Baked oatmeal cups are a great option for a healthy breakfast or snack! These oatmeal cups use simple pantry ingredients that are easy to meal prep for the week or stock your freezer with for a wholesome healthy breakfast option. The best part? You can either stick to a basic recipe or easily switch it up with a couple of different variations!
I’ve been meaning to put together this post for a loooooooong time.
It’s been about 10 years since I discovered baked oatmeal and since then I’ve tried just about every recipe under the sun. Not to mention- many variations of those recipes.
I’ve learned different cooking tips, meal prep hacks, and the ins’ and outs’ of freezing baked oatmeal cups. So, in this post, I want to share all my baked oatmeal cup knowledge with you.
I know you might think these are similar to muffins because they are made in a muffin pan but they are actually very different. Baked oatmeal cups don’t use any flour and use a lot less sugar. In fact, in some recipes, you can either skip the sugar altogether or sweeten with some pure maple syrup.
Today, I want to share my basic baked oatmeal cup recipe along with some different yummy variations so you never get bored with this simple breakfast recipe!
Why Oatmeal Cups Are The Best
It’s kind of ironic because before changing my eating habits I never ate any type of oatmeal and truth be told, hated it. Now I’ve grown to appreciate oatmeal and really enjoy many oatmeal recipes – especially baked oatmeal cups.
Here are the reasons why I love this breakfast recipe so much:
- They are cheap! Baked oatmeal cups use basic pantry ingredients along with some simple ingredients from the refrigerator. Seriously- all you need for a basic recipe is rolled oats, cinnamon, baking soda, eggs, and milk.
- They are perfect for meal prep and freezer cooking. You can make a double or triple batch of baked oatmeal and have a healthy breakfast for days or months.
- These reheat well. Keeping with meal prep and freezer cooking, oatmeal cups reheat really well. This is important because what’s the point of making them ahead of time if they taste gross after reheating.
- They are portion-controlled. This is one of the first things that turned me on to baked oatmeal cups. It’s easy to track calories when you know ahead of time the amount you’ll be eating.
- Many variations. Baked oatmeal cups can be switched up with all kinds of spices, flavors, and ingredients.
- Another way to sneak in some superfoods. You can stir in chia seeds, hemp hearts, or flax seeds to get a boost of omega-3s, fiber, and protein.
Best Oats To Use To Make These Breakfast Cups
Let’s start with the oats!
You are going to use rolled oats for baked oatmeal cup recipes. Rolled oats can also be called old fashion oats so you might see that as well when shopping in the stores. My favorite brand is Bod’s Red Mills but I also like to get Wegman’s brand.
You can also find rolled oats in the bulk section at your grocery store.
If you are wanting to make this recipe gluten-free, make sure to buy rolled oats that are certified gluten-free!
You don’t want to use instant or minute oats because that’ll result in mushy baked oatmeal. Steel-cut oats won’t cook all the way so that will create a hard and crunchy baked oatmeal.
Basic Baked Oatmeal Cup Recipe
Here are the ingredients you will need to make this breakfast recipe!
- Rolled oats
- Cinnamon
- Salt
- Baking powder
- Brown sugar
- Eggs
- Plain greek yogurt
- Vanilla extract
- Unsweetened coconut milk (you can use almond or regular dairy milk)
How To Make Baked Oatmeal Cups
Start by combining all the dry ingredients first. If you’re using cinnamon, nutmeg, or other spices, you want to make sure all the oats are coated with everything before adding wet ingredients or you’ll end up with clumps.
In a separate bowl, combine all of the wet ingredients and pour all of those contents in with the dry ingredients.
Make sure everything is combined well!
Divide the oatmeal mixture amongst a muffin pan. More importantly, you want to make sure the liquid is evenly divided and that the oats in each cup are covered with liquid. I usually take a spoon and press down on each cup to make sure the oats are covered in liquid.
If you want to make them all a little different, add a few toppings to them (like chocolate chips or fruit). Keep reading to see a couple of other oatmeal cup recipes with exciting variations!
Then, bake for 30 minutes in a 350-degree oven to make sure every baked oatmeal cup cooks perfectly. However, every oven is different so I recommend keeping an eye on them at around 25 minutes so they don’t overcook.
