Gingerbread Baked Oatmeal

Name: Gingerbread Baked Oatmeal
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 50 min
Total time: 1 h
Yield: 6
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: A knob of butter (for the baking dish); 2 ¼ cup rolled oats; 2 tbsp cacao powder; 2 tsp gingerbread spice; 1 tsp baking powder; 2 large eggs; ¼ cup honey; 3 tbsp melted unsalted butter; 1 cup mashed bananas (3-4 ripe bananas); ¼ tsp fine sea salt; 2 cups milk (I use almond milk); 2-3 tbsp turbinado sugar (optional)

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This Gingerbread Baked Oatmeal is the perfect easy breakfast or brunch for Christmas mornings! If you're looking for a festive breakfast for your family or something you can meal prep, look no further! This oatmeal is packed with warming spices, it's soft, a little sweet, and always a crowd favorite! It comes together in a few easy steps and it's freezer-friendly!

Two squares of baked oatmeal on small white plates garnished with a small gingerbread man cookies and more cookies around the plates.

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Why You'll Love These Baked Oats
Ingredients
Variations and Substitutions
Step-by-Step Instructions
Expert Tips
Serving Suggestions
Storing and Reheating
FAQs
More Baked Oatmeal Recipes
📖 Recipe

Why You'll Love These Baked Oats

Perfect for Christmas - This gingerbread baked oatmeal is the perfect make-ahead Christmas breakfast or brunch. I make it with my Christmas Spice Blend which has all the best warming spices! You can also make it with a classic Gingerbread Spice Mix but if you've never tried the Christmas spice mix, you've got to make it! It's what we put in gingerbread cookies in the Czech Republic and it's so good!

Easy and simple - Just like all my other baked oatmeal recipes, this one is really easy to put together! Just mix all the wet ingredients, add the dry, and bake it! The oven does most of the work and you'll have breakfast on the table in no time with minimal effort!

Great for a crowd - This recipe serves 6 and you can easily double it and bake it in two pans if needed! It's very low-maintenance so you can prep the rest of your brunch or clean the kitchen while the oats bake.

Great for meal prep - This oatmeal stores really well in the fridge but you can also freeze it if needed! I like to have a few servings of baked oatmeal stashed in the freezer for busy mornings. They always come in so handy!

Two squares of baked oatmeal on small white plates garnished with a small gingerbread man cookies and a fork slicing off a piece from one of the plates.

Ingredients

Rolled oats - You want to use rolled oats here. Quick-cooking oats would make the baked oatmeal too dense and steel-cut oats won't cook properly. Use certified gluten-free oats if needed.
Milk - You can use any milk you prefer here. I always have almond milk or cashew milk on hand so that's what I use. Oat milk, rice milk, boxed coconut milk, or whole milk are all great options.
Eggs - Eggs help bind everything together and they help the oatmeal rise and make it more cake-like. I haven't tried any vegan substitutes so I can't guarantee results but you can try flax egg.
Bananas - You'll want to use very ripe bananas that are easy to mash, just like the ones you'd use for banana bread. They add moisture and sweetness to the batter.
Honey - Just like in gingerbread, I used honey to sweeten this baked oatmeal. You can add a couple of tablespoons of molasses as well but I left it out because I make my family's gingerbread cookies without it. See my Czech Gingerbread Cookies!
Butter - You can use cooking oil like avocado oil or unsalted butter here. I like the flavor butter adds so that's what I use. I also use it to grease the baking dish. Vegan butter works as well!
Cacao powder - My gingerbread cookies have cocoa powder (or cacao powder) in them so I'm adding a little bit to these oats as well. You can skip it but it adds a delicious chocolatey flavor that goes perfectly with the warming spices.
Gingerbread spice - I used Christmas Spice Blend which has lots of warming spices and ground ginger is actually optional! It's been a staple at our house for generations! I also have a Homemade Gingerbread Spice for you if you prefer the classic!
Vanilla extract - You can use regular vanilla extract, vanilla paste, vanilla powder, or the seeds scraped off a vanilla bean. Keep in mind if you use the powder or a whole vanilla bean, you'll need much less because the flavor is more concentrated.
Turbinado sugar - This one is optional but I like sprinkling raw turbinado sugar on top of the oatmeal before baking. It caramelizes and creates a beautiful crispy crust on top. It doesn't melt completely and stays crunchy which is why I use it instead of regular cane sugar.

Rolled oats, milk, bananas, eggs, cacao powder, butter, honey, and spices in small glass bowls laid out on a grey background with text overlay.

