Description
Baked oatmeal is a simple, nourishing option for breakfast. Oats are one of my favorite healthy ingredients to cook with—and this recipe for Carrot Cake Baked Oatmeal is perfect for breakfast but delicious enough for dessert! With lots of grated carrots and old-fashioned rolled oats, it's thick, filling, and loaded with wholesome ingredients. Healthy cream cheese frosting optional!
Ingredients
Units
Scale
- 2 cups old-fashioned oats
- 1/4 cup ground flax seed
- 1/3 cup coconut sugar or organic brown sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 3/4 tsp ginger
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 1/4 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
- 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
- 2 tbsp melted butter or coconut oil
- 1 cup orange juice
- 1/2 cup milk (I used unsweetened vanilla almond)
- 1 large egg (use flax "egg" for vegan)
- 1 cup freshly grated carrot (I just my food processor)
- 1/2 batch of Healthy Cream Cheese Frosting, optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F and grease an 8x8 inch baking dish with cooking spray.
- Stir together oats, flax, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, walnuts, and salt in a large bowl.
- Melt butter in a liquid measuring cup. Add orange juice, milk, and egg and whisk to combine. Stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Fold in grated carrot.
- Spoon mixture into baking dish and smooth with a spatula. Bake for 45 minutes. Cool completely before slicing into bars and topping with frosting.
Notes
- To store: Store in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for up to a week. I like to keep the frosting in a separate container in the fridge so I can frost right before I eat the bar, and also so I can smear the frosting on other things (like pancakes!).
- To freeze: Portion the oatmeal into slices, place on a lined baking sheet so there is space between each piece, and freeze. Once frozen, store in a freezer baggie. Another option is to freeze each piece individually wrapped in plastic wrap.