Baked Apple Oatmeal

Here’s how to make the best baked apple oatmeal! This irresistible breakfast recipe combines sweet fruits with cinnamon, allspice and maple.

This is how we like to eat apples for breakfast: Baked Apple Oatmeal! As the mornings get cooler, this is the best morning treat to go out. It’s easy to make with ingredients you may already have on hand. And the taste of tender, sweet apples with maple syrup, cinnamon, and allspice… well, you’ll want to make these every day! It works as a brunch recipe for entertaining, or you can make a big casserole and eat it for breakfast all week. Here’s how to make what we think is the best baked apple oatmeal you’ll find.

Also try: Banana Baked Oatmeal or perfect oatmeal

Baked apple oatmeal ingredients

Baked Apple Oatmeal is something of a healthy version of apple chips for breakfast! It’s made with whole rolled oats and is lightly sweetened with maple syrup instead of being sugar loaded like the dessert version. If you’re like us, you might even have most of the ingredients already in your pantry. The ingredients you need for baked apple oatmeal are:

• apples: You can use whatever you have! We love tangy-sweet varieties like Jonathon or Jonagold, Honeycrisp, Golden Delicious or Granny Smith.
• Oatmeal or old fashioned: Do not substitute steel rolled oats as they have a very different texture!
• pitchnut pieces or nuts
• Cinnamon, allspice and vanilla
• baking powder
• egg
• milk
• maple syrup

How to chop apples: the fastest way!

This cooked apple oatmeal cooks the apple in chunks right in the oatmeal: no peeling needed! Here’s a little trick to save time when you go chopping your apples. No need to hollow them out or cut around the core! This method makes it easy and quick. Proceed as follows:

1. Hold the core of the apple and use a large chef’s knife to cut through all four sides of the apple, cutting as close to the core as possible (see video below).
2. Take one of the quarters and lay it flat side down. Then cut into thick slices (thicker than in the video), then crosswise into pieces.
3. Repeat with the remaining quarters!

How to make oatmeal with baked apples: basic steps

These baked oatmeal with apples are a no-brainer. Here are the basic steps and some notes on the process:

• Whisk the dry ones: Mix the dry ingredients and add to a saucepan with the chopped apples.
• Whisk wet: Whisk together the wet ingredients, then pour over.
• Bake: Bake at 375 degrees for about 45 minutes until set.
• Drizzle with maple butter: Pour a mixture of melted butter and maple syrup on top to add moisture and that sweet, rich final flavor! Don’t skip this step: it just adds a touch of decadence.

Vegan variant

With a few simple changes, you can easily make vegan baked apple oatmeal! Here’s what to do to make this recipe a vegan breakfast:

• Use a flax egg in place of the egg. Make a flaxseed egg with ground flaxseeds and water! It only takes 15 minutes and is a trick used in many vegan baked goods.
• Use your favorite plant-based milk. We like almond milk or oat milk.
• Use coconut oil instead of butter. Use coconut oil for final flavor.

Baked Apple Oatmeal Make-Ahead Instructions

Want to make these baked apple oatmeal ahead of time? We do not recommend preparing a whole pot and refrigerating overnight. While some recipes like overnight oats call for it, the oats will soak up all of the liquid. Instead, you can mix dry and wet and store them in separate containers (refrigerate the wet ones) until ready to cook.

Even better? Make a big casserole the day before, then pop it in the fridge and eat it all week. You can store leftovers in the fridge for up to 1 week and reheat in a 300 degree oven or microwave.

More apple recipes

These baked apple oatmeal are a great way to use up the seasonal fruit! Apples are in season in autumn, but they keep well and are available all year round. Here are some of our favorite apple recipes to try next:

This Baked Apple Oatmeal Recipe is…

Vegetarian and gluten free. For vegan, plant-based, and dairy-free, see the swaps below.