You may or may not have picked up on this, but I just love oats.
I like them in traditional oatmeal form, cookies, muffins, cobblers, on my yogurt, and especially as baked oatmeal.
Sometimes I feel like I get stuck in a rut when it comes to my baked oatmeal. I have my few favorite things that I love- peanut butter baked oatmeal, peanut butter chocolate chip baked oatmeal, mixed berry baked oatmeal, and of course pumpkin baked oatmeal. Because I love these so much, I don’t often venture into the unknown.
But today I was feeling a little adventurous, and also feeling a desire to be resourceful and use only ingredients I already had in my cabinet and fridge.
So I opened my fridge and saw SO many carrots. I got distracted from my original plan for baked oatmeal, because I started daydreaming about carrot cake.
Who’s with me? Carrot cake- like the good tender, moist, totally flavorful carrot cake- is just so good. And somehow you feel like you are doing some amount of good for your body (mostly your eyes) because, yes, you are eating cake… but it’s carrots.
And I did it again. I got distracted just now daydreaming about carrot cake.
Back to my moment in front of the fridge… I was distracted, yes, but only until I realized that carrot cake was the perfect idea for my new baked oatmeal.
Oats, carrots, cinnamon, ginger, and a little bit of apple to keep it interesting, and there you have it. A recipe for total deliciousness.
No, it’s not covered in cream cheese icing, but it is certainly incredibly healthy and great way to satisfy a craving for something sweet.
And honestly, no one is going to judge you if you come up with a “breakfast” icing to put on top!
Okay, I can’t speak for everyone, but I certainly won’t judge you. I have had my fair share of sweets for breakfast and I am not even ashamed.
This was super easy, and there’s nothing really special about the recipe. The only thing I would say is that like most of my other recipes, you can easily substitute the almond milk for another milker non dairy milk of your choice. You can also feel free to use real sugar in the recipe if you like.
Pretty much, keep the wet to dry ratios the same and you should be good to go!
Enjoy!

Carrot Cake Baked Oatmeal
Here's What You Need
- 2 1/2 c whole rolled oats
- 1 c almond milk
- 1/2 c pure maple syrup*
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 1 medium apple grated
- 1 1/4 c grated carrot
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 large egg
Here's What You Do
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Preheat oven to 350F.
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Prepare 8×8 baking dish, or other casserole dish of your choice, with coconut oil or cooking spray.
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Combine all dry ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Stir in carrots and apples.
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Gently mix in all wet ingredients until just combined, but make sure egg is evenly distributed.
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Pour into prepared baking dish and bake for 35 minutes or until puffy and golden.
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Serve warm with almond milk and honey, or store in fridge for up to three days. (I still recommend heating it and serving with almond milk and honey, but you can also have it plain, and even cold!)
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Enjoy!
Recipe Notes
- *Feel free to use brown sugar here instead of maple syrup. Although sugar is dry and maple syrup is wet, the sugar becomes “wet” as it cooks.