Grains

Heidi Swanson's Baked Oatmeal

by:
June 19, 2013
5
9 Ratings
Heidi Swanson's Baked Oatmeal
Photo by James Ransom
  • Prep time 15 minutes
  • Cook time 45 minutes
  • Serves 6
Author Notes

Very lightly adapted from Super Natural Every Day. Heidi Swanson recommends blueberries or huckleberries or a mix. I've had good luck with just about every sort of berry; I've also used frozen, without incident. And for the record, I've added slightly more nuts here, for extra crunch. —Nicholas Day

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • 2 cups rolled oats
  • 1 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon fine-grain salt
  • 2 cups milk
  • 1/3 cup maple syrup
  • 1 large egg
  • 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 2 bananas, sliced into 1/2-inch pieces
  • 1 1/2 cups blueberries or a mix of berries
Directions
  1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Butter the inside of a square 8-inch baking dish.
  2. In a bowl, combine the oats, half of the walnuts, the baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.
  3. In another bowl, whisk together the maple syrup, the milk, egg, half of the butter, and the vanilla.
  4. Spread a single layer of bananas across the bottom of the buttered baking dish. Sprinkle about two-thirds of the berries on top. Cover all that with the oat mixture and then drizzle the milk mixture over the oats. Scatter the remaining berries and walnuts over the top.
  5. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes, until the top is golden and the oats are set. Let cool for a few minutes. Drizzle with the remaining melted butter and serve.
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Nicholas Day
I'm the author of a book on the science and history of infancy, Baby Meets World. My website is nicholasday.net; I tweet over at @nicksday. And if you need any good playdoh recipes, just ask.

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45 Reviews

srkelly
srkelly January 3, 2021
So good! This morning I decided to change things up a bit and tried the variation Heidi mentions in recipe notes - aliced almonds and amaretto soaked golden raisins in place of berries and walnuts. I also swapped in unsweetened almond milk for whole milk. DELICIOUS! I anticipated a few servings for Monday morning, but it’s all gone. 😄 Thank you Heidi
 
neverblue7
neverblue7 September 2, 2020
Have this in regular rotation. So good—a real comforting breakfast these days.
 
Kerry G.
Kerry G. February 1, 2017
Perfect wet to dry ratio... and base ingredients (oats, milk, egg, butter, baking soda, salt, vanilla) present a great template to switch up flavours/additions. Made mine with pecans, honey and instead of maple, cardomom in combination with cinnamon, added some tahini, dried cranberries soaked overnight in oj and finely grated carrot (or carrot in blender with half the oats).
 
Taylor S.
Taylor S. April 2, 2016
aaahhhhmmmaaaaaaazzinngggg. I used dried blueberries and didn't add the melted butter on top. The texture when it is still hot is unlike other baked oatmeals I've made -- very textural with a bite similar to that of steel-cut oatmeal. It's not so solid, even after refrigeration. I would recommend eating this within the first two days. By day three it was definitely not as tasty (although I did still scarf it down).
 
Laura
Laura September 2, 2015
This. Is. Amazing. I used nectarines (on the bottom) and blueberries, and it tastes like a healthy cobbler--one you can eat a bowlful of for lunch and feel nourished. Next time, I'd probably skip the butter on top; it didn't add much.
 
Alaina C.
Alaina C. June 10, 2015
This is seriously good oatmeal. I love that it has almost no sweetener, and especially that it is naturally gluten-free.
 
urbancooknyc
urbancooknyc January 27, 2015
Skipped the butter and used less maple syrup, delicious! Can't wait for summer to try it with peaches and blueberries. May try it with pears and maybe cranberries next time, and almond milk.
 
michish
michish November 18, 2014
OK to use frozen berries?
 
alison B.
alison B. October 16, 2014
Trying this this morning! Had to use a 9x13 pan at a lack of 8 inch. Used half almond milk, half applesauce, bananas and peaches on the bottom, almonds, didn't have vanilla, and topped with sliced peaches, coated with lemon juice and brown sugar! We shall see how it turns out!
 
Patty
Patty April 6, 2014
Love this recipe! It is so versatile and makes great breakfast leftovers. I mix in whatever I have on hand. This time I used pears and blueberries and changed the spices to 1tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp.ground cloves, and 1/4 tsp. ground ginger. Yum!
 
MaryAnn H.
MaryAnn H. March 17, 2014
I might have missed it, but do you have to nutritional values?
 
Ceege
Ceege February 26, 2014
To all asking what kind of fruit to sub for bananas. I have used peaches in place of "nana's". Blueberries and peaches make a wonderful pairing. Be sure to use ripe but FIRM peaches, cut into small pieces. Hope this works for everyone.
 
Gabrielle O.
Gabrielle O. February 13, 2014
this was so good! I made it with 1 and 1/2 cup of lactose free milk, no butter, 1/4 of cup of maple syrup, blackberries, almonds and bananas. So yummy! Mine turned out like a really soft cookie consistency.
 
Vinusha
Vinusha February 5, 2014
Great recipe! Thanks...
 
Cuvee
Cuvee January 15, 2014
This sounds great . Is it like soft like a breakfast cereal? I would prefer a firmer, soft cookie-like result. Is there a way to adapt it
 
mummer
mummer March 19, 2024
I bake it a bit longer so a knife comes out clean then I can cut it into squares for on-the-go breakfast. You can still warm it in the microwave and milk to eat in a bowl.
 
LuceyGirl
LuceyGirl November 6, 2013
Could this be done in the crockpot overnight? This is how we cook our steel cut oatmeal.
 
Catherine
Catherine October 9, 2013
Ok, don't anyone flame me, but, I gotta ask - has anyone tried with with Splenda? I've got to make things sugar free and lower carb, so the irish oats, high protein milk (thank you HEB) and plenty of nuts are OK, but syrup or honey would hit my blood stream too fast.

Also, can you mix the whole thing up and store in the fridge overnight and bake in the AM? I had to quit caffeine and Am's are still a struggle for functionality.
 
Sandra
Sandra October 9, 2013
I sometimes use apple juice or apple sauce as a sweetener. You can probably try upping the noonies which can be terribly sweet as it is and just skip the sweeteners. I have soaked steel cut oats in milk/ spices/ egg combo overnight and added the rest in the morning and baked it then.
 
Paulette W.
Paulette W. March 23, 2014
I use agave nectar instead of maple syrup. It enters the blood stream at a much slower rate. I never use sugar substitutes....if I can't substitute with the agave I just do without the sugar. If you use agave make sure you use less than the recipe calls for....agave is much sweeter than sugar. Hope this helps!
 
Stephanie R.
Stephanie R. September 12, 2013
Delicious, but it was a bit runny.... Will try again :-)
 
Sandra
Sandra August 9, 2013
Just made this! Divine! Used 1/2 c steel cut oats, apple juice as sweetener, and soy milk as these were what I had on hand. Yummy.
 
Lyn C.
Lyn C. July 26, 2013
Love this oatmeal. Such a treat and better with peaches at the bottom than banana in the summer.