Make-ahead Baked Oatmeal Recipe My Kids Can Make

This make-ahead baked oatmeal recipe is so easy even your kids can make it with just a few basic kitchen skills, and it provides a healthy breakfast option.

I used to make stovetop oatmeal a couple of mornings a week. This didn’t work well because my kids weren’t fans of that oatmeal, and they ate it slowly. However, my family loves baked oatmeal. I think the texture makes it feel more like a fun treat.

During a typical week, my 8-year-old daughter prepares this baked oatmeal recipe on a Sunday afternoon with limited help. Then on Monday morning, I put the prepared oatmeal in the oven early enough to have it ready before my husband needs to finish getting ready for work. On Tuesday morning, I reheat the leftovers in the microwave.

This covers two of our breakfasts for the week with very little effort from me, and it teaches my daughter some valuable skills.

Preparing this make-ahead baked oatmeal has become one of her weekly chores. I melt the butter because our microwave is pretty high above our stove. She also asks me to help pour the milk because it is hard for her to pour and measure at the same time.

For breakfast, I like to serve this baked oatmeal in a bowl with sliced banana, with or without milk (two people in my house prefer it with milk, and two prefer without).

Make-ahead Baked Oatmeal Recipe

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter, melted (1 stick)
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 4 cups oatmeal
• 1 cup berries (fresh or frozen) [optional but yummy]

Instructions

1. Melt 1 stick of butter in a microwave-safe container (I use a 4 cup Pyrex measuring cup).
2. Use the butter wrapper to grease an 11×7 oven safe casserole dish.
3. Add brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and vanilla. Mix well.
4. Stir in eggs and milk.
5. In a large mixing bowl, add oatmeal.
6. Pour liquid mixture over the oatmeal, and stir to combine.
7. Add berries and gently stir.
8. Pour mixture into a greased oven-safe casserole dish.
9. Put in refrigerator overnight.
10. The next morning, bake at 400 °F for 30 minutes

Note: Instead of the berries, you could add 1/2 cup dried cranberries and 1/2 cup walnuts as a fun alternative.

See printable recipe below

This is baked oatmeal recipe is easy to make and incorporates many basic kitchen skills that are so important for kids to learn, including:

• Dry ingredient measuring
• Liquid ingredient measuring
• Pouring
• Stirring
• Cracking eggs
• Following a recipe

Both of my kids have previous experience with these skills from taking the Kids Cook Real Food eCourse with me.

The course was created by Katie Kimball of Kitchen Stewardship, one of my favorite healthy living blogs. To give you an idea of the types of things Katie teaches on her blog and in her course, she has a free pdf with 10 healthy snack recipes kids can make on their own.

Get 10 Healthy Snacks
Kids Can Make Here

I modified this baked oatmeal recipe from Money Saving Mom to make a bigger batch with less sugar.

Get 10 Healthy Snacks
Kids Can Make Here