Baked Oatmeal Cups 4-Ways
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Published May 10, 2021, Updated May 23, 2022
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Keep these baked oatmeal cups in your fridge or freezer for an easy, healthy breakfast! There’s four different flavor options so you’ll never get bored. Vegan + gluten-free.
As you probably know from my countless oatmeal recipes… I’m a BIG fan of oatmeal. I love overnight oats, steel cut oatmeal, slow cooker oatmeal, baked oatmeal, alllll the oats! Today, I wanted to focus on baked oatmeal cups! I’ve posted about baked oatmeal cups before sharing this original recipe for banana oatmeal cups and these pumpkin oatmeal cups, but I wanted to put together a full post about baked oatmeal cups because they’re pretty special and perfect for meal prep. Here’s why:
- You can make one big batch and keep them in your fridge for a week or freezer for up to 3 months.
- They’re pre-portioned so there’s built-in portion control.
- They’re super easy to reheat in the oven, toaster oven or microwave.
- They’re super portable so you can take then on-the-go.
- The flavor combinations are endless aka you can switch things up week to week so you don’t get bored.
WATCH HOW TO MAKE BAKED OATMEAL CUPS:
How do you make oatmeal cups?
Oatmeal cups are very similar to muffins. The main difference is that oatmeal cups are flourless because you’re just using oats and they have more liquid added to the batter. In addition, muffins (especially bakery-style muffins) often have a lot of processed flour and sugar, but oatmeal cups are made with the same healthy ingredients you’d would put into a bowl of oatmeal! Huge win!
To make these oatmeal cups, you simply mix your dry ingredients in one bowl and your wet ingredients in another. Combine the two gradually and then put the batter into muffin cups. Bake 30-35 minutes at 350°F and voila… you’ve got baked oatmeal cups for the week.
You can totally just use a greased muffin tin, but highly recommend investing in silicone liners because the oatmeal cups will pop right out (no wasted oatmeal) and they are super easy to clean!
What type of oats are best for oatmeal cups?
I like to use rolled oats because they’re less processed and give a good texture to the oatmeal cups, but if you only have quick / instant oats on hand those should work fine as a substitute. I don’t recommend using steel cut oats for this recipe because the oat to liquid ratio is different and the baking time is longer. If you’re looking for ways to use steel cut oats you could try these creamy steel cut oats or this apple cinnamon baked steel cut oatmeal.
How to store baked oatmeal cups?
Store them in a sealed, air-tight container in the fridge or freezer. For freezing, I usually put them in a ziplock bag made specifically for the freezer.
How long do baked oatmeal cups last in the fridge?
Keep your baked oatmeal cups in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to a week. I usually keep what I plan to eat that week in the fridge, but if I make a double batch or don’t plan to eat them all in a week for some reason, I freeze them! Which leads me to my next question…
Can you freeze baked oatmeal cups?
You sure can! Like I said, I love to make a bunch of oatmeal cups and then freeze any I don’t plan on eating that week. I usually put them in a ziplock bag made specifically for the freezer. When you’re ready to eat them, I recommend taking them out the night before and putting them in the fridge to thaw. In the morning (or whenever you’re ready to eat, pop them in the microwave or toaster oven if you prefer to eat them warm! If you forget to thaw the oatmeal cups, you can reheat it from frozen, it will just take a little longer.
How do you reheat oatmeal cups in the oven?
You can definitely reheat your oatmeal cups in the oven, but if I’m being honest I usually just pop them into the microwave or toaster oven to reheat them!
- Oven or toaster oven: remove from liner and cut the oatmeal cup in half and heating on low (250-300°F) for 5-6 minutes or until the cup is warm throughout.
- Microwave: remove oatmeal cup from liner and wrap in a paper towel, microwave until warm throughout, about 30-60 seconds.
You can thaw the frozen cups by transferring them from the freezer to the fridge the night before or cook the oat cups directly from frozen. Just wrap the frozen cup in a paper towel and heat in 30 seconds increments until warm throughout. It should only take 1-2 minutes.
Now, onto the recipe for these baked oatmeal cups! As you might notice, each of the four flavors have a base recipe and then I add in specific ingredients to customize them. These are my top four go-to flavors and they’re all delicious — you can’t go wrong!
