Baked Oatmeal with Apples
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Wake up to the cozy flavors of this baked oatmeal recipe with apples, raisins, and a nutty crunch—basically fall in a breakfast dish!
Baked oatmeal is a traditional and comforting breakfast casserole. Unlike regular oatmeal, which is made on the stovetop and has a porridge-like consistency, or overnight oats, this baked oatmeal recipe is made in the oven and has a consistency similar to bread pudding. There are endless variations, like blueberry baked oatmeal and morning glory baked oatmeal, but this version with tart apples, plump raisins, and a crunchy nut topping is a classic. Bonus: it can be made ahead of time and reheats beautifully.
“I’ve been making this dish for the last two years and it has been a staple for our family! When peaches are in season, I sub them for the apple and add nutmeg and ground ginger.”
What You’ll Need To Make Baked Oatmeal
- Light brown sugar – Adds sweetness and a hint of molasses, which pairs nicely with the fruit.
- Chopped walnuts or pecans – For crunch and nutty flavor; I like to divide them, mixing some into the oatmeal and sprinkling the rest on top for extra texture.
- Raisins – These add little pockets of sweetness and chew throughout the oatmeal. Feel free to omit them if you’re not a fan.
- Baking powder – Helps the oatmeal puff up slightly as it bakes.
- Cinnamon – Warm and spicy, it’s the perfect complement to the apples and oats.
- Salt – Balances the sweetness and enhances all the other flavors.
- Eggs – Bind the ingredients together and give the oatmeal structure.
- Milk – Keeps the oatmeal moist and creamy as it bakes.
- Vanilla extract – Adds warmth and depth of flavor.
- Unsalted butter – For richness and flavor, both in the oatmeal and to grease the dish.
- Apples – Add juicy bursts of flavor that contrast nicely with the warm spices and rich oats. For the best results, use tart yet sweet baking varietals, like Honey Crisp or Gala, which hold their shape when baked.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
Step-by-Step Instructions
Begin by combining the oats, half of the nuts, raisins, brown sugar, baking powder, salt and cinnamon in a bowl.
Stir to combine.
In a separate bowl, make the custard by whisking together the eggs, milk, and vanilla.
Combine the custard with oat mixture and melted butter.
Arrange the chopped apples in a baking dish.
Top with the oat mixture and sprinkle remaining nuts over top.
Bake for about 40 minutes, until the oats are set and the top is golden. Be sure to save some leftovers; this dish is just as delicious cold out of the refrigerator the next day.
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Baked Oatmeal with Apples
Wake up to the cozy flavors of this baked oatmeal recipe with apples, raisins, and a nutty crunch—basically fall in a breakfast dish!
Ingredients
- 2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats (not instant)
- ¾ cup light brown sugar
- 1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans, divided
- ½ cup raisins
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs
- 2 cups milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus more for greasing the dish
- 2 tart yet sweet baking apples, such as Honey Crisp, peeled and cut into ½-inch chunks (about 2 cups)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325°F. Grease an 8 or 9-inch baking dish with butter.
- In a medium bowl, combine the oats, brown sugar, ½ cup of the nuts, raisins, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Mix well.
- In another bowl, break up the eggs with a whisk; then whisk in the milk and vanilla until well combined.
- Add the milk mixture to the oat mixture, along with the melted butter.
- Scatter the apples evenly on the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Pour the oatmeal mixture over top and spread evenly. Sprinkle remaining ½ cup nuts on top. Bake for 40-45 minutes, until the top is golden and the oats are set. Serve warm or at room temperature.
- Freezer-Friendly Instructions: This dish can be frozen after baking, tightly covered, for up to 3 months. When you’re ready to serve it, defrost in the refrigerator for 24 hours then reheat it, covered with foil, in a 325°F oven until hot.
