Need a simple, healthy breakfast idea? Try this Chocolate Chip Baked Oatmeal! It combines old-fashioned and quick oats with milk, eggs, butter, chocolate chips and a few other pantry staples for a delicious easy recipe that the whole family will love.
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I know that overnight oats are all the rage right now. Personally, though, I’ve never been a fan. I struggle to get past the mushy texture and find them quite unappetizing.
But baked oatmeal? Now, that’s a different story! I can happily eat that every morning of the week!
Why We Love Easy Baked Oatmeal
- Simple & Quick. Just mix all the ingredients together, bake it and just like that you have a great busy morning breakfast recipe.
- Kid Friendly. Even picky eaters tend to like this recipe. I mean, there are chocolate chips after all!
- Healthier. More nutritious than many breakfast options, especially traditional breakfast cereal.
- Filling. We find a serving of this keeps us full until lunchtime.
- Stores Well. While we love eating it hot and fresh, leftovers are also delicious. Either enjoy it cold or simply reheat whatever portion you want to eat.
Chocolate Chip Baked Oatmeal Ingredients
- Quick oats. You can use all quick oats instead of half quick oats, half rolled oats- the texture will just be a bit different.
- Rolled oats. I love the slightly crunchier texture that these give the recipe!
- Brown sugar. You can easily adjust this amount to suit your preference.
- Baking powder.
- Cinnamon.
- Salt.
- Milk. You can use both regular milk or your favorite plant-based milk.
- Butter. Salted or unsalted will work. You can also substitute for melted coconut oil if you prefer.
- Eggs.
- Chocolate chips. We love using dark chocolate but semi-sweet or milk chocolate are good too.
How to Make This Recipe
STEP 1: Add all of the ingredients except for the chocolate chips, into a large mixing stir. Stir until combined. Add chocolate chips and mix well.
STEP 2: Spoon the oats mixture into a greased 9×9 baking dish, or one that is similar in size.
STEP 3: Bake for 30 to 35 minutes at 350 degrees or until the center is set and the edges are lightly browned.
STEP 4: Serve with your favorite toppings and enjoy!
Helpful Tips & Variations
- For a Double Batch: Just use a 9×13 pan and bake for a little longer.
- Storage: Store in an airtight container at room temperature for 2 days or in the fridge for 4-6 days.
- Freezing: Save time by making several batches at once and then freezing the extra. You can either freeze the oatmeal in the pan you baked it in, or cut it into squares and put it in a freezer safe container. If it’s more convenient, you can also cut the oatmeal into individual portions, wrap in plastic wrap and freeze that way.
Want to eat the oatmeal directly from the freezer? Simply defrost it using the microwave.
- Make Ahead: This one-bowl recipe can be mixed up the night before and baked the next morning. I don’t think this works quite as well if you are using only quick oatmeal since they will soak up the moisture more and the texture of the finished recipe tends to be a bit more mushy. But if that won’t bother you, go for it!
- Less Cleanup: For fewer dirty dishes, melt the butter directly in the mixing bowl before you add the other ingredients.
- Oatmeal Parfaits: To make oat parfaits, simply layer crumbled baked oatmeal with fruit and yogurt in a bowl.
- Additions: Serve baked oatmeal with milk or yogurt poured over it. Try topping it with some strawberries, blueberries, raspberries or peaches.
More Recipes You’ll Enjoy
- Easy Basic Homemade Granola
- Cinnamon Sugar Donut Muffins
- Healthy Double Chocolate Muffins
- Easy Homemade Caramel Frappe
Easy Chocolate Chip Baked Oatmeal
This Chocolate Chip Baked Oatmeal is super quick and easy to make and will provide you with a delicious healthy, frugal breakfast (or dessert!). It’s perfect for freezing too!
Servings: 9
Ingredients
- 1 ½ c. quick oats (see notes below)
- 1 ½ c. rolled oats
- ½ to 1 c. brown sugar
- 2 tsp. baking powder
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 c. milk (dairy or non-dairy)
- ½ c. butter, melted (or melted coconut oil)
- 2 eggs, beaten
- ½ c. chocolate chips
Instructions
- Add everything but the chocolate chips to a mixing bowl. Mix thoroughly, then stir in chocolate chips.
- Spoon into a greased 9 in. baking dish (or any similar sized baking dish).
- Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until edges are lightly browned and center is set.
- Enjoy plain, serve it with milk or yogurt or top it with your favorite fruit.
Notes
Turn this into Muffins:
A reader commented on Facebook that she makes this into muffins (makes about 15), baking them for 18 to 20 minutes. They’re perfect for quick easy grab-and-go breakfasts! Oatmeal: You can use 3 c. quick oats instead of half quick oats, half rolled oats- the texture will just be different. Add-Ins: Feel free to try other add-ins such as apples, blueberries or bananas. The flavor options are quite versatile! Doubling: This can easily be doubled and baked in a 9 x 13 baking dish. You will just need to bake a bit longer. Make Ahead: This can be mixed up the night before and then baked in the morning. If using all quick oats, the texture will be a bit mushier, but it is still good. If using a mixture of quick and rolled oats, the texture will not change much. To Freeze: Cut the oatmeal into individual portions and either freeze them in a freezer-safe container or wrap each portion in plastic wrap and freeze. When ready to enjoy, pull out the amount you need and thaw ahead of time or defrost in the microwave.