Baked Oatmeal Cups (4 Variations)
Ingredients
Oatmeal Cups Base
- 3 cups old fashioned rolled oats
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- 1 ½ cups milk, I use unsweetened vanilla almond milk
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- 2 Tablespoons ground flaxseed, see subs below
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Chocolate Chip
- 2 Tablespoons peanut butter
- 2 mashed bananas, about 1/2 cup
- ¼ cup mini chocolate chips, divided (dairy-free, if needed)
Apple Cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon, 1 teaspoon total
- 2 Tablespoons almond butter
- ½ cup applesauce
- ¼ cup diced apple, divided
Blueberry Almond
- ½ cup applesauce
- 2 Tablespoons almond butter
- ¼ cup blueberries, divided
- 2 Tablespoons sliced almonds, divided
Peanut Butter Banana
- 3 Tablespoons peanut butter
- 2 mashed bananas, about 1/2 cup
- banana slices, for topping (optional)
Instructions
Oatmeal Base
- Preheat oven to 350°F and line a 12-cup muffin tin with silicone liners. Paper liners work too. Spray liners with non-stick spray.
- In a large bowl, mix rolled oats, cinnamon, baking powder and salt.
- In another bowl, whisk together almond milk, maple syrup, ground flaxseed and vanilla. Let sit for about 5 minutes before adding remaining wet ingredients which will vary based on which type of oatmeal cup you’re making.
Chocolate Chip
- Add peanut butter, mashed bananas and 1/8 cup of mini chocolate chips into the bowl with the ground flaxseed and almond milk.
- Pour wet ingredients into the large bowl with the dry ingredients.
- Scoop mixture evenly into muffin tin with liners and top each cup with remaining mini chocolate chips.
- Bake 30-35 minutes or until the center of the cups has set and a toothpick comes out clean. Allow cups to cool before transferring to a storage container and placing them in the fridge or freezer.
Apple Cinnamon
- Add extra cinnamon, almond butter, applesauce and 1/8 cup of diced apples into the bowl with the ground flaxseed and almond milk.
- Pour wet ingredients into the large bowl with the dry ingredients.
- Scoop mixture evenly into muffin tin with liners and top each cup with remaining diced apples.
- Bake 30-35 minutes or until the center of the cups has set and a toothpick comes out clean. Allow cups to cool before transferring to a storage container and placing them in the fridge or freezer.
Blueberry Almond
- Add almond butter, applesauce, almonds and 1/8 cup of blueberries into the bowl with the ground flaxseed and almond milk.
- Pour wet ingredients into the large bowl with the dry ingredients.
- Scoop mixture evenly into muffin tin with liners and top each cup with remaining blueberries and almonds.
- Bake 30-35 minutes or until the center of the cups has set and a toothpick comes out clean. Allow cups to cool before transferring to a storage container and placing them in the fridge or freezer.
Peanut Butter Banana
- Add peanut butter and mashed bananas into the bowl with the ground flaxseed and almond milk.
- Pour wet ingredients into the large bowl with the dry ingredients.
- Scoop mixture evenly into muffin tin with liners and top each cup with banana slices, if using.
- Bake 30-35 minutes or until the center of the cups has set and a toothpick comes out clean. Allow cups to cool before transferring to a storage container and placing them in the fridge or freezer.
Video
Notes
- Flaxseed substitutions: 2 Tablespoons of chia seeds or 2 eggs or 1/3 cup egg whites
- Honey can be subbed for maple syrup
- For storage: Store baked oatmeal cups in a sealed, air-tight container in the fridge (up to 7 days) or freezer (up to 3 months). For freezing, I usually put them in a ziplock bag made specifically for the freezer.
- To reheat: remove cup from liner and wrap in a paper towel, microwave until warm throughout, about 30-60 seconds. Or reheat in the toaster oven by cutting the cup in half and heating on low (250-300°F) for 5-6 minutes or until the cup is warm throughout. You can thaw the frozen cups by transferring them from the freezer to the fridge the night before or cook the oat cups directly from frozen. Just wrap the frozen cup in a paper towel and heat in 30 seconds increments until warm throughout. It should only take 1-2 minutes.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Want to see the full recipes? Click the links below:
Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cups
Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal Cups
Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Cups
Could you do this in an 8 by 8 pan and how long would you cook it?
Hi Joan – I would recommend trying my One Pan Baked Oatmeal if you would like these in a pan. Enjoy!
This looks like it could be a winner for me! Here’s the sitch: We are parents of twins who are hitting puberty and are INHALING food like mad. I like the idea of a batch cooking these and having a ton in the freezer to take out as needed. When it comes to transferring from freezer to fridge to thaw, will their consistency be altered (meaning: mushy?) if they are merely thawed and not heated?
I am imaging the twinnos grabbing the cups the night before in prep for their school lunch and tucking them in their sacks. This is a twee question, I know. 😀 But it’s all about economizing these days and can’t afford recipe flubs. In any case, thank you so much for a great idea!
Hi Sadie – These freeze/thaw incredibly well! Hope these are a hit for your kiddos! Enjoy. 😊