This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
If you’re looking for more ways to eat oatmeal for breakfast, these Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Cups are so good! They are similar to making baked oatmeal, which I love, but instead of baking everything in one large dish, you’ll use a muffin tin to make individual oatmeal cups to take along with you (or send with the kiddos!).
Table of Contents
What I love most about these baked apple oatmeal cups is how easy they are to make ahead and customize. You can switch up the fruits, add nuts, or even toss in some chocolate chips if you want to. They’re great fresh out of the oven, but they also freeze well, so you can meal prep and batch cook.
This recipe was part of our monthly Cooking Challenge for September 2024!
Recipe At a Glance
Cuisine Inspiration: American
Primary Cooking Method: Baking
Dietary Info: Dairy-free, gluten-free
Key Flavor: Warm cinnamon with sweet apple notes
Skill Level: Easy
Why This is So Good
- Kid-Friendly: These oatmeal cups are a hit with the whole family. My kids love the mini muffin size, and I love that they’re eating something wholesome.
- Easy to Make: The recipe is straightforward, with just one bowl and a muffin tin—minimal cleanup required, which is always a win in my book.
- Perfect for Busy Mornings: I love that these oatmeal cups are super easy to make ahead, so when the morning rush hits, I can just grab one and go. No more skipping breakfast!
Ingredients to Make Oatmeal Cups With Apples & Cinnamon
- Oats: This makes up the bulk of the recipe. Just like making overnight oats, I definitely recommend using old fashioned oats when making these oatmeal cups because the consistency of quick oats will be more dry.
- Milk: You can use full fat, 2% or low-fat milk. You can also use plant-based milk like almond milk (which is what I used), coconut milk, cashew milk or oat milk.
- Applesauce: This has two uses in this recipe: it provides moisture without having to use oil, and it also helps to bind so we don’t have to use eggs. I recommend unsweetened so you can control the level of sweetness.
- Maple Syrup: This helps to sweeten the oatmeal cups naturally, and the stickiness of the syrup also helps to bind the oatmeal cups. You can substitute it with honey or agave syrup.
- Cinnamon: 1 and half teaspoons may look like a lot, but trust me on this one! You can also substitute some of that for other warm spices like nutmeg, ginger and/or ground cloves.
- Baking Powder: This makes them feel light and airy.
- Apples: You can use any type of apples you’d like, peeled or unpeeled. I recommend chopping them up really small so they mix easier into the batter.
- Pecans: They add a nice crunch and nutty flavor to the oatmeal cups. You can substitute with other nuts like walnuts, or you can leave them out.
Popular Substitutions & Additions
- Switch Up the Fruit: Not in the mood for apples? No problem. You can swap them out for pears, diced bananas, or even some dried fruit like raisins or cranberries. Each option brings its own twist to the flavor.
- Try Different Nuts: If you’re like me and love a bit of texture, but are out of pecans you can still throw in some chopped walnuts, or almonds.
- Add Chocolate Chips: If you’re craving something a little sweeter, go ahead and mix in your favorite chocolate chips—whether it’s dark, milk, white chocolate, or even caramel chips.
- Play with the Spice: If you want to change up the flavor profile, try using pumpkin pie spice or apple pie spice instead of just cinnamon.
How to Make Baked Oatmeal Cups
These baked oatmeal cups are super easy to make and are pretty much all pantry staples!
Tips for Making the Best Baked Oatmeal Cups
- Don’t use quick oats. Quick oats are chopped into finer pieces, which makes them faster to cook. Although they taste the same as rolled oats, the texture of quick oats is much finer, so they soak up more moisture and can dry out the baked oatmeal.
- Do not mix the oats with milk ahead of time. If you want to prep the recipe halfway before baking, you can mix the wet ingredients in one bowl and the dry ingredients in another bowl. Just don’t combine them until you’re ready to bake. Otherwise, the oats will soak up all the liquid too fast.
- Spoon batter equally between the muffin tins. You’ll notice that the liquid doesn’t perfectly mix with the oats, and the batter is a bit chunky with some liquid. Make sure to evenly distribute the liquid into the muffin cups for best results.
