Enjoy chocolate for breakfast with this hearty Chocolate "Brownie Batter" Baked Oatmeal! It's sweetened naturally and made using just one bowl and 10 minutes of hands on time! The entire family will love this recipe!
I don't think I've ever met anyone who doesn't love baked oatmeal. It's easy to make, tastes like cake and keeps you full of ages. You can even make it in advance like these warming carrot cake baked oats. However, my family's all-time favorite baked oatmeal is definitely this vegan and gluten-free Chocolate Baked Oatmeal! We love to pair a thick slice of this hearty oatmeal with some homemade peanut butter, a sprinkling of homemade chocolate granola and some fresh fruit on the side! Can you have a bad day when you eat chocolate for breakfast?!
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Why You'll Love This Recipe!
- The recipe comes together so quickly in just one bowl. That means clean-up will be easy-peasy. Once the batt is all combined, let your oven do the rest of the work.
- The entire family will adore this recipe, especially kids! Chocolate baked oatmeal that looks like cake? Yes please!
- It's so easy to make a double batch of this recipe at the start of the week so that you can enjoy it all week long. Having this chocolate oatmeal prepped in the fridge saves me so much time in the morning, while still allowing me to enjoy a hearty, delicious breakfast in minutes.
- If you don't have all the specific ingredients on hand, this recipe is fairly forgiving and adaptable.
Ingredients
- Bananas - Make sure your bananas are super ripe and spotty. The spottier/blacker your bananas are, the sweeter they will be. The sweeter your bananas are, the sweeter your chocolate oatmeal will be!
- Nut Butter - I'm not super specific about which nut (or seed!) butter you should use, because they all seem to work! Peanut butter, almond butter, tahini, Sun butter...whatever you have should work! I usually use peanut butter when I'm baking as it's super inexpensive, but I also love to use tahini in this recipe.
- Flax Egg - I've written an entire post on how to make and use a flax egg. In short all you have to do is whisk together 1 tablespoon of ground flaxseed and 3 tablespoons of water, allow it to thicken and you'll have a flax "egg"!
- Non-Dairy Milk - I love to use my homemade oat milk whenever I'm baking as, again, it's so cheap! However, any kind of non-dairy plant milk should work. You could try out almond milk, oat milk, cashew milk, hemp milk or even flax milk. If you use coconut milk, I'd recommend using the kind from a carton as full-fat coconut milk from a can may change the consistency of this oatmeal.
- Rolled Oats - Rolled oats are my favorite type of oatmeal to use in this chocolate baked oatmeal as they hold their shape well, yet they also get nice and soft after baking for while. You can use quick oats in a pinch, but the final consistency may be on the mushy/gummy side. Don't use steal cut oats!
See recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
Substitutions & Variations
- Use any kind of nut or seed butter you want.
- Whenever I'm in a pinch, I omit the vanilla and cinnamon to save on time. This chocolate baked oatmeal still tastes great!
- Used mashed sweet potato or applesauce instead of the ripe bananas. You'll need 1 cups worth.
- Instead of cocoa powder, try chocolate protein powder for some extra protein! However, protein powder often absorbs more liquid so you may need to increase the non-dairy milk. You can also substitute the cocoa powder for cacao powder.
- If you don't have maple syrup on hand, any kind of liquid sweetener will do. You could try agave nectar, rice syrup or even honey, if you're not vegan.
- If you don't have flaxseed on hand, swap it out for about ¼ cup more mashed banana.
- Add mix-ins! Stir in some chocolate chips for extra decadence, frozen berries for a tart burst of fruit, or chopped nuts for texture. Oh, even shredded coconut would be amazing!
How to Make Chocolate Baked Oatmeal
Step 1: Preheat your oven to 375°F / 190°C and spray an 8x8 baking dish (or 9x9) with cooking spray. Set it aside.
Step 2: In a large mixing bowl, whisk together 1 tablespoon of ground flaxseed with 3 tablespoons of water. Allow it to thicken for about 5 minutes. This will be your "flax egg".
Step 3: To the thickened flax egg add in the rest of the ingredients, except for the rolled oats, and whisk until smooth. Lastly, stir in the rolled oats.
Step 4: Pour the batter into your greased baking dish and spread the batter out into an even layer.
