Peanut Butter Brownie Baked Oatmeal

It’s been fooooorever since I’ve made baked oatmeal! Since last fall’s Sweet Potato Casserole version, I believe. Anyway, I’ve been craving that peanut butter and chocolate lately, so instead of making a full blown dessert, I decided to work those flavors into a baked oatmeal. This Peanut Butter Brownie Baked Oatmeal is super rich and delicious without being overly sweet. In fact, it only has 1/4 cup brown sugar for the entire dish! The rest of the sweetness comes from mashed bananas, which also keep the baked oatmeal nice and moist. I like to keep my baked oatmeals with just a light kiss of sweetness, so if you’re looking for something more on the dessert level, consider doubling the sugar.

If you’re new to the baked oatmeal club, let me say first that the texture is not crunchy like granola (a common misconception when looking at the photos). It’s a moist semi-solid, similar to bread pudding. Baked oatmeal makes a great reheatable breakfast for the week and it even freezes great if you just want a portion once in a while. You can eat it cold, warmed up, or with a splash of milk over top. It’s totally up to you. It does need to be refrigerated after baking, though.

Remember how cocoa puffs would turn the milk in the bottom of your bowl into chocolate milk? This kinda does that. :D Hello childhood!

Peanut Butter Brownie Baked Oatmeal

4.39 from 42 votes

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Peanut Butter Brownie Baked Oatmeal

This Peanut Butter Brownie Baked Oatmeal is an indulgent-yet-healthy breakfast with rich chocolatey goodness and just a hint of sweetness.

Total Cost $3.77 recipe / $0.63 serving

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 45 minutes

Total Time 55 minutes

Servings 6

Ingredients

• 1.5 cups mashed ripe bananas (about 3 medium bananas) $0.68
• 1 large egg $0.27
• 1/4 cup natural peanut butter $0.31
• 1/4 cup brown sugar $0.04
• 1 tsp vanilla extract $0.28
• 1/2 tsp salt $0.02
• 1 tsp baking powder $0.06
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon $0.05
• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder $0.29
• 2 cups whole milk $1.12
• 3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats* $0.50
• 2 Tbsp natural peanut butter (for topping) $0.15

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 375ºF.

2. Mash the bananas well, then place them in a large mixing bowl along with the egg, peanut butter, brown sugar, vanilla, salt, baking powder, cinnamon, and cocoa powder. Whisk until the mixture is mostly smooth (there may be small pieces of banana).

3. Add the milk to the chocolate banana mixture, and then whisk until smooth again. Add the dry rolled oats and then stir until combined.

4. Pour the oat mixture into a 2-3 quart casserole dish coated with non-stick spray. Drizzle the remaining 2 Tbsp peanut butter over the oats and drag a knife through to create swirls. If needed, warm the peanut butter slightly to make it runny enough to drizzle over the oats.

5. Bake the oats in the preheated oven for 45 minutes. Serve warm, or refrigerate until ready to eat. 

Recipe Notes

*Do not substitute steel cut oats in this recipe and I suggest against using "quick" oats. Plain rolled oats will work, but will give slightly less texture than old-fashioned, which tend to be a bit chunkier.

Step by Step Photos

Begin by preheating the oven to 375ºF. Mash 3 to 4 bananas until you have 1.5 cups of banana mash.

Place the mashed banana in a large mixing bowl along with 1 large egg, 1/4 cup natural peanut butter, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 tsp baking powder, and 1/2 tsp cinnamon. Whisk these ingredients together until they’re fairly smooth.

Add 2 cups whole milk to the mixture and whisk until smooth again. You may have some small chunks of banana and that’s okay.

Finally, stir 3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats into the batter until everything is well combined.

Pour the oat mixture into a 2-3 quart casserole dish coated with non-stick spray. Drizzle 2 Tbsp more natural peanut butter over the oat mixture. You may need to warm the peanut butter to get it runny enough to drizzle.

I like to drizzle it in thin lines going horizontally, then drag a knife in the opposite direction a few times to create subtle swirls. Bake the oatmeal in the preheated oven for 45 minutes.

After 45 minutes the Peanut Butter Brownie Baked Oatmeal will look a little more like this and your house will smell AMAZING. Now you can dig in, or refrigerate it for later.

Baked oatmeal is actually really good both warm AND cold.

But my favorite way to eat it is warmed with cold milk poured over top. :)