- Skip the muffin liners. As long as you spray the muffin tin with cooking spray, the oatmeal cups will come right out using a spoon. In fact, they tend to stick more to muffin liners than to the pan, in my experience. And using parchment paper cups can actually add too much unnecessary moisture.
Frequently Asked Questions
The difference is in the lack of flour in oatmeal cups. So you’ll notice that the batter for oatmeal cups looks different than that of muffins. Essentially, this recipe is baked oatmeal made into individual portions using a muffin tin.
Yes, you can bake these in a casserole dish or half sheet pans and then just cut them into the size of bars you’d like. Depending on the size of the pan you use, the baking time will vary. In a 9 x 13 baking dish, it should take 20-25 minutes.
Yes, and these are very freezer-friendly! Just place them in an airtight container or ziplock bag, and you can store them in the freezer for up to 3 months. To reheat, thaw them in the fridge overnight, then place in the microwave or oven to warm through.
Whether you store the oatmeal cups on the counter, in the fridge, or in the freezer, the most important thing to follow is to let them cool down completely before sealing them into a bag or container. If you put them away while they are even slightly warm, the condensation will ruin them. You can store at room temperature for 2-3 days, in the fridge for 4-5 days, and in the freezer for up to 3 months.
These apple cinnamon oatmeal cups recipe is easy to make, super versatile with added fruit and toppings, and makes for a healthy portable breakfast or snack. They’re vegan, gluten-free and refined sugar free, and most importantly they’re kid friendly!
More Oatmeal Recipes:
- Baked Cranberry Pecan Oatmeal
- How to Make Oatmeal
- Easy Overnight Oats
- Baked Steel Cut Oatmeal
- Baked Blueberry Oatmeal
- Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies
If you try this feel good Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Cups recipe or any other recipe on Feel Good Foodie, then don’t forget to rate the recipe and leave a comment below! It helps others who are thinking of making the recipe. We would love to hear about your experience making it. And if you snapped some shots, share it on Instagram so we can repost on Stories!
Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Cups
Video
Ingredients
- 3 cups rolled oats
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ cups almond milk
- 1 cup unsweetened applesauce
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- 1 cup apples finely chopped
- ½ cup chopped pecans optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a 12-cup muffin pan with nonstick spray.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the oats, cinnamon, baking powder and salt. Add the milk, applesauce and maple syrup and stir until well-combined.
- Fold in the chopped apples and pecans. Then transfer the oatmeal mixture into the prepared muffin cups, filling all the way to the top. The batter will seem a little wet, but this is normal.
- Bake in the oven for 30-35 minutes or until the edges are lightly browned and the top is set.
- All to cool completely in the muffin tin before serving.
Notes
- You can use any kind of milk you like, dairy or non-dairy
- You can replace the maple syrup with any other liquid sweetener like honey or agave syrup.
Nutrition
Nutrition information provided is an estimate. It will vary based on cooking method and specific ingredients used.
1 – Can I use regular milk instead?
2 – What can I use instead of applesauce?
Regular milk will work! For an applesauce substitute, I recommend another fruit puree like pear or pumpkin. Hope you enjoy!
Can I use eggs instead of the applesauce? If yes, how many?
I haven’t tried that before but it should work! I would use 2 eggs to start but you may have to experiment. Hope that helps!
These remind me of fall! I have made them 3 times throughout this month and they are so delicious! Perfect fall breakfast! They taste great with walnuts and almonds mixed in too! I had one warmed up with a scoop of ice cream for dessert tonight and it was amazing!!
Aww, thank you so much! It makes me so happy to hear you’re loving the recipe this fall, Jenna! And I love that you’ve enjoyed these oatmeal cups for breakfast and dessert, that’s awesome!
Love these! So tasty and healthy and easy to make! I made a batch at the beginning of the week and they have been our grab-and-go breakfast and snack all week!
Aww, I’m so glad you love them! Thank you, Adrienne!!