A reader commented on Facebook that she makes this into muffins (makes about 15), baking them for 18 to 20 minutes. They’re perfect for quick easy grab-and-go breakfasts! Oatmeal: You can use 3 c. quick oats instead of half quick oats, half rolled oats- the texture will just be different. Add-Ins: Feel free to try other add-ins such as apples, blueberries or bananas. The flavor options are quite versatile! Doubling: This can easily be doubled and baked in a 9 x 13 baking dish. You will just need to bake a bit longer. Make Ahead: This can be mixed up the night before and then baked in the morning. If using all quick oats, the texture will be a bit mushier, but it is still good. If using a mixture of quick and rolled oats, the texture will not change much. To Freeze: Cut the oatmeal into individual portions and either freeze them in a freezer-safe container or wrap each portion in plastic wrap and freeze. When ready to enjoy, pull out the amount you need and thaw ahead of time or defrost in the microwave.
Tina
I’ve made this a bunch of times in the last few weeks it’s easy and delicious! I’ve frozen some in 1 serving sections and they come out great. My favorite version so far is I layer the top with shredded coconut and serve it with fresh strawberries and blueberries. Thanks so much for this recipe.
Lydia Beiler
So glad that you enjoyed it, Tina! And I love your variation too. Yum!
Taylor
Can I substitute the butter for vegetable oil? I’m looking forward to trying this recipe. I love oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. I might even add 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts with it.
Lydia Beiler
I’ve never made this using oil, but I’m fairly certain it would work just fine, Taylor. And the walnuts would be a fun addition! If you try it, I’d love to know how it turns out for you.
Cordelia Hosler
Since I left a comment above, I have really cut back on sugar! (Have to because of health.) Do you have a substitute that you know will work for the sugar listed in the ingredients? I am not familiar enough yet with swapping and exchanging. Thanks for any help you can give.
ThriftyFrugalMom
I actually have cut back on the amount of sugar that I add to this recipe too! As for substitutions, I’m not really sure. I know a friend has used stevia in her baked oatmeal, but I haven’t tried it and don’t know what amount you’d need to use. I did Google and found a baked oatmeal recipe that was similar to this but used honey or maple syrup for the sweetener. I think you’d use about 1/2 c. for this size recipe. But I haven’t tried it so I can’t promise it will be amazing, although I can’t imagine it would be awful either. If you try it, I’d love to know how it turns out.
Emily
I made this this morning for my family of five. It was wonderful! I used 1/2 cup of frozen blueberries in place of the chocolate chips. As soon my husband finished praying over the food, my kids dug in. I heard “Mmmm, this is good!” from my 5 year old immediately. I quickly served up portions for myself and my husband so we could see for ourselves. My husband said, “You have to make this again!” I will definitely be making this again, perhaps for a Saturday morning treat since the rest of the week is pretty crazy. Thanks for such a simple, frugal recipe!
ThriftyFrugalMom
Aw, this made my morning! I LOVE knowing that the recipes I post are helping other mommas win with their mealtimes. 🙂 And just making sure you saw the note right above the recipe that talks about how you can mix this up the night before and then bake it the next morning. I thought that might work well for you during the week…
Emily
I totally missed that note somehow! Thanks! Now we can have it more often!
Emily
Would you happen to know how long to bake this for muffin cups?
ThriftyFrugalMom
I’ve never done it in muffin form, but I’d probably start checking it at 15 to 20 minutes and then if it’s not done, just keep checking every couple of minutes until it looks like they’re set. I know lots of people find the muffin form easy for quick breakfasts!
Miriam Iwashige
This is an answer to a question in the comments about steel-cut oats–with some additional information thrown in. Steel cut oats are very different from rolled oats. As you probably know, oats are harvested and fed to livestock with the husk still intact. After the husk is removed for human consumption, what is left looks much like whole wheat and is called oat groats. We often add this when cooking Asian white rice. For the sake of eating more healthful food, my Asian husband likes this better than eating brown rice, since the sticky-but-not-mushy texture of Japanese rice is preserved. If oat groats are smashed flat by rolling (maybe after softening the whole grain?), the grain shape is still visible, but mostly two-dimensional rather than three-dimensional. Quick oats have these flattened rolled oats broken up into smaller pieces. Steel-cut oats are made from oat groats that have been chopped up without first being rolled. In other words, the product looks much more like bulgur (parboiled wheat–like converted brown rice) or cracked wheat cereal (not parboiled). It can be cooked and eaten just like cracked wheat cereal, which was a staple of winter breakfasts when I was growing up. That made good sense for people living in Kansas–known as the wheat state or, more grandly, as “the Bread Basket of the World.”
ThriftyFrugalMom
Interesting! Thanks for that explanation. I never knew what the difference was before!
Cordelia
We have our grandson visiting from CO. and I know he enjoys Baked Oatmeal. Just made it this morning before leaving for church. Wish I would have thought of the chocolate chips; I’m sure he would have it enjoyed it even more! (I only saw your recipe now.) I’m not one to cut back quickly on sugar but I knew my daughter makes a recipe very similar, using 1/2. c brown sugar. That is delicious, for those who prefer less sugar. I add 1 tsp. vanilla instead of the cinnamon. I will try the cinnamon next time, for sure! Thanks!
ThriftyFrugalMom
That’s so sweet of you to make him baked oatmeal! Maybe you can try the chocolate chips next time? And I think you’ll like the cinnamon. That addition is partly what I think got me hooked on this recipe and convinced me that baked oatmeal can be good!