By Maya Konings, AEIC
Hi, my name is Maya, I’m the assistant editor in chief of the GW Local, and I’m obsessed with oatmeal. And I’m not talking about the instant packets that you buy in a box from the grocery store. I’m talking about gourmet and nutritious oatmeal creations with lots of mix-ins, toppings and flavor. So when my Tik Tok for you page started becoming saturated with videos of people making baked oatmeal – i.e. oats that you cook in the oven rather than on the stove or in the microwave, I knew I had to try it out to see how it stacked up to my high oatmeal standards.
Baking your oatmeal is not a new concept – recipes for baked oats have been around for a while. However, becoming a tik tok trend has greatly increased their popularity and introduced a variety of new methods and unique flavor combinations. I tested out two different flavors and cooking methods of baked oats (adapted from recipes I found on tik tok) to see if this new trend is worth the hype.
Recipe 1: Chocolate Brownie Oats
This recipe was incredibly easy – in fact, there were less hands-on steps than making oats on the stove. For the brownie-inspired oats, I mixed together ½ of a mashed banana, ½ cup oats, ½ cup almond milk, 1 tbsp cacao powder, ¼ tsp baking powder, and a splash of maple syrup and cinnamon. That all went into the oven at 350 degrees for 25 minutes and they were done! I topped my final product with peanut butter and some berries. The overall verdict: these oats were delicious. It reminded me of eating a healthy version of cake for breakfast. I think it could have used a bit more than 1 tbsp of cacao powder, but that may just be because I love chocolate. Some chocolate chips in there also would have been bomb. The 25 minutes is the one real downside of this method, but I would definitely do it again on a day where I have a bit of extra time in the morning!
Recipe 2: Blueberry Muffin Oats
For round two, I wanted to test out a recipe that didn’t involve any bananas. Enter: a pretty simple recipe for blueberry muffin baked oats. The base was fairly similar to the brownie oats: ½ cup oats, ½ cup almond milk, ¼ tsp baking powder, 1 tsp ground flax (optional), vanilla extract, maple syrup, and cinnamon. After mixing it together, I threw in a handful of fresh blueberries. Instead of putting it in the oven this time, I decided to test out cooking the oats in my air fryer for 20 minutes at 350. Does that technically make these fried oats instead of baked oats? That’s for you to decide. In any case, if you have an air fryer I definitely recommend this method! It cut down on the cooking time a bit and I didn’t have to wait for the oven to preheat. However, if you don’t have an air fryer, the oven still works just fine. I finished these oats off with an additional splash of almond milk and some peanut butter. The overall flavor of these oats was nothing groundbreaking – it tastes pretty much how you would expect it to. However, the final texture of the baked oats with the jammy blueberries was deeply satisfying and was a fun, welcome change from a standard bowl of oatmeal.
Overall, baked oatmeal is a method that will definitely be finding a permanent home in my breakfast repertoire. The flavor possibilities are pretty endless and I’m excited to keep trying new recipes. Happy baking!
