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This baked steel cut oatmeal is a great healthy hot breakfast that’s easy to make. High in fiber and low in sugar, this breakfast will keep you feeling full until lunch. Great for meal prep and an endless amount of options for healthy toppings. Find out how to cook steal cut oats in the oven for a fuss free breakfast.
Steel cut oats usually require 15-20 minutes cooking on the stovetop. Check out my tutorial on how to make steel cut oatmeal on the stovetop. But if you’d rather not stand by the stovetop the whole time, the oven method is a great hands-off appraoch!
This is great when you have guests coming over in the morning and want to serve something warm without doing last minute cooking! The baked steel cut oatmeal does take a little longer in the oven than over the stovetop or microwave. But it works so well for a big batch of oats. And you can just set it and forget it.
How to cook baked steel cut oatmeal
- Start by mashing a banana.
- Adding the wet ingredients on top of the mashed banana.
- Add the steel cut oats and the cinnamon.
- Stir to combine.
- Transfer the mixture to a baking pan. It helps to spray the baking pan with cooking spray, but it’s not necessary. Place it in the oven with a foil loosely covering it for 30 minutes.
- After 30 minutes, remove the steel cut oatmeal from the oven, remove the foil and sprinkle pecans on top. You can use other nuts instead or leave them out all together. Return to the oven to cook until it’s golden brown and set.
So now you’ve teased your guests with the sweet smell from the oven and you’ve kept your stovetop and pots clean in the process. Then it’s ready to be served. You’ll notice that it gets thicker as it settles. You can wait until it’s set to serve as oatmeal squares or you can serve it immediately with a splash of milk – oatmeal style.
Tips for making baked steel cut oatmeal
- Make it more hearty by using two eggs instead of flaxseed. The eggs will help the oatmeal bind better and will give it more protein. I like keeping it vegan and using the ground flaxseed though instead.
- Tent the baking pan with foil the first half hour of cooking. This really helps to cook the steel cut oats without browning the top of the oatmeal. Otherwise, it will start to bubble and brown the top too quickly.
- Double or triple the recipe. Just remember to use 2 parts liquid to steel cut oats, and you can easily multiply the recipe for a bigger crowd.
Frequently asked questions
Because of the different composition of rolled oats and steel cut oats, the ratio of liquid to oats is different and the baking time will vary. Try one of these other recipes that use rolled oats instead
Banana Baked Oatmeal
Blueberry Baked Oatmeal
Steel cut oats can be cooked with milk or water on both the stovetop and in the oven. I much prefer baking it – no stirring involved!
This oatmeal is really tasty! I’t’s baked with mashed banana for a natural sweetness and vanilla and cinnamon add to the flavor so it’s not bland. You can add so many toppings to the baked oatmeal, I like to switch it up each morning with different berries, nuts and seeds.
Oatmeal is a great option for a healthy and filling breakfast. They are a gluten-free grain and are a great source of antioxidants, vitamins and minerals. They are high in fiber so it will help you to stop reaching for mid morning snacks. Eating oats at breakfast has many health benefits, including, lowering blood sugar, weight loss and management and a reduced risk of heart disease.
This baked steel cut oatmeal recipes is the perfect stress-free healthy hot breakfast to serve your guests or even your family. This also works well for meal prepping breakfast because you can divide the baked oatmeal into containers and just reheat in the morning. These tender tasty steel cut oats with are a huge hit with everyone!
For more oatmeal recipes:
- How to Make Oatmeal
- Baked Blueberry Oatmeal
- Steel Cut Oatmeal on Stovetop
- Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Cups
- Easy Overnight Oats
- Quinoa Oatmeal
- Protein Oatmeal
If you’ve tried this healthy-ish feel good Baked Steel Cut Oatmeal recipe or any other recipe on FeelGoodFoodie, then don’t forget to rate the recipe and leave me a comment below! I would love to hear about your experience making it. And if you snapped some shots of it, share it with me on Instagram so I can repost on my stories!
Baked Steel Cut Oatmeal
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cup uncooked steel cut oats
- 2 ripe bananas mashed
- 3 cups almond milk
- 2 tablespoons ground flaxseed
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil melted
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ cup pecans
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375ºF. Lightly coat an 9 x 9 baking dish or 8 x 11 baking pan with cooking spray.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the banana, almond milk, ground flaxseed, maple syrup, coconut oil and vanilla extract until well combined. Add the steel cut oats, cinnamon and salt and stir to combine.
- Pour the mixture into the prepared pan. Cover the pan loosely with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover the pan and add the pecans on top. Bake an additional 25-30 minutes until golden brown (55-60 minutes total).
- Serve hot, scooped into bowls, or let cool for 10 minutes and cut into squares.
Notes
- Instead of almond milk, you can use any other plant-based milk or regular milk or even water.
- Instead of maple syrup, you can use honey or any other sweetener.
- Instead of banana, you can use another fruit puree or leave it out all together.
- Instead of ground flaxseed, you can use 2 tablespoons chia seeds or 2 eggs.
- Instead of coconut oil, you can use another oil or fat or leave it out since you’re using the mashed bananas.
Nutrition
Can you prep this the night before and keep covered in the fridge before baking? How much would this reduce cooking time?
I would recommend baking it and storing any leftovers in an airtight container. They will last about 5 days in the fridge, and you can reheat in the microwave for 1 minute with a splash of water or milk to loosen the thickened oats.
Does the sugar substitute have to be liquid?
Instead of maple syrup, you can use honey or any other sweetener. I like the texture better with a liquid sweetener, but it will also work with other sweeteners.
These are a great low-sugar snack! What time and temperature would I need to hard-bake them?
Thank you! I haven’t tried hard-baking this oatmeal recipe, so I’m not sure. I’d recommend checking in on it every additional 10 minutes until it has reached the texture of your liking.
Followed the recipe as directed but did not turn out anything like the picture shows. Waste of my ingredients and time unfortunately. Very disappointed.
I’m so sorry. Could you please talk me through what went wrong, so I can help pinpoint what went wrong? Is it possible you used rolled oats instead of steel cut oats?
I used pumpkin left from an Easter cheesecake. At the 30 minute mark taking off the foil, it does not look like it is cooking at all.
It may take a while, as the additional 25-30 minutes is needed to fully cook the oatmeal and get that golden brown.
Outstanding. Couldn’t stop eating it.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it that much!
I realized the steel cut oats I bought are quick cook. Can I use those?
You could, but you may need to reduce the cooking time.
I’m curious if you can substitute applesauce for bananas? Thanks in advance for advice!
For best results, follow the recipe as is. However, instead of banana, you can use another fruit puree or leave it out all together.
Thank you for this recipe! For the “Uncover the pan and add the pecans on top. Bake an additional 25-30 minutes until golden brown (55-60 minutes total).” – do you re-cover loosely with foil for the additional 25-30 minutes?
Most welcome! For those additional 25-30 minutes, I do not re-cover loosely with foil.
Delicious! I made this with oat milk, honey instead of maple syrup ( my friend has honey bees!) and used the 2 egg option. Instead of adding pecans for the last half hour, I added a sprinkling of raw sunflower seeds and raisins. Cooked for allotted time but left it in the oven, with the oven off, for about another 15 minutes. I’ve been eating it with plain Greek yogurt with a drizzle of maple syrup on the yogurt. I’ve now given this recipe to six of my friends!
Love the alterations to make it your own! Hope all your friends have enjoyed the recipe too!
Made this recipe for breakfast for the week and was so excited to eat breakfast every morning. It was so delicious and smelled amazing!!
Having a delicious breakfast to wake up to is the best! Thank you!!