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)
Mel, this oatmeal was so, SO good!!! We love baked oatmeal around here but I’ve never tried a version with steel-cut oats before so I was a little nervous. The texture was the BEST of any baked oatmeal I’ve tried!! Delicious! Just perfectly sweet and spiced. I used half blueberries, half chopped pears. SOOOO GOOD!!!
Yay, Jessica! So happy to hear that!
Making this for the 2nd time in a week. Absolutely love it. I used 1/3 c of brown sugar instead of maple syrup and it was perfect. Also used quick cooking steel cut oats so there was no need to let it sit overnight. Great recipe!
This was amazing! It was so simple to make and so healthy without trying. I’m planning on keeping this recipe for a long time..
Mornings are NOT my friend! I can barely function enough to turn the coffee on lol That being said, I promised myself that I would try to start eating breakfast before lunchtime and was looking for some ideas. I came across this recipe and it sounded simple enough even for me to do – then I saw in the comments that a reader had posted about using the slow cooker for this so it was ready in the morning…that’s when I knew I had found THE recipe to try lol. I wasn’t too sure if I would care for the taste of blueberry and maple syrup but I decided to make it as the recipe stated and wow…that’s all I can say. This is sooooo freaking good! Oh, I did make one change – I had a feeling the almonds would get too soft cooking in the slow cooker all night so I left those out and just sprinkled them over the bowl before chowing down. I can’t wait to make this again with other fruit – I’m thinking coconut milk, crushed pineapple and coconut maybe?
Awesome recioe and trying the pina colada suggestion you made for tomorrow’s breakfast! I’ll let you know what the troops think!
Heaven! Totally different than my usual boiled oats with toppings. I dare serve this for big family gatherings.
Will this keep in the refrigerator for a few days and would it reheat well? I am the only one in my family who eats oatmeal (and I LOVE overnight oatmeal recipes for that exact reason!). Just curious if you’ve experimented with that before I attempt to make it. Looks delicious; I am currently on a blueberry obsession. 🙂
yes, it reheats really well!
Overnight oatmeal is new to me and it sounds really good except for the eggs. Will leaving them out wreck the oatmeal or are they added just to have a source of protein?
Overnight oatmeal is new to me, everything makes sense except eggs. Why eggs? Does leaving them out completely wreck the oatmeal or are they just included for protein?
You could definitely experiment leaving them out; I think they help with structure and texture.
Do you think I could double this and put it in a 9×13 pan or would it bubble over?
I’d probably 1 1/2 it just to be safe.
Hi Mel- I’m excited to try this recipe, and I think my toddler would love it, but she is allergic to egg whites. 🙁 Do you think if I made it with just yolks it would turn out ok? And if I do that, should I use 3 yolks instead of 2? Thanks!!
I definitely think it stands a chance of working – and yes, I’d increase the egg yolks. Hope it works out!
I just made a Baked AppleSteele Cut oat recipe and it called for a chia seed egg which is I tbsp. Of Chia seed and 3 tbsps of water let set untitled gelled. Maybe that would work for regular egg replacement for those with egg allergies.
This sounds delicious! Have you tried coconut milk with this?
No, but I believe others have up in the comment thread (or maybe I’m thinking almond milk?).
Soooo good! I’ve made a number of baked and overnight oats recipes that were good, but this surpassed them all! I usually just eat basic overnight steel cut oats with brown sugar, walnuts, and cinnamon and I never even thought to try a baked steel cut oat recipe (I didn’t really care for them in the crockpot). When I saw your recent baked Amish oatmeal with apples, I decided to give it a go so I followed this recipe but subbed in two diced apples for the blueberries. Outstanding! This was so creamy & custardy while still keeping the great texture of the oats.
I also wanted to say that I’ve been making a number of your recipes via Pinterest for awhile and they have never disappointed. Thanks for sharing!
This was super!
Could i use water instead of the nut milk?
I haven’t tried it with water but you could experiment.
If I only refrigerated it for 2-3 hours would it be ok? Or does it need to be for a full 8-12 hrs before it’s baked? Thank you!