Nutrition Information
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- Per serving (6 servings)
- Calories: 411
- Fat: 17 g
- Saturated fat: 8 g
- Carbohydrates: 60 g
- Sugar: 36 g
- Fiber: 5 g
- Protein: 10 g
- Sodium: 322 mg
- Cholesterol: 90 mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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Amish style baked oatmeal …. I would like to try this but there is no list of ingredients and quantities 🙂
Hi Carole, Scroll down beneath the photos and you’ll find the recipe; you can also click on the “recipe” tab at the top of the page.
It is a cold, blustery day here today and this was perfect for this morning! The only change I made was to reduce the sugar a bit. I will be making this often, thanks!
I make this every Sunday morning. This recipe is fabulous. I sometimes modify it by using dried blueberries instead of raisins. I add 1/4 tsp of almond extract when I use the blueberries instead of raisins. I recommend Once Upon a Chef to everyone.
Can this recipe be made with steel cut oats?
Sorry Elaine, unfortunately it won’t work with steel cut oats.
I just made your Amish-Style Baked Oatmeal, with my little bit of tweaking for what I had on-hand. OM Goodness, so much better than I remember from a previous recipe I had used (which I couldn’t find in a hurry, BTW); reason I used yours.
My tweaking consisted of, steel cut oats instead of rolled oats, fresh out of craisins, which I would have substituted for raisins (the ONLY thing my hubby won’t eat), pecans instead of walnuts, which you said either or, and no apples, which I’m sure are going to taste delicious in the next iteration.
Thank you for this delicious recipe, and also some others I came across while this one was baking. Plus, I added a slight pour of warmed 1/2 & 1/2 and my hubby was in love! ;^)
Delicious. Have made other baked oatmeal that was too sweet for me even though my daughter loved it. I erred on the scant side of the brown sugar and since I had tart apples it was just right. I had no raisins so substituted dates – mmm. As you say, it is easily modified. It joined my saved recipes folder which is my top praise.
With a large canister full of instant oatmeal in my pantry, can I substitute with it without ruining the recipe?
Thank you.
Hi Pam, Instand oatmeal will make the texture a little mushy but will work in a pinch!
Great template for a recipe. Like others, I knew the original would be too sweet for me so I reduced the brown sugar by about 1/3 (although admittedly I also put in a few more raisins as I prefer getting some fibre attached to my sugar). I’ll probably cut it down to about 1/4 cup.
To boost the nut flavor, I toasted my chopped pecans in a skillet over low-medium heat while assembling the rest of the recipe.
I ran an experiment with the apples (using Pink Ladies/Cripps Pinks, which seem to be the most reliably available hard, sweet-tart cooking apple. They’re in supermarkets almost year-round, in both NY and Hong Kong). I hate the idea of losing the nutrition in fruit peel so I peeled only one of the two apples, then put the peeled chunks on one side and unpeeled on the other. I discovered I liked the unpeeled chunks at least as much as the peeled; the peel added just a bit of contrasting texture and a welcome sour/bitter note to cut the sweetness a bit.
Adding whey powder to boost protein sounds like a great idea. Another one that might be fun is peanut butter powder.
Oh! Forgot a couple things. Trader Joe’s Jumbo Raisin Medley is the best for this type of thing, they’re so cheap and so good that I take packages with me across the Pacific. I’d also recommend dark brown sugar, as it gives more flavor. In HK the supermarkets carry Billington’s Dark Muscovado sugar for cheap, which is super-strong. Here in NY I used regular Domino’s Dark; it’s hard to argue with 99 cents a box.
I recently prepared this for my turn to provide breakfast at MOPS. Like most of your reviewers, I don’t have to tell you that this dish magically disappeared. It was glorious! I did not alter the sugar as some reviewers suggest. Brunch is not brunch without a bit of decadence. My only alteration was using half and half as someone finished the milk I was planning on using. The oatmeal had a bit of a bread pudding texture which was unexpected.
Thank you for making meal preparation for a group of seasoned mommies fret free. The doughnut muffins and winter citrus salad were also a hit.
Hi Jenn. I made this today and it was incredible! What a perfect winter breakfast or snack. I even went back for seconds 🙂