Healthy Baked Cinnamon Roll Oatmeal

This baked cinnamon roll oatmeal is filling, sweet, but not too sweet (!), and shockingly healthy. It’s easy to make, perfect for meal prep, and (truly) tastes just like a cinnamon roll! Plus, it’s naturally vegan and gluten free.

Christmas mornings as a kid were filled with sheer joy over the thought of Santa coming to the house, and the smell of sweet cinnamon rolls baking in the oven.

These days, I think cinnamon rolls are more of a dessert than a breakfast, so I decided to put a healthy spin on my favorite childhood treat and turn it into baked cinnamon roll oatmeal. Baked oatmeal is one of my favorite breakfasts and I seriously can’t wait for you to try this recipe!

I know this oatmeal is cinnamon roll flavored, so “healthy” is probably not the first word that comes to mind. However, I promise this recipe is 100% good for you!

Cinnamon roll baked oatmeal ingredients

• Oats: I recommend using rolled/old fashioned oats for this recipe.

• Apple sauce: The apple sauce helps bind all of the ingredients together and gives the oatmeal a really nice texture once baked.

• Non dairy milk: Vanilla almond milk is my go to for (almost) everything, but any type of milk will work!

• Coconut oil: To keep the oats nice and moist. You can leave this out or sub for a bit of extra apple sauce if desired.

• Vanilla extract: The vanilla adds a bit of extra flavor.

• Cinnamon: A decent amount of cinnamon is very necessary for this recipe! I prefer ceylon cinnamon, but any type of cinnamon works well.

• Brown sugar, coconut sugar or maple syrup: You can use any type of sweetener, that’s dark in color. Brown sugar and coconut sugar are my favorite, but maple syrup works well!

• Baking powder and soda: These will help the oats rise a bit.

How to make baked oatmeal

Unlike regular stovetop oatmeal, baked oatmeal is almost a “set it and forget it” kind of thing.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. 

Add the oats, cinnamon, salt and baking powder to a bowl and mix well. 

Add in all remaining ingredients and stir together. The mixture should have a good amount of moisture, but you don’t want it to be overly liquidy or it won’t bake all the way to the center. See the above image for reference.

Add to a 9 inch round, oval, or square baking dish and add to the oven. You can use a smaller pan, but the deeper the pan, the longer the oats will take to cook.

Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean and the edges and top of the oats are golden brown.

While the oats are baking, prepare the cinnamon sugar glaze by adding the cinnamon, coconut oil, and coconut sugar to a pan and heating over low heat. If it appears too dry, add in the 1 tbsp of water. However, if it gets too liquidy, it won’t swirl very well, so just add in extra sugar to balance this out.

Let simmer until the sugar and oil melt and form a sticky syrup. It will get thick if it sits out too long, but just turn the heat back on and it will melt again.

Let cool, then top with cinnamon sugar and melted coconut butter, yogurt or my simple powdered sugar glaze.

Can you reheat baked oatmeal?

Yes! I actually love the texture of baked oatmeal when it has been reheated oddly enough. It thickens up as it sits in the fridge, but I personally love it this way.

To reheat this recipe, I suggest just popping it back in the oven for about 10 minutes at 200 degrees Fahrenheit or until it is warm.

You can easily prep these oats at night, and just reheat in the morning for a quick & easy breakfast!

A few final thoughts on this cinnamon roll oatmeal recipe

• This recipe will last in the fridge (already baked) for about 3-5 days. You can store it in the same container you baked it in, and just cover it with aluminum foil.

• To get the best texture of the baked oats, you’ll want to use rolled/old fashioned oats. You can likely use quick cooking oats with no issues, but do not use steel cut oats! They won’t work in this recipe.

• How long you cook the oats will depend on how deep your dish(es) are. You’ll know they’re done when a toothpick comes out clear or when the edges start to brown and the center is nice and firm. My dish was 9 inches by 2.5 inches and it took about 35 minutes to bake all the way through.

• I usually use one large baking dish, but you can split it up into smaller dishes if desired. Smaller dishes will require a shorter cooking time, so keep an eye on them!

• This recipe is gluten free, but just be sure to used certified gluten free oats to make sure there was no contamination while processing!

For more delicious breakfast recipes, try these!

• Caramelized banana oatmeal
• 5 minute pb & j overnight oats
• Fluffy lemon blueberry pancakes
• Fluffy Sweet Potato Breakfast Bowl

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