Baked Oatmeal (gluten free, vegan, oil free, soy free, refined sugar free)

Baked Oatmeal

( vegan, gluten free, oil free, soy free, refined sugar free)

Let's be honest, we all love chewy, sweet, fruity, chocolaty treats. And we love oatmeal, at least I do. And because of that, I decided to give the famous 'baked oatmeal' a try!

And I have to tell you: It's worth the 1 hour wait (while it's in the oven)! The flavors go together perfectly and will give you a firework in your mouth. And yes, you can totally change the ingredients.  You can pretty much put in whatever you want to!

Also, if you wanna know how to make the amazing dark chocolate cream I served the oatmeal with, check out this link right here.

So here we go, my favorite baked oatmeal recipe:

Baked Oatmeal

Serves: 4 to 6
Cooking time: around 60 minutes, depending on your oven
Total time: 2 hours

Ingredients

• 2 cups rolled oats (gluten free if needed)
• 1/2 cup coconut flour (or almond flour, or shredded coconut, ...)
• 2 tbsp chia seeds 
• 2 cups plant milk (I used 1 cup coconut and 1 cup almond milk)
• 1/2 to 1 cup water (depending on the consistency)
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• pinch of salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• juice and zest of 1/2 a lime
• 4 medjool dates
• 1/4 cup almond slices/pieces
• 1 chopped apple
• 1 chopped banana
• 1 cup blueberries
• 1/4 cup nut butter (I used almond butter)
• 1/2 cup pure maple syrup (you could use coconut/agave/rice syrup instead)
• optional: more nuts/seeds/dried fruit (change or add whatever you like)

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C 
2. Add all your dry ingredients, mix well
3. Add the wet ingredients, mix until everything is nicely combined
4. Let sit for about 5 to 10 minutes, until the mixture starts absorbing some of the liquid
5. Add more water if your mixture is too dry. You're aiming for a wet but not liquidy consistency (or more oats if it's too wet)
6. Add the mixture to an oven safe container and place aluminium foil on top 
7. Put into the oven for about 30 minutes, remove the foil and bake for an additional 30 minutes or until nicely browned and/or crispy on top
8. Enjoy hot or cold with yogurt, jam, milk, fruit, nuts, ....

Additional information

Here is another batch I made recently. I added a tbsp more chia seeds, subbed the berries for cubed pumpkin and added some pumpkin pie spice as well. Instead of coconut flour, I used oat flour and instead of almond slices, I added cacao nibs and dried cranberries. It turned out amazing! 

When your baking dish is tall enough, you can slice the baked oats once they're cooled and take them as 'oatmeal bars' with you. They're perfect for uni, work, school, ... :D