These are great! Oats are my usual breakfast. I love baked oatmeal, and these give enough texture and heft to stick with me until lunch. I love the crunch of the pecans. It took mine a bit longer to bake, and I used oat milk since that was what I had on hand. I am going to store in the freezer as suggested for an easy breakfast. Thanks! #septemberchallenge
Yay, so glad you love them!! Thanks so much, Emiley!
Easy to make and it is not too sweet. It is a delicious autumn treat or breakfast to go.
Yay, so glad you liked it!! Thank you!
Delicious! So quick and easy to make and perfect for breakfast. Not super sweet and perfect with a cup of coffee
Aww, sounds like the perfect pairing! Thanks, Jackie, so glad you liked it!!
I made a batch thinking I would have extra to freeze for emergency breakfast at school, but they disappeared! I think I’ll try cardamom and pear for my next batch.
Aww, love that your family is enjoying the recipe! Pear and cardamom sounds so good, yum!!
This recipe will definitely be on repeat. So easy and satisfying. Also makes my house smell amazing!!!
SO GOOD!
Yay, love that!! So happy you liked it, Marina! Thank you!
Super tasty! Very fall-like, which was fun! They were easy to make and happy to have them on hand.
Yay, so happy you liked them! Thanks, Emily!
I made them and there are very good and light! Would make again. I noticed in your video you added vanilla extract inside but in your written ingredients it doesn’t say to add. I will try next time with it
So happy you liked them! The vanilla extract is optional, I hope you enjoy it that way too!
These were super easy to make! I just needed one small gala apple finely chopped to get a cup for anyone wondering. I love that they’re not too sweet – makes for a great breakfast or snack! I didn’t have pecans but would love to try this recipe with them next time.
Yay, so happy you liked the recipe! Thank you so much, Vanessa!!
For oatmeal cups they are outstanding! Very quick and easy to make with ingredients I had on hand. These are healthy and leave me feeling like I am not overeating sugar and empty carbs! I get tired of plain old oatmeal and overnight oats sometimes, so this is a great alternative.
Thanks! So happy you enjoyed them, Claire!
Didn’t have the pecans but it still turned out delicious!
Yay, I’m so glad!! Thanks, Andrea!
Just took them out of the oven right now and my house smells like Fall already !!! #SOGOOD, so yummy and love the texture!!!
Yay! Thanks, Noreen. So glad you love them!!
These were super good and so easy to mix up! My husband loved them, too. We had to have one for dessert after dinner last night, and we also had them for breakfast this morning, LOL. Great with coffee. I’m happy to have a fall feeling recipe that isn’t pumpkin spice! I love pumpkin and pumpkin spice, but something different is appreciated. I recently went to the farm stand and had fresh, local apples and local pecans in the house. This recipe is a keeper for us. I needed to leave in the oven for 43 minutes to get the brown edges and set top, but won’t adjust anything else. They had the perfect sweetness (for us), and we loved the added pecans.
I agree, pumpkin is great but I love apple and cinnamon recipes in the fall too! So happy you and your husband liked the recipe. Those local apples must have made your oatmeal cups extra delicious! Thanks, Christy!!
I love apples and oatmeal, so this recipe is a win-win for me…thanks!
Yay, I hope you enjoy it!!
So easy and my kids loved it!
Yay, I’m so glad!
These are so good! I would probably add slightly more maple syrup next time (sweet tooth) but I’m really happy with how these came out.
Yay! So happy you liked them, Daisy!!
Perfect for lunch boxes and picky eaters! Thank you!
Yes, so kid friendly!! You’re welcome, Loubna!
This recipe was easy to make and delicious. My husband loved it. He did not know it was made from oats and healthy, he said I can make anytime for him. I loved it also very moist and gluten free a double win for me.
Yay, that’s a win for sure!! Thanks, Marie!
I love the wholesome ingredients in these oatmeal cups, but something was lacking. I followed the recipe exactly but found there was too much liquid when filling the muffin cups (more so than the photo above showing the step-by-step). Even the day after, they are moist/wet inside, and I feel like I’m eating cold oatmeal with apples and pecans. They are cooked through. I wasn’t sure how to store them, so I went with storing them in the fridge.
