These Baked Oatmeal Cups are a convenient breakfast — but expect to reach for them all day long

Nothing beats a breakfast that’s ready and waiting for you the moment you get out of bed — and these Baked Oatmeal Cups from Sara Lynn Cauchon’s cookbook The Domestic Geek’s Meals Made Easy are here to make that happen. Better yet, the batter serves as a brilliant base so you can have a little fun with your favourite flavour combos. Warning: once you make them to your liking, expect to reach for them all day long, not just at breakfast!

Baked Oatmeal Cups

By Sara Lynn Cauchon

Baked Oatmeal Cups have crisp, golden tops and soft, chewy centers that make them simply irresistible in my house. Just like traditional oatmeal, they are loaded with fiber, which makes them super filling, and baking them individually in a muffin tin elevates them to the perfect grab-and-go breakfast. This classic recipe is lightly sweetened and can be customized with countless tasty add-ins to make it just right for you. These freeze beautifully, so don’t be afraid to double or triple the recipe and save some for later — trust me, you won’t regret it.

Ingredients

• Cooking spray (optional)
• 3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
• ½ cup packed light brown sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1 cup 2% milk
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Lightly grease a 12-cup muffin pan with cooking spray or use silicone baking cups.

In a large bowl, combine the oats, brown sugar, and baking powder. Stir well and set aside. In a second bowl, whisk together the applesauce, milk, eggs, and vanilla. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix.

Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin pan. Bake until the muffins are just golden on top, 25 to 30 minutes. Remove the muffins from the pan and let cool for at least 5 minutes.

Serve warm from the oven or at room temperature, or let cool completely and store in the refrigerator for up to 1 week or in the freezer for up to 6 months.

Banana-Blueberry Baked Oatmeal Cups:

Swap the applesauce for 3 mashed bananas and fold 1 cup fresh blueberries into the batter before filling the muffin pan. 

Chocolate-Almond Baked Oatmeal Cups:

Stir ½ cup semisweet chocolate chips and ½ cup chopped almonds into the batter before filling the muffin pan, to add both sweetness and crunch.

Pumpkin Spice Baked Oatmeal Cups:

Instead of using unsweetened applesauce, add 1 cup pure pumpkin puree and 2 teaspoons Pumpkin Pie Spice to the batter. Top each with a whole pecan before baking.

Excerpted from The Domestic Geek’s Meals Made Easy by Sara Lynn Cauchon. Copyright © 2019 by Inspired Entertainment, Inc. Published by Penguin Canada, a division of Penguin Random House Canada Limited. Reproduced by arrangement with the Publisher. All rights reserved.