This apple cinnamon streusel baked oatmeal is my all-time FAVORITE baked oatmeal recipe to date!! Which is saying something…because I have several baked oatmeal recipes on the blog and have tried literally dozens from other websites since first discovering baked oatmeal in college. And there’s not even any chocolate involved!!!! This deliciously fluffy baked oatmeal is bursting with cinnamon and sweet apple flavor…but what really takes it above and beyond is the streusel topping. It’s like eating apple crisp for breakfast…but you’re still eating oatmeal. I am HERE FOR IT.
Today is an exciting day because it’s the first apple recipe this season!! While there are many fall baking flavors, the top two that comes to mind for me are apple and pumpkin. If you’re all about the pumpkin, check out some of these pumpkin recipes from last year here! Everything from pumpkin baked oatmeal, pumpkin chocolate chip muffins, pumpkin protein cookie dough(!!!), and pumpkin pie protein bars (copy-cat Perfect Bars).
pre-oven
But back to this apple baked oatmeal! I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again: the best recipes seem to come spur of the moment. I will freely admit I am not the most creative person. I did know I wanted to test an apple baked oatmeal recipe since I made this pumpkin steel-cut oat bake last year. BUT, the streusel topping idea didn’t come to me until last minute right before I was about to put this apple baked oatmeal in the oven. And I am SO excited for how it turned out!! It literally feels like I’m eating dessert for breakfast which makes mornings that much easier. 🙂
Here’s a bit more about the ingredients you’ll need for this recipe…
Ingredients and Substitution Ideas
Apple Cinnamon Streusel Baked Oatmeal
OATS
Old-fashioned/rolled oats work best for baked oatmeal!
SPICES AND FLAVORING
Cinnamon, nutmeg, and pure vanilla (or maple) extract all are small but important ingredients to give a great classic apple dessert taste! I actually used maple extract in this recipe since I had some leftover after making this maple pecan ice cream. Feel free to adjust to your preferences.
MILK
My go-to is usually unsweetened vanilla almond milk, but I used dairy milk (2%, skim, etc.) in this recipe and it was delicious. Any type of milk is fine here!
post-oven
EGG
While I haven’t tried using a flax egg in this recipe, I have before in baked oatmeal, so I’m pretty confident if you want this recipe to be vegan you can!
ALMOND BUTTER
I really like the more neutral flavor of almond butter in this recipe, but feel free to use any nut/seed butter! Cashew, sunflower, peanut, etc. will all work here.
MAPLE SYRUP
HIGHLY recommend buying and using pure maple syrup in this recipe (versus pancake syrup which isn’t real maple syrup at all). However, you can also substitute honey or agave in place of the maple syrup if you wish. I love maple syrup with apple recipes; the flavors go so well together!
APPLE
Can’t have apple baked oatmeal without the apples! Any of variety of apple will work here. I believe I bought a new-to-me variety and used a Ginger Gold apple. I also love using Pink Lady, Honeycrisp, Fuji, Golden Delicious, Granny Smith, etc. just to name a few varieties!
Streusel Topping
And now…here’s what you’ll need for the delicious streusel topping!
Walnuts
I love using walnuts or pecans with apple recipes, but feel free to be creative here with other nuts too!
Oats
I used rolled/old-fashioned oats for the topping, but you could likely sub quick oats here as well.
Brown sugar
Brown sugar is best for crisp toppings in my opinion…but you could probably substitute white granulated sugar too.
Cinnamon
Adds delicious flavor and pairs so well with apples! Feel free to decrease amount if desired.
Almond butter
I used almond butter since that’s what we used in the baked oatmeal and since it’s a great option with healthy fats and protein for breakfast…but any nut butter would work, or just plain ole butter too!
I hope you try this recipe soon! It was gone SO quickly at our house…hope you love it as much as we do! I honestly feel this will be a recipe that I make often. 🙂
- Baked Oatmeal:
- 2 cups old-fashioned oats
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ cups milk of choice (I used skim/nonfat)
- 1 egg OR 1 flax egg*
- ¼ cup almond butter
- ¼ cup pure maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon maple or vanilla extract
- 2 cups diced apples (1 large apple or 2 small, chopped)
- Topping:
- ¼ cup walnuts, chopped
- ¼ cup oats
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons almond butter (or butter)
- Pinch sea salt
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray a 8x8 or 9x9 pan with nonstick spray.
- In large bowl, mix together dry ingredients: oats, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking powder, and salt.
- In a smaller bowl, stir egg, almond butter, milk, and vanilla extract together.
- Add wet ingredients into dry and fold until combined. Gently stir in diced apples.
- in a small bowl, mix together streusel topping ingredients and sprinkle on top of baked oatmeal mixture.
- Transfer baked oatmeal mixture to prepared pan.
- Bake at 350 degrees approximately 40 minutes, or until cooked through. Baking time will vary on your oven!
- Store in refrigerator (or freeze).
HI,
Thanks for posting this recipe. I simply love everything with apples. I ‘m gona try this this weeked.
You are so welcome! I’m sure you’ll love this recipe 🙂