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If you’re looking for more ways to eat oatmeal for breakfast, these Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Cups are a great solution! They are similar to making baked oatmeal, but instead of baking everything in one large dish, you’ll use a muffin tin to make individual servings.
What do you need to make oatmeal cups?
- Oats: This makes up the bulk of the recipe. Just like making overnight oats, I definitely recommend using old fashioned oats when making these oatmeal cups because the consistency of quick oats will be more dry.
- Milk: You can use full fat, 2% or low-fat milk. You can also use plant-based milk like almond milk (which is what I used), coconut milk, cashew milk or oat milk.
- Applesauce: This has two uses in this recipe: it provides moisture without having to use oil, and it also helps to bind so we don’t have to use eggs. I recommend unsweetened so you can control the level of sweetness.
- Maple Syrup: This helps to sweeten the oatmeal cups naturally, and the stickiness of the syrup also helps to bind the oatmeal cups. You can substitute with honey or agave syrup.
- Cinnamon: 1 and half teaspoons may look like a lot, but trust me on this one! You can also substitute some of that for other warm spices like nutmeg, ginger and/or ground cloves.
- Baking Powder: This makes them feel light and airy.
- Vanilla Extract: Vanilla extract is always added for flavor, but you can use lemon juice if you prefer.
- Apples: You can use any type of apples you’d like, peeled or unpeeled. I recommend chopping them up really small so they mix easier into the batter.
- Pecans: They add a nice crunch and nutty flavor to the oatmeal cups. You can substitute with other nuts like walnuts, or you can leave them out.
How to make oatmeal cups
Start with a medium bowl and mix the dry ingredients. Then, mix the wet ingredients together and pour them on top of the dry ingredients
Next you’ll add chopped apples and chopped pecans. I like to keep everything chopped as small as possible so they’re evenly distributed and you don’t get one large bite of just apples. Also, some people prefer to peel the apples, but I leave the peel on mine, so it comes down to preference.
And then you can divide up the batter into a muffin tin. It should fit perfectly into 12 muffin cups. Then bake until they’re golden and set. They will be soft and moist with irresistible flavor.
Tips for making oatmeal cups:
- Don’t use quick oats. Quick oats are chopped into finer pieces, which makes them faster to cook. Although they taste the same as rolled oats, the texture of quick oats is much finer, so they soak up more moisture and can dry out the baked oatmeal.
- Do not mix the oats with milk ahead of time. If you want to prep the recipe halfway before baking, you can mix the wet ingredients in one bowl and the dry ingredients in another bowl. Just don’t combine them until you’re ready to bake. Otherwise the oats will soak up all the liquid and yield a dry texture.
- Spoon batter equally between the muffin tins. You’ll notice that the liquid doesn’t perfectly mix with the oats, and the battery is a bit chunky with some liquid. Make sure to evenly distribute the liquid into the muffin cups for best results.
- Skip the muffin liners. As long as you spray the muffin tin with cooking spray, the oatmeal cups will come right out using a spoon. In fact, they tend to stick more to muffin liners than to the pan in my experience.
Frequently Asked Questions
What’s the difference between oatmeal cups and muffins?
The difference is in the lack of flour in oatmeal cups. So you’ll notice that the batter for oatmeal cups looks different than that of muffins. Essentially this recipe is baked oatmeal made into individual portions by using a muffin tin.
Can these be baked in a dish?
Yes, you can bake these in a casserole dish or half sheet pans and then just cut them into the size of bars you’d like. Depending on the size of pan you use, the baking time will vary. In a 9 x 13 baking dish, it should take 20-25 minutes.
Can you freeze baked oatmeal cups?
Yes and these are very freezer-friendly! Just place them in an airtight container or ziplock bag, and you can store them in the freezer for up to 3 months. To reheat, thaw them in the fridge overnight, then place in the microwave or oven to warm through.
These apple cinnamon oatmeal cups recipe is easy to make, super versatile with added fruit and toppings, and makes for a healthy portable breakfast or snack. They’re vegan, gluten-free and refined sugar free, and most importantly they’re kid friendly!
For more oatmeal recipes:
- Baked Cranberry Pecan Oatmeal
- How to Make Oatmeal
- Easy Overnight Oats
- Baked Steel Cut Oatmeal
- Baked Blueberry Oatmeal
For more muffins recipes:
If you’ve tried this healthy-ish feel good Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Cups recipe or any other recipe on FeelGoodFoodie, then don’t forget to rate the recipe and leave me a comment below! I would love to hear about your experience making it. And if you snapped some shots of it, share it with me on Instagram so I can repost on my stories!
Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Cups
Video
Ingredients
- 3 cups rolled oats
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups almond milk
- 1 ¼ cups unsweetened applesauce
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1 cup chopped apples
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a muffin pan with nonstick spray.
- Place all the ingredients, except for the apples and pecans, together in a large bowl and mix to combine until well blended. Fold in the chopped apples and pecans. Then transfer batter into prepared muffin cups, filling all the way to the top. The batter will seem like it has too much liquid, but this is normal.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes or until the edges are lightly browned and top is set. If you notice the tops brown too quickly, tent a piece of aluminum foil.
- Cool oatmeal cups on wire rack for 5 minutes, then enjoy.
Notes
- You can use any kind of milk you like, dairy or non-dairy
- You can replace the maple syrup with any other liquid sweetener like honey or agave syrup.
Nutrition
Nutrition information provided is an estimate. It will vary based on cooking method and specific ingredients used.
I must have done something wrong, however I reviewed this recipe 5 times. It doesn’t have much taste or flavor at all. 😔
So sorry these didn’t come out as you expected. Can you tell me a little more about what went wrong so I can help you troubleshoot?
Love this recipe! Easy ingredients that I already had. And bonus points, my 4 year old approves!! Thank you! 🙂
Can I use regular milk instead and negate the chopped pecans? Will it mess with the consistency or anything? (I’m allergic to nuts)
Yes and yes! You can use full fat, 2% or low-fat milk. You can also use plant-based milk like almond milk (which is what I used), coconut milk, cashew milk or oat milk. The pecans add a nice crunch and nutty flavor to the oatmeal cups, but you can substitute with other nuts like walnuts, or you can leave them out.
May I use steel cut oats uncooked in this recipe? I know you said rolled oats are best but all i have is steel cut. How does that work?
I think you can! It will take a few extra minutes in the oven.
Hello! Can you add protein powder to this to give it more protein? And if so, how much? Thank you!
Yes you can, you can add about 1/4 cup of protein powder and I would recommend adding 2 tablespoons of almond milk extra so it’s not too dry.
Thank you so much, this turned out great!
Yay!! That’s great to hear!
Hello. I made these. They were yummy. Could you please tell me if 1 oatmeal cup is equal to 1 serving for breakfast?
That’s amazing! One serving of this recipe is one oatmeal cup. For breakfast, I would eat 2-3 of these cups with some sides, but do what works best for you!
Thank you for your oatmeal recipes Yumna! I love them! It’s perfect for my 31 Days Of Oatmeal challenge!
You’re so welcome! Hope the challenge is going well!
I never knew oatmeal cups were a thing! These are delicious. I had to omit the cinnamon (due to an allergy) but we topped our cups with peanut butter, and I added a T. of pancake syrup to the plate for the oatmeal cup to soak up – YUMMMMM. Thanks so much for this allergy-friendly idea!
So glad you tried these and enjoyed them!! Thanks so much for sharing 🙂
Hey Yumna! I love the idea of this recipe! It’s so perfect especially in the fall and it’s a fun twist to the traditional oatmeal porridge. In my country they don’t sell applesauce, or any fruit purees for that matter, and I don’t own a high power blender, so what should I add in place of applesauce? I searched up some substitutes but the only one that works for my situation would be mashed bananas. Do you think this would be a good substitute and how much should I add? Thanks so much in advance!
Instead of the applesauce, you can use any oil or melted butter. You can certainly also used mashed bananas. I hope you like the recipe!
What about making your own applesauce? Chop up some apples and cook them down. Smash the cooked apples with a spoon and you have applesauce!
I made a half batch, just to try them out. I ended up putting them in for another 10 minutes (total of 35 minutes), as I didn’t think they were done enough. Next time I make them, I’m going to add more cinnamon and maybe cook the apples on the stove for a few minutes so they aren’t so crunchy. They would also be good with a few chocolate chips. Breakfast is my least favorite meal, so I’m trying different recipes that are healthy and can provide breakfast for several days. I would make this again.
Love your ideas for tweaking it. I think cooking the apples before is a great idea!
May I use steel cut oats uncooked in this recipe?
You can, but it will require more cooking time.