almonds and then they’re is finding a use for wet almonds… this sounds much simpler and easier to infuse almond flavour into the dish. Thank you! ❤️
This is so delicious I can’t keep it around. I love adding apples to this recipe. If I double the recipe and put it in a 9 X 13 pan, how long should I cook it for? Also, if I use quick cooking steel cut oats, do I have to let it sit overnight?
Hi Karen,
Sorry for the delay here! I have a hard time keeping this around, too 🙂 I think you’ll just have to keep an eye on it re the timing. I would imagine at least 10-15 minutes longer. I don’t think you’ll have to let it sit overnight with the quick-cooking steel cut oats. Hope that helps!
I am standing in my kitchen it is 11pm and am trying to put away food that’s been sitting out and i keep sneaking in bites of this! Ok, after that sentence I have successfully wrapped it up so no more late night snacking.
I added a super ripe banana, mashed it up with the wet mixture, also used only 1/4 cup maple syrup instead. Im thinking with the ripe banana i could cut back on the maple syrup even more. Might even try swerve next time. Also thinking i wanna add some bran to it to make it more hearty and filling.
I’m looking forward to trying out many diff variations. Thanks for the great recipe!!
So happy you like this one, Tina!! It’s one of my favorites. Love your idea of reducing the sugar and using mashed ripe banana. I think the possibilities are endless here!
I’ve been eating clean for over a year now and this is an all-time favorite of mine. I shared it with so many people. I use either almond milk or cashew milk or a blend instead of whole milk. And reduce the maple syrup to a dash. It’s really a winner!
So happy to hear this, Christine!
Definitely a winner! Wonderful flavors. Since my husband has diabetes, I have to modify recipes to keep his sugar intake as low as possible. I used almond milk and Splenda brown sugar blend instead of the whole milk and maple syrup called for, and will probably use a little less milk next time. Also used some cherries we had in the freezer. Thanks for putting this on-line!!!
So happy to hear this, Biel! I recently used almond milk, reduced the maple syrup, and omitted the butter and loved it, too!
I did some adjusting to make it paleo and accommodate allergies: cashew milk, olive oil and coconut sugar
Omg….awesome !
Yay! So happy to hear all of this, Judy!
This is the best way to make steel cut oats! My kids and I eat this all the time. I’ve been using coconut milk lately and it also works very well with old fashioned rolled oats, although I do add an extra egg when I make it like that….. thank you for this recipe!
So happy to hear this, Allyssa! Good to know re coconut milk.
Do these need to be done overnight if using quick steel cut oats?
Hi Sarah! No, they don’t actually have to be done overnight if using regular steel cut oats either — what’s nice about the steel cut oats is that they don’t turn to mush in the fridge overnight so you can assemble the whole dish the night before. Rolled oats would definitely turn to mush … I haven’t tried the quick steel cut oats overnight so I can’t say how they would do, but it sounds as though you’re not looking for an overnight method, right?
This is the third baked oatmeal recipe I have tried and it is the best by far. My husband can’t eat blueberries so I made it with walnuts, diced apples, and dried cherries. It was just as good the next day. Now I need to find a cheaper source of steel cut oats.
So happy to hear this, Wendelah! If you find a source for oats, let me know!
I have been sitting on this recipe for quite some time.. As much as I love steel cut oats I can’t tolerate them. I have a friend who is going through a hard time and not taking good care of herself so I thought I’d make a batch for her to tempt her into eating breakfast. And it smelled amazing. And of course i had to take a tiny taste to see if the oats were done. And now there is too much missing from the pan for me to give it to her. And now i’m gonna have a bad belly ache but I regret nothing! Used chopped pecans, vanilla ad no cinnamon.. tastes like pecan pie!!!
Yay!! This makes me so happy 🙂 🙂 🙂 I find this one completely irresistible, too. Yum to pecans.
Love the texture and heartiness. I used sliced apples and unsweetened almond milk. It was too salty for my taste, probably because the milk I used was unsweetened. If anyone else does the same, I would recommend cutting back in the salt.
I love this recipe and all the others I’ve tried of yours. Thank you! I’m trying to cut down on saturated fat. Do you have any suggestions for what I could substitute for butter?
I would just omit it and see how you like it. I suspect you’ll like it just as well 🙂
What’s the calories on the serving?
I live this dish. Is there a way to make this and cook in half the time and be just as healthy? Thanks
I’m late to the game on this one but just wanted to tell you that this oatmeal is terrific! I’ve made it with an apple, with blueberries, and with a couple sliced bananas where I also subbed dark brown sugar for the maple syrup. The banana version is the winner! As an aside, the blueberry version was okay taste-wise, but I don’t like purple food in general, and especially not at breakfast–the blueberries made the entire dish a most unappetizing color. Thanks for this recipe – another winner.
WOW. This is one of those recipes that tastes so good you’d have though someone spent hours preparing it, when really it only took a minute of hands-on time. The texture is buttery, rich, chewy, nutty–even without the nuts. Reminds me of a really robust bread pudding, perfect for brunch or dessert. That being said, I’d go to 2/3 of the recommended sugar and butter if I served this regularly for weekday breakfasts.
I’m glad you mentioned to check on it at the 30-minute mark; mine was browning quite a bit, but I just placed some foil over it and everything came out well. I had no issues using a cast iron on this recipe, for those who are considering it.
Thanks so much for this recipe, I’m keeping this one forever.
So happy to hear this, Em! 🙂
This really is a great recipe! I tend to line the pan with banana slices after buttering it. The bananas provide enough sugar to omit the maple syrup in my opinion. We also substitue almond or coconut milk for the dairy milk.
Thanks so much for sharing such a tasty treat. It is a family winner!
So happy to hear this, Brandy!
I used this recipe as a base since I’d never made baked steel cut oats before. I omitted the butter, replaced the maple syrup with one mashed banana, added sliced peaches, and subbed almond milk for the 2% milk, and egg whites for the whole egg. YUM! The butter is completely unnecessary. Save yourself the extra calories and forget about it. Also, one mashed banana plus other fruit adds enough sweetness if you prefer to go that route over using maple syrup or honey in the mix.
Its a family favorite. My mom days she’s never tasted oatmeal this good.
So happy to hear this!
So happy to hear this, Zarinah!
how do you check for doneness? i stuck a knife in and if it came out clean it was done?It’s hard to tell since it is so dark…thanks
I touch the top with my finger, and if it feels set, I remove it. I find that after 55 minutes, it’s always done.
This is a great recipe. The first time I made it, it was perfect. The second and third time the steel cut oats formed a crust at the bottom of the greased pan. This causes the oats to become crunchy and unpleasant. Any suggestions?
Thanks!
Hi Sarah, Did you make any changes? Different pan? Did you mix it ahead of time?