Variations and Substitutions

Make it dairy-free - You can easily swap regular butter for vegan butter or oil here and use plant-based milk instead of whole milk. I haven't tried any vegan substitutes for the eggs so I can't guarantee results but I assume flax egg would work.
Chocolate chips - If you want to add more chocolatey flavor and sweetness, add some chocolate chips! I like using dark chocolate chips made with coconut sugar. Small ones spread more easily in the batter so each bite has a little bit of chocolate. See my Chocolate Chip Baked Oatmeal for more info and exact measurements.
More protein - You can add a scoop or two of protein powder to the batter or 1-2 tablespoons of almond butter or other nut or seed butter for added healthy fats and protein. Don't add too much because this would change the consistency of the batter. Hemp hearts, sunflower seeds, or chopped nuts would also be a great addition!

Step-by-Step Instructions

Preheat your oven to 375F (190C).
Prepare a 12x8-inch baking dish and grease it using a knob of butter. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together rolled oats, cacao powder, gingerbread spice, and baking powder. Set aside.

Rolled oats whisked with spices, cacao powder, and baking powder in a white bowl.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together eggs, honey, melted unsalted butter, mashed bananas, and fine sea salt until well mixed.

Eggs, mashed bananas, honey, and other ingredients being whisked together in a white bowl.

Whisk in milk.

Milk being added to the rest of the whisked wet ingredients in a larger white bowl.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix. It’s easier to use a spoon for this.

Dry ingredients whisked into wet ingredints to form loose batter.

Pour the batter into your prepared baking dish and sprinkle with turbinado sugar if desired.
Bake in the preheated oven for 45-50 minutes.

A large baking dish brushed with butter and the batter being added and sprinkled with coarse sugar.

Allow the oatmeal to cool for 5–10 minutes before slicing into 6 squares and serving. Enjoy!

Baked oatmeal in a large baking sheet cut into six squares.

Expert Tips

Turbinado sugar - If you want your baked oatmeal to be crispy on top and soft on the inside, add a light sprinkle of turbinado sugar right before you put it in the oven! It doesn't melt completely and caramelizes the top layer.
The right size pan - I recommend using a 12x8-inch baking dish for this oatmeal. You don't want it to be too large so the baked oatmeal isn't super thin but you don't want it to be too small either. The cooking time may vary based on how big your baking dish is.

Serving Suggestions

You can enjoy this oatmeal as is if you're crunched for time or on the go but if you like toppings as much as I do, here are a few ideas to get you started!

Yogurt - Greek yogurt or any vegan yogurt is amazing here!
Berries and fruit - I love adding berries to any sweet breakfast no matter what time of the year it is. If you want to keep it more winter-appropriate, you can serve the oatmeal with these delicious Caramelized Apples or caramelized banana from this Mocha Oatmeal with Caramelized Banana!
Nut butter, nuts, seeds - Almond butter, sunflower seed butter, chopped roasted nuts or seeds, hemp hearts, or some Homemade Nutella would be delicious.
Syrup - You can drizzle a little bit of maple syrup on top as you would on pancakes or if you want to make it extra fancy, drizzle on some homemade chocolate syrup!

Storing and Reheating

Fridge - Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for 4-5 days. Place parchment paper in between slices if you’re stacking them so they don’t stick together.
Freezer - Freeze the oatmeal in single-serving squares in a freezer-safe container or a freezer bag for 3-4 months.

Reheating - Reheat the refrigerated baked oatmeal in a preheated oven at 300F (150C) on a small baking sheet for 10-15 minutes. Defrost your frozen oatmeal in the fridge overnight or reheat from frozen for 20-30 minutes or until warmed through.

FAQs

Why is my baked oatmeal gummy?

Oats absorb a lot of liquid and if you let your batter sit for too long before baking it, the oats will absorb too much of the liquid and turn out gummy and dense instead of soft and fluffy.

Do I have to use molasses to make it taste like gingerbread?

While molasses is a staple in American gingerbread cookies, my family is from Europe and we only sweeten our cookies with honey so I never add it to anything gingerbread flavored either unless requested or if I know the person I'm making the recipe for likes molasses. It's up to personal preference. I find the spices and honey give the oatmeal all the flavor it needs.

A square of baked oatmeal on a small white plate garnished with a small gingerbread man cookie and more around the plate.

More Baked Oatmeal Recipes

Baked oatmeal is one of the easiest breakfasts you can make, especially when you want to meal prep for the week! It's easy to store and reheat and there are endless flavor variations you can make! Below are four of my favorites for fall and winter. If you want to see all the latest ones, head over to Oatmeal Recipes!