Cranberry Apple Baked Oatmeal

One of the reasons I love this time of year is that I can find fresh cranberries in the grocery store! Those tart little berries are so much fun to cook with. They have the prettiest bright red color and provide a pucker worthy pop of flavor to whatever dish you put them in.

This autumn inspired baked oatmeal is just as easy and NOM-worthy as all my other baked oatmeal recipes. It takes just a few minutes to stir the ingredients together and then the oven does the rest of the work. The end result is a soft, custard-like oatmeal that is just a little sweet and a lot filling. The fresh cranberries give this baked oatmeal a sweet-tart flavor that are sure to wake up your taste buds. When it’s done baking, simply divide the oatmeal up into single portions and you’ve got ready-to-reheat breakfast for the rest of the week!

I do hope that I never run out of flavor combinations to try with baked oatmeal… It’s just SO good!

Cranberry Apple Baked Oatmeal

4.74 from 23 votes

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Cranberry Apple Baked Oatmeal

This autumn inspired Cranberry Apple Baked Oatmeal is an easy, warm, and comforting alternative to plain oatmeal. 

Total Cost $3.79 recipe / $0.63 serving

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 45 minutes

Total Time 1 hour

Servings 6

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups unsweetened apple sauce $1.29
• 2 large eggs $0.34
• 1/4 cup brown sugar $0.08
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract $0.14
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon $0.05
• 1/2 tsp salt $0.02
• 3/4 tsp baking powder $0.03
• 1 cup milk (dairy or soy) $0.25
• 6 oz about 1 1/4 cups fresh cranberries $1.25
• 2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats $0.34

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl, whisk together the apple sauce, eggs, brown sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, salt, and baking powder until smooth. Add the milk and whisk until smooth again.
2. Rinse the cranberries in a colander. Slice or roughly chop the cranberries in half (they don't have to be perfect). Stir the cranberries and oats into the applesauce mixture.
3. Pour the oatmeal mixture into an 8x8 or 9x9 casserole dish (coated with non-stick spray). Bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes, or until the surface is a light golden brown and it is no longer sticky in the center. Serve hot or refrigerate until ready to eat.

Step by Step Photos

Begin preheating the oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl, whisk together the apple sauce, eggs, brown sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, salt, and baking powder. Once those are whisked smooth, add the milk and whisk until smooth again.

I used half of this 12 oz. bag, which was about 1 1/4 cups. What did I do with the rest? I froze them! I’ll use them later in some muffins or something (or maybe another batch of this oatmeal!).

Give the cranberries a good rinse in a colander. Take about a handful at a time and place them on a cutting board. Slice them in half or roughly chop them so that they’re at least sliced open. They don’t have to be perfect, so I wouldn’t suggest slicing them one by one. You just want to open them up so that the juices will be released as they bake. And be careful, those little suckers like to roll around!

Stir the dry oats and cranberries into the apple sauce mixture with a spoon.

Pour the oatmeal mixture into an 8×8 or 9×9 inch casserole dish. You might want to coat that dish with non-stick spray. 

Bake for 45 minutes, or until the top is light golden brown and it’s no longer sticky in the middle.

Scoop some out and enjoy!

I like mine with a little milk on top!

Hot and filling breakfast for the rest of the week – done and DONE.