Step 5: Bake the oatmeal for 25-30 minutes or until set. Scoop the baked oats into a bowl and top with your favorite toppings!
Toppings
We love to top our baked oatmeal with ALL the toppings. More specifically, we love to pair this chocolate baked oatmeal with some of the following toppings:
- Sliced banana
- Berries (frozen or fresh!)
- Pecan butter (or any nut/seed butter)
- Non-dairy yogurt
- Granola
- Maple syrup
- Chopped nuts and/or seeds
- Cacao nibs or chocolate chips
Expert Tips
- Use rolled oats for the best texture.
- If you really want to impress your friends and family, stir in some dairy-free chocolate chips before baking. Talk about a decadent plant-based breakfast!
- If you want to make this recipe really inexpensive, use peanut butter and homemade oat milk.
Recipe FAQs
Baked oatmeal has a cake-y, drier texture compared to oatmeal that has been cooked on the stovetop. Basically it's like dessert for breakfast!
Nope! Add raw rolled oats into the other liquid ingredients and they will absorb all of the liquid and cook through as they bake in the oven.
Yes! Baked oatmeal is my absolute favorite way to enjoy oatmeal. When you bake oats in the oven, they get a cake-y texture which makes you feel like you're having dessert for breakfast.
This chocolate baked oatmeal is a great recipe to meal prep at the start of the week as it stores beautifully in both the fridge and freezer. You can store this oatmeal in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days or freeze it in individual portions for up to 3 months.
More Baked Oatmeal Recipes
Love this recipe? Please leave a 5-star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 rating in the recipe card below & a review in the comments section further down the page.
📖 Recipe
Vegan Brownie Batter Chocolate Baked Oatmeal
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 flax egg 1 tablespoon ground flaxseed + 3 tablespoons water
- 1 cup mashed banana from 2-3 ripe bananas
- ⅓ cup cacao powder
- ¼ cup nut butter
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 ¾ cups non-dairy milk
- 3 cups old-fashioned oats
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 375 °F.
- Grease a 9-inch cake pan and set aside.
- In a small bowl, whisk together 1 tablespoon ground flaxseed with 3 tablespoons water. Set aside to thicken. This will be your "egg."
- In a mixing bowl, mash your bananas.
- To the bananas, add in the cocoa powder, nut butter, maple syrup, vanilla, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Whisk everything together until a uniform batter forms.
- Next whisk in the non-dairy milk until smooth.
- Add in the 3 cups of old-fashioned rolled oats and stir until combined.
- Pour the batter into your prepared cake pan and bake for about 25-30 minutes or until cooked through.
- Serve warm with more maple syrup, nut butter and non-dairy milk!
Notes
- I like to use black tahini, but any more neutral nut butter like almond or cashew butter would work great!
- Old-fashioned rolled oats give this baked oatmeal the perfect texture. I haven't tried using quick oats. Do not use steel cut oats.
cheryl says
If anyone has subbed applesauce for the banana let me know. I made it with the banana and it was awful. No one wanted to eat it, they said it tasted like dried out old banana.
Faith VanderMolen says
So weird! I haven't heard of anyone not liking this recipe! If your family doesn't like bananas, you could definitely try applesauce, but I find bananas sweeter than applesauce so you may need to sweeten the batter a little more.
MrsJennyK says
Holy brownilicious Batman! This was a huge hit, even among the pickiest eaters in my house! I made this on the same day we ate it, and I wished I'd made it ahead. When still oven-hot it doesn't hold together well. After it cools though, it is easily sliced. Next time I make it (maybe tonight!), I will double the recipe and bake it in a 9x13 pan.
Faith VanderMolen says
Oh yay! Thanks so much for letting me know how much you all enjoyed it! I definitely enjoy it more chilled in the fridge first as well:)
Tracy says
Hi! Do you bake it at 350 or 375? You mention both in the recipe.
Faith VanderMolen says
Sorry about the confusion Tracy! I honestly think either temp would work, but I believe the correct temperature is 375F! I edited the post to have the temps match. Thanks for catching that typo! I hoped the recipe worked out for you!
Anna says
Thanks for sharing this recipe, came across it randomly whilst searching for overnight oats. It turned out great! Especially the next day the flavours sink in much better. Unfortunately I don’t always have ripe bananas on hand, is there any way to make this without bananas, or replace with something else?
