Vegan Baked Oats 4 Ways

 

As they say, better late than never! May I present to you Vegan Baked Oats 4 Ways. The Baked Oats trend has been around a few months now, and I’m just getting around to trying them. What can I say, I like to take the wait and see approach, to see if things are around to stay, and I have to say I think these are! These are super easy to make and customize.

Here I’m giving you four easy options, but you can really get creative and do your own thing. And it really IS like having cake for breakfast! Or dessert! Or lunch! Eat them whenever, they’re sure to satisfy.

 

 

Why You’ll love these Vegan Baked Oats

-Easy and beginner friendly

-No sugar, sweetened naturally with banana and maple syrup

-Filling and satisfying to start the day

-Customize and get creative with your own ingredients

-Oil free and Gluten free

-100% Plant Based

 

Why Baked Oats?

Good question, and one I had for a long time. Hence, why it probably took me so long to jump on board the trend train. I enjoy a nice bowl of oats with fresh fruit every morning, do I really need to bake them?? Well, I’m not here to force anyone to do anything, but there are real advantages to baked oats.

For one, it’s like a dessert, but healthy. When you eat a Whole Food Plant Based diet on the regular, the thought of eating a cake or dessert make with sugar can be not so appealing. The immediate sugar fog and accompanying headache is real, and not fun. But that doesn’t mean, you still don’t want to eat dessert. This is a great option for a cake like dessert that has no granulated sugar and is sweetened naturally with banana and a small amount of maple syrup.

Also, if you like something very filling for to start your day, these are great. Because they use mostly whole food ingredients, you’re taking in a lot of good fiber and nutrients to start your day.

 

 

Can I make these ahead?

You can absolutely make these ahead and reheat in your oven or air fryer in the morning.

Another option is to batch cook these for the week. This recipe is for single serve baked oats, but you can also multiply by however many days you want to make ahead, and then just use a larger oven safe dish. Depending on how many servings you want to make, the baking time may be longer. Just keep an eye out after 35 minutes of baking, and it will be easy to tell when the middle has set, and is no longer liquids. See instructions in the recipe for more details.

 

What if I don’t have a blender or food processor?

You can definitely make these without blending. Instead of combing the ingredients in the blender, just use a small bowl and mix everything together well. You aren’t going to get as much of a cake-like texture as if you blend. They will be more like a breakfast oat muffin, but they will still be delicious.

 

 

What is Peanut Butter Powder?

Peanut butter powder, or powdered peanut butter as it’s sometimes called, is basically a dry form of peanut butter that has most of the fat content removed. If you are trying to keep your fat intake low for health reasons or for weight management, it is a good option to have around. Regular peanut butter is very high in fat, and something that I will generally avoid on a daily basis, but have as a treat every once in a while.

There are lots of brands out there of peanut butter powder, but I like the PB2 Pure. It has no added sugar, and the only ingredient is roasted peanuts.

If you don’t have peanut butter powder, or just prefer to use peanut butter, that’s great too. For the Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Recipe, instead of adding the peanut butter powder to the blender, leave that out. Then after your batter is blended, continue to the next direction and add the peanut butter onto the first layer of batter. Then pour the remaining batter on top and you will have a nice gooey peanut butter center!

 

How do I customize these Vegan Baked Oats?

The great thing about these, is that the batter is pretty much the same for all of them, with just a couple slight adjustments. For the chocolate batter there is added cocoa powder, for the blueberry apple cinnamon, there is added cinnamon. You get the idea.

Here is the basic batter written out:

-1/2 cup rolled oats (old fashioned oats)

-1/2 of a banana

-1/2 cup plant milk

-1 tbsp maple syrup

-1/2 tsp baking powder

-1/2 tsp vanilla extract

-Pinch of salt

If you start with this basic batter, you can really create whatever you want from this base. Want a chocolate batter? Add a tablespoon of cocoa powder. Want a strawberry shortcake? Add fresh strawberries. Want apple cinnamon, add a teaspoon of cinnamon to the batter and fresh apples. The possibilities are really endless!

 

 

Is this Gluten Free?

This recipe is totally gluten free, just make sure you are using gluten free certified oats. Most oats are naturally gluten free, but there can still be traces of gluten in them from processing. If you are highly sensitive to gluten or have an allergy, definitely use the Gluten free labeled oats.

Also, if you make a recipe with non-dairy chocolate chips, watch the ingredients for gluten, depending on which brand you choose. I use the Enjoy Life Semi-sweet Chocolate Chips which are gluten free, but some other brands might not be, so keep an eye on this.

 

 

Happy Cooking!

Let me know in the comments what fun combinations of Baked Oats you guys come up with!

If you’re looking for more breakfast recipes, check our Easy Veggie Tofu Scramble or Waffle Iron Hash Browns.