Carrot Cake Baked Oatmeal
Carrot Cake Baked Oatmeal is the perfect recipe for a breakfast or brunch get-together. Make it the day before. It feeds a crowd, and even though it's healthier, it tastes like dessert!
'Tis the season my friends! Time for holiday parties, appetizers, drinks, desserts, and decadent meals. It's that once a year (except for Valentine's Day, Easter, summer barbecues, etc) that we all love to hate because it's so hard to avoid temptation and eat healthy.
So, here's an idea. Let's stop stressing about the holidays and any possible eating snafus, and just enjoy them. Isn't it really more about what we do the other 11 months of the year that makes or breaks us?
If you're worried about holiday eating, ramp up your exercise for the next few weeks, try to plan ahead so you never arrive to a holiday party overly-hungry, and make really great (not just good, but GREAT) choices as much as you can during this season. I'm gonna bet you come out ahead on the scale, and you might even get a jump start on some really healthy habits that you can continue into the New Year.
And, here's my favorite tip if you're planning to host a holiday party this year: Do brunch instead of dinner. It's the easiest way to serve delicious food that's still healthy and completely guilt-free. Like this baked oatmeal dish instead of a big pasta casserole. Pair it with a fresh fruit and veggie platter instead of all those cheesy appetizers. And a coffee and tea bar instead of cocktails.
Sounds so much easier, doesn't it? Less stress, less work, better for you - and your guests.
This Carrot Cake Baked Oatmeal tastes like a decadent dessert. But it's made with high-fiber oats, that are naturally sweetened with carrots, pineapple and raisins, so you need just a touch of sweetener. Plus, it's got protein from eggs and milk. And your kitchen will smell amazing from the vanilla, cinnamon, and cloves in this recipe.
I love to serve this warm, with some vanilla yogurt. If you're feeling really adventurous, whip some Greek cream cheese, or Labneh in with your yogurt, and it will taste like cream cheese icing. Serve it with a huge platter of fruits, vegetables, and cheese. So easy but your guests don't need to know that.
Recipe
Carrot Cake Baked Oatmeal
Ingredients
- ¾ cup chopped pecans divided
- 1 8 ounce can crushed pineapple
- 2 cups Old Fashioned oats
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ cup golden raisins
- ¾ cup shredded carrot (from 1 large or 2 medium carrots)
- ½ cup shredded unsweetened coconut
- 1 ¾ cups milk (regular or nondairy)
- ¼ cup brown sugar, maple syrup, or sweetener of choice
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 375 degrees and spray an 8" baking pan.
- When the oven is ready, spread the nuts on a cookie sheet (lined with foil for no cleanup) and toast them in the oven for about 7 minutes until they are fragrant.
- In a large mixing bowl, mix together the oats, cinnamon, cloves, baking powder, raisins, carrot, coconut and about ½ cup of the toasted nuts. Stir well to combine.
- Drain the pineapple, and spread it evenly over the bottom of the baking pan.
- Spread the dry ingredients over the pineapple in the baking pan.
- In a large measuring cup, whisk together the milk, sweetener, eggs, vanilla, and olive oil Whisk well to combine.
- Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients. Tap the pan a few times on the counter, and pat it gently with a spatula to make sure the dry ingredients are covered with the wet ingredients.
- Sprinkle the remaining ¼ cup of nuts over the top.
- Bake for about 40-45 minutes or until the oatmeal is set and the top is golden brown.
- Let cool and serve immediately, or cover with foil and refrigerate until ready to eat. If eating this the next day, reheat for about 5-6 minutes in the microwave or serve at room temperature.
Nutrition
How are you getting ready for the holiday eating fest?
Eat well!
Looks wonderful and all of the ingredients are acceptable for someone with kidney issues… And I appreciate the nutritional breakdown, but… And I am imagining this is per serving size… how big is a serving size for this recipe?
Hi Linda, I'm glad the ingredients will work for you. The nutrition info is per serving, and the recipe makes 8 servings. Each one should be approximately 3/4 cup. It's a fairly filling breakfast casserole. Hope you enjoy it!
This recipe caught my eye from the daily SmartBrief. I book marked it and am happy to say I finally made it. I took it to work to share with my co-workers and it was a big hit. I will have to make it again as I forgot to add the carrots! Baking at 6 AM might have something to do with it. Great recipe, a keeper.
Hi Diane, I just found your comment in my spam folder and wanted to say thanks for reading and so glad you liked the recipe! Hilarious though that you forgot to add the carrots to carrot cake oatmeal!!
Hi, I am a registered dietitian and am always happy to see those in our profession online, promoting not only nutrition but a love of sensible, flavorful foods. I also love it that you are a positive mature role model!
In my job, I have a cooking class for patients and include nutrient analysis which we discuss, so they learn how to read the label. With that in mind, I think it would be helpful to post a basic nutrition analysis with every recipe just so readers have an idea of the nutritional content of recipes. I realize some folks don't care or don't know what to look for but we can always help them out with that.
Keep up the good work! I plan to try this recipe (sans coconut as I don't care for it!)
Hi Lori,
I just noticed your comment in my spam folder so my apologies for not responding earlier! I wanted to let you know that I did start to publish a nutrition analysis on my recipes. I have quite a few requests so finally decided to purchase a plug-in for my website that does that. It's a slow process but I'm trying to go back and edit older recipes that have been popular. Thanks so much for reading and for your comment!
Can this dish be prepared the day before and baked the next morning?
I haven't tried it but I do think you can prepare it the night before. Just make sure it's refrigerated!
Really shouldn’t put ads with food that are off putting like the knee relief ad for seniors that was interspersed with this recipe not once, but 3 times. By the time I got to the recipe I was not hungry at all!!! And the recipe was not nearly as appealing with the ad in the front of my mind!!!
Oh Jill, I'm SO sorry about that! I'm always so torn about running ads because I know it impacts my reader's experience. Unfortunately, they help me to offset the cost of running a website. I appreciate your feedback and will try to have my ad network do a better job of filtering the type of ads they show! Hope you visit again 🙂
Thank you for including the calorie count! So tired of online recipes presented as "healthy," but without the added information about calories. Looks delish.
You're so very welcome!I've had quite a few requests so I thought it was time to invest in a nutrition analysis plug-in for my website!
Hi! The ingredients call for crushed pineapple, but it does not state where to add them in the directions of the recipe. Can you clarify? Thanks!
Oh no! I'm so sorry and thanks for catching that Laura. The crushed pineapple should be spread over the bottom of the empty pan, and then add the oat mixture on top. I'll edit the recipe!
Thank you! Such a delicious and nutritious recipe. My new fave breakfast! 🙂
I'm so glad you like it Laura! Thanks for visiting!