Carrot Cake Baked Oatmeal with Maple Cream Cheese Glaze

Make-ahead carrot cake baked oatmeal with walnuts, dried cranberries, and dried tart cherries. Serve drizzled with maple cream cheese glaze for a crowd-pleasing hearty breakfast that tastes like cake.

To make a carrot cake oatmeal, I've used maple syrup as the sweetener in both the oatmeal and the glaze. With dried cranberries and cherries adding additional sweetness, I've added just enough maple syrup to round out the flavors. 

What's more, this baked oatmeal is filled with carrots and shredded coconut. You'll want to use unsweetened shredded coconut and finely grate to carrots so they bake smooth into the cake without a stringy texture. 

Nuts & Fruit in Baked Oatmeal

To add pops of flavor and texture to this baked oatmeal, I've used some dried cranberries and cherries. This combo transforms the oatmeal.

There are people who have strong feelings about whether dried fruit belongs in carrot cake, but in this baked oatmeal breakfast version, the dried fruit absolutely belongs. While the warm melty cranberries and cherries add pops of sweetness, toasty walnuts balance it out with savory crunch. Together they enhance both the texture and flavor of the oatmeal.

Maple Cream Cheese Glaze

There's something I feel very passionate about and it's that carrot cake must have cream cheese frosting. Just like red velvet, carrot cake should have no other frosting than cream cheese frosting. 

So I've transformed the topping into a maple cream cheese glaze. The cream cheese glaze is essential. Equal parts tangy and sweet, it's what makes this baked oatmeal actually taste quintessentially like carrot cake.

Now you, too, can have oatmeal cake for breakfast. Go ahead and start your day feeling like a rebel breaking all the rules, when really you're eating a filling serving of lightly sweetened oatmeal with veggies.

Zoella (3) asked to call her daycare teacher last night to tell her she was eating homemade sushi with tofu and tempura asparagus for dinner. For as adventurous an eater this kid is, she eats one thing - and one thing only - for breakfast.

Every morning.

Baby oatmeal with a splash of applesauce. We've tried mixing it up - maybe a little yogurt - but still, she requests baby oatmeal. Her pediatrician assured me it's fortified, so if that's what she wants, why not! 

Last week though, Zoella woke me up at my bedside by getting really close to my sleeping face and enthusiastically whispering, "Mama, we ate all your cake for breakfast!" Then she made exactly the hands-on-cheeks shocked emoji face in real life.

She hadn't eaten cake.

She'd eaten this carrot cake baked oatmeal. The night before I'd convinced her (with very little persuasion) that it was an oatmeal cake. Order of words matters here. Cake-inspired oatmeal v. oatmeal cake! It's definitely cake-inspired oatmeal, but if calling it oatmeal cake makes her feel like she's broken all the rules before 9am, then so be it. She's eating veggies for breakfast now, so joke's on her.

She's abandoned her routine and requested I make oatmeal cake every week for breakfast instead of her beloved baby oatmeal.

Recipe

Carrot Cake Baked Oatmeal with Cream Cheese Glaze

yields: 6 servings

prep time: 8 minutes mins

cook time: 40 minutes mins

total time: 48 minutes mins

Make-ahead carrot cake baked oatmeal with walnuts, dried cranberries, and dried tart cherries. Serve drizzled with maple cream cheese glaze for a crowd-pleasing hearty breakfast that tastes like cake.

4.85 from 19 reviews

PRINT PIN SAVESaved!

Ingredients

Carrot Cake Baked Oatmeal

• ▢ 2 cups gluten-free rolled oats
• ▢ ½ cup unsweetened shredded coconut
• ▢ 1 tablespoon orange zest, from 1 orange
• ▢ 1 cup finely grated carrot, from 1-2 large carrots
• ▢ 1½ teaspoons baking powder
• ▢ 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ▢ ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
• ▢ 2½ cups whole milk
• ▢ ⅓ cup pure maple syrup
• ▢ 1 large egg
• ▢ 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• ▢ ½ cup roughly chopped walnuts, toasted
• ▢ ½ cup dried fruit, cranberries, raisins, and/or tart cherries
• ▢ Coconut oil for greasing the baking pan

Maple Cream Cheese Glaze

• ▢ 2 ounces full-fat cream cheese (blocked), room temperature
• ▢ 1½ tablespoons pure maple syrup
• ▢ 1½ tablespoons whole milk
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

INSTRUCTIONS

• Grease a 8 or 9-inch square (or 7x11) baking pan with a thin layer of coconut oil and preheat the oven to 375°F.
• In a large bowl, combine the oats, coconut, shredded carrot, orange zest, baking powder cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Use your hands to rub the mixture together to evenly disperse the zest and shredded carrots.
• In a measuring cup or separate bowl whisk together the milk, eggs, maple syrup, and vanilla. Pour this over the oats and toss to combine.
• Spread half of the oats mixture into the prepared baking pan. Sprinkle with half of the nut and fruit blend, breaking up the large walnut pieces with your fingers as you go. Spread with the remaining oats mixture on top of the fruit and nuts. Then top with remaining fruit and nuts. Bake for 40 minutes until set and beginning to brown. If making it in advance, let it cool completely before covering in foil or plastic wrap and storing in the fridge.
• Meanwhile, prepare the maple cream cheese glaze. Combine the cream cheese, maple syrup, milk, and vanilla in a small food processor and pulse until smooth. Alternatively you can do this by slowly working the liquid into the cream cheese with a silicone spatula against a small bowl until smooth. If making ahead, you can either drizzle the glaze over the oatmeal before serving, or, as I prefer, store the glaze separately and drizzle it over slices to serve.
• Serve the baked oatmeal warm drizzled with maple cream cheese glaze.

  Store any leftovers covered in foil or in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.

  Reheat according to the instructions in the post above.

Make Ahead Baked Oatmeal

Baked oatmeal is a great make-head breakfast option! I often make baked oatmeal in advance and reheat it for breakfast the rest of the week for my kids. In our house, we call it "breakfast cake" and slice it up as such every morning. 

Bake the recipe as instructed. Once it's done baking, let it cool completely before covering the pan in plastic wrap or foil and storing in the fridge for up to 5 days. If you make it in advance, you can either drizzle the cream cheese glaze over the top before storing or store the glaze separately to drizzle on just before serving. When you're ready to serve, reheat as instructed below.

How to Reheat Baked Oatmeal

To reheat the entire pan, cover the pan in foil and bake 350°F for about 20 minutes until warm in the center.

To reheat individual servings, place a slice in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave for 30-45 seconds until warm (depending on the power of your microwave)

Serve warm drizzled with cream cheese glaze!