The full amount of time helps soften the steel cut oats so they aren’t crunchy in texture after baking – so you’d probably need to experiment if shortening the refrigeration time; maybe bake it a bit longer?
I used an 8×11 pan, only let mine sit for 5ish hours, and I didn’t have any problems.
I used quick cooking steel cut oats and did not need to let it sit, just baked it and it was great!
This was AWESOME!! My 2.5 year old daughter loved it and even my husband ate seconds (and he doesn’t like hot cereal). I made it with unsweetened vanilla almond milk and thought it turned out perfect. Can’t wait to try some of the variations. Thanks for this!
All my friends are raving about this one! I’m ready to try it: But it’s already morning, and I demand instant gratification! Also, I have only the Trader Joe’s “Quick Cook” Steel Cut Oats. Modifications, anyone?
Mel – Thank you for all your hard work and your recipes! I have been using your blog for a while now, and posted a comment before and you were kind enough to reply! As mentioned, I’m not a mom and just cook for myself usually, but I love your recipes. This one is in the oven as we speak, even though it’s 8:45 at night ha. Whenever friends ask me where I get my recipes, I always mention that your blog is my favorite. I hope it is as rewarding for you as it is useful for me 🙂
Thank you so much, Tiffany!
Love this recipe! Making it for the second time this week. Added a little less syrupy to lesson the sugar.
Mmmmm! Making this for the 2nd time tomorrow morning! Yum! Thanks again for another great (easy) recipe!
Since I discovered this recipe, I have made it three times and I am absolutely OBSESSED!! This is so delicious and I’m not even a big oatmeal fan!!! Thank you so much! My only question/concern, is that I am the only one in the house eating it. Do you think this is fattening at all? From the ingredients, it really doesn’t seem to be…….
Laura 🙂
This is so good!! I just used regular cows milk and instead of almonds used shredded coconut and honey for the sweetener. My 1 year old and 3 year old LOVED it. The next day I sent leftovers to work for my husband and he loved the leftovers!! This might become a Sunday morning tradition for breakfast.
I’ve been looking for an overnight oatmeal recipe and this is it!!!!! I’m going to triple the recipe this weekend for a women’s retreat. The only change I made was using chopped walnuts in place of almonds. I used unsweetened almond milk and frozen wild blueberries. It’s absolutely delicious…doesn’t need any topping as sweet enough with the maple syrup!
When I made this My girl excitedly announced, “this is better than Lucky Charms!” Hard to beat that. I’ve made a blueberry, apple raisin cinnamon, and carrot cake version of this and it gets devoured. Even my anti oatmeal husband ate 3/4 the Pan and requested it for his pre moto race breakfast this Saturday. Totally awesome!
I also made this for General Conference weekend, and we LOVED it! Reminded me of rice pudding, only better!
Made these this morning for General Conference as a healthier alternative to our typical cinnamon roll carbfest (which we had a couple of days ago for a birthday already 🙂 ). Delicious! My 2 and 5 year old both gobbled theirs up (the 2 year old even asked for 2nds!), and my hubby and I loved it too. Thank you!!!
Do you think this recipe would work well without the eggs or with something in place of the eggs? My daughter has an egg allergy but she loves oatmeal!
I’m not sure since I haven’t tried it but it’s certainly worth experimenting. Have you ever tried the flaxseed substitute for eggs? I wonder if that would work here.
I have used the flaxseed substitute. Bananas also work as an egg substitute.
Could you sub old fashioned oats for the steel cut? I never have steel cut around, but I always have old fashioned.
I haven’t done that but someone up above in the comment thread accidentally used old-fashioned oats and said it worked great.
Just tried this and it was way too salty. It can’t be because I quadrupled the salt, right? Nah. It must be some problem with the recipe. JK! But seriously, don’t be like me and think that because you like extra salt in your chocolate chip cookies that you will like it in your oatmeal. Other than that misstep, this was really good and a great template for variation. I think I’ll try mango and coconut next. Thank you!
Tried this recipe and it was a true keeper. My husband even ate it for breakfasts. Can’t wait to make it again with bananas and pecans. Thank you Mel for all the great recipes.
I am thinking frozen cherries and almond extract and slivered almonds! This would be a much healthier, breakfast-y riff off of the Pioneer Woman’s cherry almond crisp (YUM!).