Take them out of the oven and then let them cool for 5 minutes in the pan. Then, completely finish cooling on a wire rack.
Now you can decide whether you want to store the oatmeal cups for the week or freeze them!
How To Store Baked Oatmeal Cups
I find that baked oatmeal cups store great in both plastic storage bags or glass containers. If you’re not going to freeze them, then in my experience, baked oatmeal cups keep fresh longer in the refrigerator and not sitting on the counter. After the baked oatmeal has cooled, I put them in a bag or in a glass container and store them in the refrigerator.
How Long Can I Keep Oatmeal Cups In The Refrigerator?
Baked oatmeal cups will keep up to 7 days (maybe even a little longer in the refrigerator). My advice is to keep the amount you want for the week in the refrigerator and then store the rest in the freezer.
Can You Freeze Baked Oatmeal Cups?
Yes! Not only can you freeze baked oatmeal cups but you should!
As I said, you can keep what you want to eat for the week in the refrigerator but honestly, I tend to just freeze them in case we don’t eat them. I don’t like forgetting about them and having them go to waste. So after the oatmeal cups have cooled, I’ll stick them in the freezer and just grab one to warm up when I’m ready to eat it.
Freezing baked oatmeal cups is so easy!
All you do is lay them flat in a large gallon size freezer bag (you can use a reusable bag) for a couple of hours or until the baked oatmeal cups are frozen. Then put the bag wherever needed in the freezer. If you’re going to grab one on the go, you can wrap individually in plastic wrap before putting them into the freezer bag.
How To Reheat Frozen Oatmeal Cups For Breakfast
The easiest way is to microwave them and this is what I do most often.
- I remove it from the freezer and remove the plastic wrap if using.
- Then, I place on a microwave-safe dish, wrap in a paper towel, and reheat for 30-45 seconds or until it’s hot. The paper towel keeps the moisture in which prevents it from drying out.
Cooking Tip: These don’t take long at all to reheat. If you’re worried about them drying out, then pace a coffee cup of water in with the baked oatmeal cup as it heats up. The steam from the water will keep it from drying out 😉
You can also reheat these in the toaster oven but this takes longer so I typically don’t use this method.
- Set the toaster oven to 350 degrees and cook the oatmeal cups for about 5-7 minutes. This will make the outside a little crisper than the microwave method.
Cooking Tip: While this isn’t completely necessary, you can take the baked oatmeal cup out of the freezer the night before to thaw a bit before warming up. This will reduce cooking time with both the microwave and toaster oven method.
What To Serve With Baked Oatmeal
After I warm up the baked oatmeal cups, I like to drizzle a little bit of pure maple syrup over the top and serve them with:
- Fresh berries and yogurt
- Peanut butter and banana
- A smoothie on the side
Of course, you can also eat this on its own!
Other Variations Of Oatmeal Cups
Now that you have the basic recipe for this delicious breakfast option, take a look at some of these other options for baked oatmeal cups!
- Banana Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cups
- Blueberry Banana Oatmeal Cups
- Pumpkin Spice Oatmeal Cups
- Apple Spice Oatmeal Cups
- Double Chocolate And Pumpkin Oatmeal Cups
Trying making any of these baked oatmeal cups to have a super healthy breakfast ready to go! Share a picture and tag me on Instagram or Facebook if you decide to make these!
Baked Oatmeal Cups {Meal Prep & Freezer Tips}
Ingredients
- 3 cups rolled oats
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 5.3 ounce container plain Greek yogurt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/4 cup unsweetened coconut milk you can use almond or dairy
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- In a large bowl combine the rolled oats, cinnamon, salt, and baking powder. Give a couple stirs so all the spices and ingredients are evenly distributed.
- In another medium bowl whisk together the brown sugar and eggs until smooth. Stir in the yogurt, vanilla, and milk.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir until everything is combined.
- Spray a 12-cup muffin pan with cooking spray and divide the batter among the 12 cups. Use a spoon to push down the oats so they are all covered in the liquid. Add any toppings at this time.
- Baked for 30 minutes.
- Remove from oven and let cool for about 3 minutes. Serve warm or place on a wire rack to completely cool to store in the refrigerator or to freeze.
