Make Ahead

Chai BakedĀ Oatmeal

January 30, 2014
0
0 Ratings
  • Serves 6
Author Notes

After a couple breakfast ideas fell through, I hit upon making chai infused baked oatmeal. It was sooo good! Now I want to eat it everyday. Luckily, after making a batch I can at least eat it for a few days at a time since the leftovers reheat well. The oatmeal is adapted from Heidi Swanson's baked oatmeal recipe (of course!). —fiveandspice

Continue After Advertisement
Ingredients
  • Chai baked oatmeal
  • 2 1/2 cups milk - I prefer whole milk (nondairy substitutes work as well)
  • 2 tablespoons your favorite loose leaf chai blend (I like this recipe from The Kitchn: http://www.thekitchn.com...)
  • 2 1/4 cups old fashioned rolled oats (not quick cooking)
  • 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 cup chopped toasted pecans (optional)
  • 1/3 cup maple syrup (preferably grade B for its stronger flavor)
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 3 tablespoons melted butter
  • maple pears for serving (see below)
  • Maple pears
  • 2-3 large pears - I've been into red comice pears lately
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 3 tablespoons maple syrup
Directions
  1. Chai baked oatmeal
  2. Heat your oven to 350F and butter a 9X13" (or similarly sized) baking dish. Combine the milk and the chai in a saucepan and bring to a simmer. Remove from the heat and allow to steep, covered, for 5 minutes. Strain into a large mixing bowl.
  3. In another bowl combine the oats, salt, baking powder, and pecans (if using).
  4. Whisk the eggs, maple syrup, and vanilla into the spiced milk. Mix the wet and dry ingredients together then scrape into the prepared baking dish. Bake until golden and set, about 40-45 minutes.
  5. When the oatmeal is done, drizzle it with the melted butter and serve with the maple pears (it would also be good with a variety of other fruits or berries). It also keeps well and reheats nicely for a few days.
  1. Maple pears
  2. Core the pears and thinly slice them. Heat the butter in a large frying pan over medium heat and when it's foaming, stir in the pears.
  3. Saute the pear slices until they are starting to soften, 3-5 minutes, then add the maple syrup, stir and cook for another 2 minutes, stirring to coat the pears. Serve warm atop the baked oatmeal.

See what other Food52ers are saying.

15 Reviews

hardlikearmour April 6, 2015
This is fantastic! Made it for a family gathering and everyone enjoyed it.
Annie July 9, 2014
made this recently and loved it! Such a lovely, spicy flavor
JadeTree March 8, 2014
I'm making this tomorrow morning - which I just realized in horror is Spring Forward time change day! Horror because the thought of my little kids ingesting even the tiniest bit of caffeine in the tea may make the longest day ever! Ha! So I will be making a little masala of spices sans tea - I will report back about the effectiveness. A delicious-looking recipe. Thanks for sharing it :)
JadeTree March 9, 2014
Huge hit with the whole family! I did omit the tea (concerns about monsters keep us up enough) so I steeped a cinnamon stick, part of a star anise, a small handful of green cardamom pods, two black peppercorns and five slices of fresh ginger in the milk in lieu of the tea blend. It was tough to wait through the steeping and baking time for the youngest (who feasted on the pears before the oatmeal was ready and was greatly appeased) so I think in the future, a person could steep the milk the night before and refrigerate it, which would speed things up a bit. Thank you for this delicious breakfast :)
fiveandspice March 13, 2014
Glad it went over well! Infusing the milk ahead of time is a great tip!
Mary R. February 19, 2014
This was delicious. I cut open a chai tea bag, steeped the loose tea in milk, and then strained. I subbed some bulgar wheat and millet in for some of the oatmeal--it probably made for a heartier dish, but I will use all oatmeal next time. I cooked bananas in butter and maple syrup to top the oatmeal which was delicious.
fiveandspice February 20, 2014
Mmm, sounds perfect!
Ceege February 9, 2014
Oh my. I eat Steel Cut Oats almost every day. I think it might be worth it to buy some regular oats and give this recipe a try. It sounds wonderful (and I like the idea of trying pears with oatmeal).
fiveandspice February 9, 2014
Thank you!
sfielding February 9, 2014
Is there a reason for using loose chai? Could I also use chai in a tea bag?
fiveandspice February 9, 2014
I find that loose tea steeps better because it winds up having more surface area exposed when you dump it in the milk, however, tea bags should work too.
Ana February 7, 2014
I live in Portugal where is quite difficult to find maple syrup. Can I substitute maple syrup for 1/3 of a cup of brown sugar?
fiveandspice February 7, 2014
Definitely. You could also use honey.
AntoniaJames January 31, 2014
Oh, my! Saved to the try-this-soon collection. ;o)
fiveandspice January 31, 2014
Thanks! :)