So sorry your oatmeal cups turned out to be too moist, Noreen! It sounds like your oven may need an increased bake time, I would try adding 10 minutes.
Thank you for the suggestion. When I cooked for the suggested times, they looked like the photo. I’ve been enjoying them warmed, with yogurt. 👍
These are perfect! Just the right sweetness! They will be perfect to grab and go for breakfast with my coffee!
Yes, they’re so good with coffee! So happy you like them, Cheryl!
I love making a big batch of these to pack as a work snack or sometimes breakfast on the go. So tasty on their own but love spreading different nut butters on top
Yum! I hadn’t thought of spreading nut butters on them. That sounds so good, thanks for the inspiration!!
Can’t wait to try this recipe.
Hope you enjoy, Alma!!
This recipe looks wonderful and I can’t wait to get my bake on with it!! Quick question first please … I notice fat-free milk, my mainstay, isn’t included on the ingredient list as being preferred. Is it possible to use it and if not, why not? I’ll be using honey as my binder because saying I never again ate maple syrup after my very first taste as a child due to its taste and smell … well, you get the picture!! 🤪😝 LOVE all the other great ingredients, though! 🍎🧉🍏
Oh no! I don’t blame you for avoiding maple syrup haha. Honey will absolutely work as a substitute. You can use fat-free milk in place of the almond milk as well. Enjoy!!
Seems to be less sugar, let me try. Instead of oats shall we use plain corn flakes?
Hi Leela, I haven’t made this recipe with corn flakes so I’m not sure how they would turn out. I recommend using rolled oat to get the texture and flavor of oatmeal!
Very nice recipe, I always like the combination of apple and cinnamon. Good for an on-the-go snack that is healthy.
Me too, such a good combo! Glad you liked them, Duru!!
They look delicious! Can’t wait to make them.
Hope you enjoy them!!
I made them with just one variation, I couldn’t find apple sauce so I used instead half a cup of apple baby food with half a cup of Greek yogurt and they came out a little soggy in the center. I baked them more than what the recipe stated until the outside was really crunchy. I thought they were going to turned out like Aussie bites. What could have gone wrong?
Hi Fabiola, it sounds like the fat from the Greek yogurt added too much moisture to the batter, so the middle didn’t bake all the way. I would try again with the correct ingredients and quantities. Let me know how they turn out!
Turned out terrible. Had so much liquid and wasn’t a batter. Really disappointing-won’t be using feel good foodie recipes again
Sorry to hear that, Kim. Did you follow the recipe exactly? The batter is quite chunky with liquid because the oats don’t mix in perfectly, but it should still bake well. Did you bake your oatmeal cups until the edges were lightly browned and the tops were set?
Hi Kim, I took your feedback and decided to make some changes to the ingredients and instructions. They should help with the extra liquid in the batter. I hope you’ll try my updated recipe and let me know what you think!
I must have done something wrong, however I reviewed this recipe 5 times. It doesn’t have much taste or flavor at all. 😔
So sorry these didn’t come out as you expected. Can you tell me a little more about what went wrong so I can help you troubleshoot?
Love this recipe! Easy ingredients that I already had. And bonus points, my 4 year old approves!! Thank you! 🙂
Can I use regular milk instead and negate the chopped pecans? Will it mess with the consistency or anything? (I’m allergic to nuts)
Yes and yes! You can use full fat, 2% or low-fat milk. You can also use plant-based milk like almond milk (which is what I used), coconut milk, cashew milk or oat milk. The pecans add a nice crunch and nutty flavor to the oatmeal cups, but you can substitute with other nuts like walnuts, or you can leave them out.
May I use steel cut oats uncooked in this recipe? I know you said rolled oats are best but all i have is steel cut. How does that work?
I think you can! It will take a few extra minutes in the oven.
Hello! Can you add protein powder to this to give it more protein? And if so, how much? Thank you!