Baked this this morning using ripe pears & about 1/2 cup frozen blueberries. It was absolutely delicious! As good as a dessert in my opinion! The only thing is that I used old fashioned oats by accident ( I usually use steel cut so not sure how/why I did this!) & it was still this good. Will try making again using steel cut. Highly recommend!
I just made this with 2 very ripe bananas instead of berries and no nuts. It is soooooo gooooood!!! I used unsweetened Vanilla almond milk. This recipe is a keeper! YUM!!
This looks wonderful, and I LOVE that it can be made with frozen blueberries. The farmers market is already getting a bit depleted. It’s mostly apples and pears at this point.
I made this for breakfast this morning and it was soooo good! Very easy and I will be making it again 🙂 Oh and I used unsweetened vanilla almond milk and it was just fine 🙂
Do you use sweetend or unsweetened almond milk? I usually have unsweetened vanilla flavored almond milk on hand. Would that work?
I use sweetened almond milk for this recipe but unsweetened will work just fine, also.
This oatmeal made my house smell amazing this morning. I threw it together last night and my husband put it in the oven this morning. I used slivered almonds and toasted them briefly. My breakfasts are ready for the week! You never disappoint me, Mel! Thanks!
Threw this together last night (blueberries and pecans) and its already baked this morning and I’ve had my serving. It is so good! I had another baked steel cut oats recipe, but this is much better; I think its the blueberries and nuts! Now I’m waiting for the kids to wake up to see what they think!
In the fridge right now:) looking forward to tomorrow. Hoping to have breakfast for the next few days since my husband claims he doesn’t eat oatmeal. Either I’m eating a whole pan or this will convert him into an oatmeal lover. Either way I will be happy:)
Can we adapt to a crock pot with one of the clear plastic crock pot bags, and cook on low temp overnight?
Perfect timing — I have a bag of steel oats in the fridge begging to be used and I was curious about baking them. Now I don’t have to search for a recipe. Thanks!
Looks great and love the colour!
I make something very similar that is delicious. it is called, Baked Oatmeal Peach Pudding. It uses old fashioned oats, brown sugar, and canned sliced peaches. I am anxious to try your version with blueberries and steel cut oats. Being able to prep it the night before is a real plus. Thank you for sharing this with us. You are so generous. You make our lives better!
Ohhhh. I’d love that recipe! It sounds fabulous!
Hi Mel! I’ve recently become obsessed with your blog (garlic mashed potatoes & skillet green beans are on the menu tonight!) and this is my first comment. This looks AMAZING! I haven’t been able to get my kids (or husband) to take to steel cut oats the way they love regular oats and I think this recipe might do the trick!!
I’ve been wanting a easy way to get my kids oatmeal in the morning for a LONG time. I make their oatmeal with milk instead of water (just to get them more calcium) and I can’t tell you how many times it has burned and or boiled over as I am doing all the morning multi-tasking. I’m going to try this one tonight.
You are definitely the “chief problem solver” for mom’s.
Hi! Thanks for sharing! It sounds great… may I presume it’ll also work fine with old-fashioned oats?
Wondering if it’d be nice with pears & hazelnuts… 😀
Have a nice weekend!
Hi Mel! this looks so good! I am wondering if I could make it in the crock pot and let it cook all night on low? Have you tried that?
Thanks for sharing.
Just made it in the crockpot last night! It was perfect. I sprayed the inside with Pam poured in the dry, whisked the wet in a large measuring cup and lightly whisked it in the oats. It cooked from 10pm till 7am and the texture was wonderful. Now, just keep in mind that I have never baked this so I don’t know how it compares to baking. When I try that I will leave additional notes
Awesome! Thanks for commenting about the slow cooker variation!
Wow! That looks so yummy. That pretty blue color makes me to savor every bite.
Pinning.
Enjoy the first fabulous fall weekend!
I’m pretty excited about this bc I hsve berm doing an overnight Amish oatmeal that my family has been loving. I’ve tried a few different recipes in search of our favorite so will be happy to try yours too. Thanks!! I vote for mels kitchen cafe cookbook:)