Faith VanderMolen says
I often love leftovers more as they are more flavorful. I'm so glad you enjoyed this recipe! And applesauce should work! I often sub applesauce in baking when I don't have ripe bananas on hand.
Paula says
I finished the leftovers today, and gotta say, these are amazing to make and freeze, they taste delicious warmed up with milk & toppings!
I want to make them again, but unfortunately have no oven right now, would they be alright in the microwave? (Maybe with the grill function too?)
Thank you!
Faith VanderMolen says
I'm so glad you enjoyed this recipe Paula! And I haven't tried it in the microwave, but I'm sure it would be delicious. The texture might be different and less dry/cakey, but worth a try! Let us know how it goes and how long it took you to microwave it!
Michelle Duncan says
Yummy! Made it for breakfast. Used full coconut milk and almond butter as that’s all I had and it’s nice and creamy! Not like brownie batter but yummy chocolate banana flavor! Thanks!
Faith VanderMolen says
Those sound like amazing substitutions! Thanks so much for sharing Michelle!
Kay says
Didn't taste like brownie batter to me, but it's definitely chocolaty and delicious. I might need to sliiightly bake it a little less, or maybe it was the nut butter that wasn't as moist, though regardless I love it and was so pleasantly surprised considering I don't tend to like most vegan desserts/sweet things.
Thank you so much for this recipe and will definitely be making it again as it's such an easy and tasty breakfast!
Faith VanderMolen says
I'm so glad you enjoyed it Kay! I guess something that's baked can't really taste like brownie batter, but I though the name sounded catchy:) You could definitely try out different nut butters, but either way I'm glad you'll be making it again!
Yifeng says
Just made this and it tasted like brownie with a different texture! This us my first time making baked oats and am loving the results. I used whole oats instead of rolled oats (not sure if there's any difference) and it came out crunchy in top and chewy and creamy inside.
Faith VanderMolen says
So glad you enjoyed this recipe Yifeng! The texture sounds amazing...just like it should be!
Gabs says
Sooo good
Faith VanderMolen says
Yay! Glad you like it!
Michelle D says
I just made this for my very picky husband. It is REALLY good! I love that there is also no sugar. I added some extra ground flax in when I added the oats, and I baked it in a silicon pan so I didn't need oil. We are slicing it into kind of like cake slices so we can grab and go. It is also a nice dessert food! Thanks so much!
Faith VanderMolen says
So glad to hear that you and your husband both enjoyed this recipe Michelle! Thanks so much for sharing!
Souha says
Hi I'm new to this beautiful community and this baked oats looks absolutely amazing I'm definitely trying it but I would like to know the calories for the serving and thank you so much for all the amazing recipes
Faith VanderMolen says
Hi Souha! Thanks so much for introducing yourself! I just updated the post so that the recipe card includes the nutrition facts. They may not be completely accurate, but hopefully that helps. Thanks!
mary says
can i substitute bananas with apple sauce?
Faith says
Hi Mary! That's a good question. I haven't tried it so I can't say what the result would be, but I think it's a great substitution option and you should try it! If it works out for you, please let me know!
Liv says
First, this looks absolutely amazing! Second, I love your idea of having a restful Sunday to set yourself up for a productive week ahead. I've traveled for the past 3 or 4 weekends in a row now and definitely find myself scrambling more, especially in the beginning of the week, since I haven't had that weekend time to rest or catch up/even get ahead on things!
Faith says
Thanks Liv! And restful Sundays have changed my life. I look forward to them so much and they are so needed for me to realize that me resting won't make the world fall apart haha. I hope you can get a full day of rest in soon after your back to back busy weekends!
Brittany says
Do you know how to differentiate quick oats from rolled oats in China / Chinese? I live in China and find it hard to know which is which because some of the ones that look like rolled oats say they’re quick oats on packaging. Maybe the oats in the veggie markets are usually old fashioned?
Faith says
Hi Brittany! I usually just have to look and feel them. I have found that oats in the market are more old fashion, aka not processed and super tough/thick. I can also find old fashioned in the bulk bins at our Walmart. Then the oats I buy in the smaller super markets in a bag are often quick oats. I hope that helps!