Yes you can, you can add about 1/4 cup of protein powder and I would recommend adding 2 tablespoons of almond milk extra so it’s not too dry.
Thank you so much, this turned out great!
Yay!! That’s great to hear!
Hello. I made these. They were yummy. Could you please tell me if 1 oatmeal cup is equal to 1 serving for breakfast?
That’s amazing! One serving of this recipe is one oatmeal cup. For breakfast, I would eat 2-3 of these cups with some sides, but do what works best for you!
Thank you for your oatmeal recipes Yumna! I love them! It’s perfect for my 31 Days Of Oatmeal challenge!
You’re so welcome! Hope the challenge is going well!
I never knew oatmeal cups were a thing! These are delicious. I had to omit the cinnamon (due to an allergy) but we topped our cups with peanut butter, and I added a T. of pancake syrup to the plate for the oatmeal cup to soak up – YUMMMMM. Thanks so much for this allergy-friendly idea!
So glad you tried these and enjoyed them!! Thanks so much for sharing 🙂
Hey Yumna! I love the idea of this recipe! It’s so perfect especially in the fall and it’s a fun twist to the traditional oatmeal porridge. In my country they don’t sell applesauce, or any fruit purees for that matter, and I don’t own a high power blender, so what should I add in place of applesauce? I searched up some substitutes but the only one that works for my situation would be mashed bananas. Do you think this would be a good substitute and how much should I add? Thanks so much in advance!
Instead of the applesauce, you can use any oil or melted butter. You can certainly also used mashed bananas. I hope you like the recipe!
What about making your own applesauce? Chop up some apples and cook them down. Smash the cooked apples with a spoon and you have applesauce!
I made a half batch, just to try them out. I ended up putting them in for another 10 minutes (total of 35 minutes), as I didn’t think they were done enough. Next time I make them, I’m going to add more cinnamon and maybe cook the apples on the stove for a few minutes so they aren’t so crunchy. They would also be good with a few chocolate chips. Breakfast is my least favorite meal, so I’m trying different recipes that are healthy and can provide breakfast for several days. I would make this again.
Love your ideas for tweaking it. I think cooking the apples before is a great idea!
May I use steel cut oats uncooked in this recipe?
You can, but it will require more cooking time.
So easy to make and my kids really loved it too! I was trying to find more snacks that are gluten free not processed and this is perfect!
I’m anxious to try these. I usually buy Trader Joe’s Steel Cut Oats – will these work also?
I recommend using Trader Joe’s rolled oats instead.
A great way to eat oatmeal!! I followed the recipe as written, but instead of the optional nuts, I added a combination of white chips and craisins.
That’s perfect! Glad to hear it you liked it!
This is the second time I’ve made this. I love it! The recipe is so easy to follow and had simple ingredients! I also love that using the muffin tins allow for simple serving sizes. Thank you! 🙂
So awesome you already made it twice!! Thanks so much for sharing!!
If you watch the video for this it says bake 350 for 10 minutes that is not the case they are definitely not done after 10 minutes takes the full 30 minutes I recommend
Hmm, I just re-watched the video, and it says 25-30 minutes. Are you sure you saw 10 minutes?
Delicious. I followed the recipe as is.
So glad you liked it! Thank you!
I just put these in the oven. I saw for substitutions you could use coconut sugar instead of sugar but I don’t see sugar listed as an ingredient. I just used maple syrup. I buy parchment cupcake holders. Your muffin won’t stick to the paper at all.
Oops, I meant to say you can switch the coconut sugar for maple syrup. Yes, parchment paper cupcake holders are the best!! I never bake muffins without them!
These are amazing!!!! Just made them for the second time
Hi Carly – I’m so happy to hear that you enjoyed them and made them a second time already. Thanks so much for the feedback!
For how many oatmeal cups is the nutritional information? It’s not for the whole thing right? Thank you for putting the nutritional information!
The nutrition information is for one oatmeal cup and the recipe makes 12. Glad you’re finding it useful!
Love this recipe!!!! Hello from Guatemala
So glad to hear it! Thank you!!