Jazz up breakfast by adding chocolate to your baked oats in this EASY chocolate chip baked oatmeal recipe. One batch makes nine breakfasts or snacks, and can be eaten on the go in bar form. No need to scoop!
As someone with Invisalign, I spent quite awhile stressing over how I'd get through a roadtrip visiting family either a) without needing to eat, or b) figuring out how to adequately floss/brush in the car.
It turns out my worries were unwarranted, as the bar of my mom's chocolate chip baked oatmeal I ate in the morning somehow held me over right through dinnertime once we had gotten home. As someone who truly needs to eat frequently, the only explanation I can think of is there was some Strega Nona-esque magic involved.
Needless to say I zhushed my healthy baked oatmeal base recipe as soon as I could to produce this seriously tasty chocolate chip baked oatmeal.
Reasons to Love This Recipe
- While the chocolate chips boot this baked oatmeal out of the "naturally sweetened" category, the rest of the oat mixture isn't overly sweet making this recipe balanced in flavor.
- These baked oats can be stored at room temperature or in the fridge and they freeze beautifully for a breakfast you can always have on hand.
- This recipe has so much wiggle room: different add-ins and spices, flexibility with core ingredients, etc.
Recipe Ingredients
- Oats: Use heartier old-fashioned (rolled) oats for this recipe and not quick or instant oats. Quick/instant oats are more processed so they break down quicker. While good for some things, we want the chewy texture that comes from old-fashioned.
- Milk: Any variety will do, I usually use 2%.
- Eggs: These help bind the ingredients together.
- Bananas: Go for overripe bananas as they're sweeter than bananas that are on the greener side. Their peels will have lots of dark spots and areas. With how easy it is to freeze bananas, you can always have perfectly overripe bananas on hand.
- Maple Syrup: This provides a perfect amount of sweetness to the base oats.
- Espresso Powder: Though optional, a little bit boosts the chocolate-y flavor.
- Nuts: Toasted walnuts or pecans are delicious here, but you can leave them out.
- Chocolate Chips: Use your favorite variety. I love dark chocolate chips or chunks.
Step-by-Step Instructions
- Mash bananas in a mixing bowl, then add the rest of the wet ingredients: milk, eggs, maple syrup, and vanilla extract. Whisk it well until evenly smooth.
- Combine the dry ingredients in a separate bowl: oats, baking powder, cinnamon, espresso powder, and salt.
- Pour the oat mixture into the bowl with the wet ingredients and stir well to combine. Stir in the chocolate chips and nuts.
- Pour mixture into a parchment-lined baking dish and even out the top with a spatula. A 9-inch square pan or size equivalent works best. Top with additional chocolate chips if you like.
- Bake on the middle rack of a 350°F oven for 45 minutes, or until the top is set and the edges are golden-brown. Let cool before slicing and serving (this prevents crumbling and helps the slices retain their shapes).
Recipe Tips
- Make it dairy-free: Use non-dairy milk and ensure the chocolate chips are dairy-free. If using an alternative milk in this kind of recipe, I like to use oat milk for its slightly thicker, creamier texture.
- Slicing: Beyond stopping sticking, lining the pan with parchment paper makes it easy to lift the slab of oatmeal out of the pan so you can slice it on a cutting board. No worries about scratching your pan.
- Simple serving: My preference for serving is to heat an oatmeal square in the microwave just enough to take the chill off, then drizzle with maple syrup. Others opt to serve a piece in a bowl with some milk poured over. You can also grab and bar and go - the texture holds up.
- Storage: Wait to package up and store this chocolate chip baked oatmeal until it has cooled completely. Not only does this minimize crumbling, but trapping any condensation the residual heat gives off in a bag or container can cause the oatmeal to go bad more quickly.
Recipe FAQs
No, you don't have to use banana in baked oats. An easy substitute would be the same amount of applesauce. Canned pumpkin puree also works, though it's much less naturally sweet, so you'd have to add sweetener of your choice or bump up the maple syrup.
Yes. Use dairy-free milk, an egg substitute, and choose a chocolate chip brand that's made without dairy. I've subbed in a flax egg for one regular egg when I had run out and it worked just fine.
This base recipe is REALLY forgiving. Swapping in eggnog for mashed banana in baked eggnog oatmeal? No problem! Omit or swap the nuts, add fresh/frozen/dried fruit, use a different baking extract (maple extract is delicious here), use a blend of baking spices, etc.
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Chocolate Chip Baked Oatmeal
Ingredients
- 3 medium-large overripe bananas (about 1 cup/10 ounces mashed)
- 1 cup (240 ml) milk any variety
- 2 large eggs
- ⅓ cup (80 ml) maple syrup
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3 cups (240g) old-fashioned oats
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon espresso powder (optional)
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup (90g) chocolate chips any kind
- ½ cup (60g) chopped nuts such as walnuts or pecans (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 9" x 9" pan with parchment paper and set it aside for now.
- Break up bananas into large chunks and add them to a mixing bowl. Using an electric mixer, beat the bananas until they're mashed as smoothly as they can be. (You can also use a manual whisk and some elbow grease).
- Add the milk, eggs, maple syrup, and vanilla extract to the bowl with the mashed banana. Mix until all of the wet ingredients are evenly combined and set aside for now.
- In a separate large mixing bowl, whisk together the oats, baking powder, ground cinnamon, espresso powder (if using), and salt.
- Add the oat mixture into the bowl with the wet ingredients and stir to combine and moisten the oats evenly. Stir in the chocolate chips and nuts.
- Pour out the mixture into the prepared pan and top with extra chocolate chips (if you like - this baked oatmeal is plenty chocolatey without them). Bake for 45 minutes or until the edges are golden-brown and the center is set. Let the baked oatmeal cool completely before slicing into bars, serving, and storing.
Notes
- Tested Variations: Swap out nuts for fresh or dried fruit, sub in maple extract for half of the vanilla extract, use applesauce instead of bananas, replace an egg with a flax egg, use oat or almond milk, choose a spice blend (such as chai spice) in place of the cinnamon.
- Serving: Heat a piece in the microwave until warmed throughout, then serve with maple syrup drizzled over top.
- Storage: Once cooled entirely, this oatmeal can be stored at room temperature for 2 days, in the refrigerator for 4 days, or wrapped in foil, placed in an air-tight freezer bag, and frozen for several months.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is provided as an estimate. As it can vary due to many factors (brands used, quantities, etc.), we cannot guarantee its accuracy.
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