Chocolate Chip Baked Oatmeal

Chocolate Chip Baked Oatmeal is like a big warm cookie, only healthier. Made with old fashioned oatmeal and a touch of sweetener, these should definitely be on your breakfast menu soon!

It’s ok to have cookies for breakfast as long as they have some nutritional value, am I right? For other easy oatmeal recipes that will make you smile in the morning, try my Healthy Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies (with pb&J!) and my Oatmeal Raspberry Jam Bars, my personal fav!

Oatmeal Love

Oatmeal is a constant here, and I keep a large stock of old fashioned oats in my pantry. I make Mike’s breakfast in bulk (as in I make a bunch at a time and store in the refrigerator) and rotate between Peanut Butter and Jelly Overnight Oats and Instant Pot Steel Cut Oats (with craisins and cinnamon).

In addition to oatmeal, we keep a stash of granola in the freezer for our fruit and yogurt bowls. Our two favorites are Homemade Cranberry Nut Granola and my latest obsession, my Healthy Chocolate Granola Recipe. I totally recommend storing granola in the freezer, not only for the freshness factor but because the TASTE is better cold! Trust me on this.

Let’s talk about THIS oatmeal recipe now that I’ve got all that other stuff covered. 😀 It’s just so many things.

• Healthy – Contains minimal refined sugars and lots of fiber and protein.
• Simple – Just throw it all (except the chocolate chips or other add-ins) in a blender and wa-la, in the oven it goes!
• Tastes like a big cookie! Yup, this one will fool the kiddos. “Breakfast is served!”

Ingredients Used for Baked Oats

The nice thing about these oats is that most of these are pantry staples. I love that I can whip up a batch at the last minute!

• Oatmeal – We keep a large stock of old fashioned oatmeal in the pantry, but quick oats would also work just fine. The oats get ground up in the blender so either one is perfectly acceptable.
• Brown Sugar – I used a little bit of brown sugar for extra sweetener and found that it was the perfect addition to the maple syrup.
• Baking Powder – Used as a leavener for this recipe.
• Cinnamon – Makes everything better.
• Salt – I used a pinch of kosher salt.
• Pure Maple Syrup – The primary sweetener for this recipe and one I use in my granola recipes. So perfect in this recipe.
• Eggs – Two large eggs needed.
• Butter – You’ll need just two tablespoons of melted butter.
• Milk – We normally use 2% milk but any version is fine.
• Vanilla – Watkin’s Vanilla is our favorite brand.
• Chocolate Chips – Any kind of chocolate chips would be fine but I prefer dark chocolate!

How to make Baked Oatmeal

1. Combine dry ingredients. Add the dry ingredients to a large blender – the oatmeal, brown sugar, cinnamon, kosher salt, and baking powder. Pulse to blend until it resembles flour.
2. Add wet ingredients. Then pour in the wet ingredients – the eggs, maple syrup, vanilla, melted butter, and milk. Pulse again to blend until completely smooth.
3. Pour into ramekins. Pour the oatmeal mixture evenly into four ramekins or bowls.
4. Add chocolate chips. Add dark chocolate chips (or any of your favorite mix-ins) but reserve some for the top because the chocolate will sink.
5. Bake. Bake the oatmeal for 15 minutes at 350 degrees, remove, add the reserved chocolate chips, and bake again for another 3-5 minutes. We like these a little bit gooey on top!
6. Add kosher salt. Add an extra sprinkle of kosher salt to the freshly baked chocolate chip oatmeal.

Storing baked oatmeal. If you don’t eat these immediately, you can store cooled ramekins in the refrigerator. When ready to eat, just warm up in the microwave.

Possible Variations to this Recipe

• Use quick oats. Like I mentioned, if all you have is quick oats, that’s totally fine because the oatmeal gets ground up in the blender.
• Change up the sweetener. Instead of using both maple syrup and brown sugar, you could use all of one kind or try some honey.
• Use oil. Instead of using melted butter, you could use any type of oil you have handy.
• Replace the type of milk. I went with 2% milk but any milk you drink will work just fine. I never recommend using skim, however, because it’s watery.

What to pair with baked oatmeal

Want to make a full breakfast with all the things? Try some of the recipes listed below!

• Egg Dish – Try my Overnight Omelette Breakfast Casserole or Sausage Hash Brown Breakfast Casserole for tons of flavor and protein!
• Scones – My Best Blueberry Lemon Scones are super delish as well as Mike’s favorite, Maple Nut Scones
• How about a latte? Try my Caramel Latte Recipe or (Better-Than-Starbucks) Homemade Eggnog Lattes!

Kitchen Tools Used: (affiliate links)

• Vitamix Blender
• 16-Ounce Ramekins