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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!
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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 finely chopped apples
- 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.
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!