On Saturday mornings we have this unspoken rule that breakfast must come out of the oven, the waffle iron, or the cast iron griddle. Though sometimes it comes out of the car. Kev and Hal pick up donuts for themselves and a croissant for me. Special is the name of our weekend breakfast game.
But if donuts come out of the car on Saturday, something with oats usually comes out of the oven on Sunday. And for whatever reason, Tart Cherry Almond Baked Oatmeal has come out of the oven the last couple January’s.
Tart cherries are harvested in summer, but due to their delicate composition, they’re typically dried or frozen within hours from picking. So why we cling to that bag of frozen cherries in the winter, I’m not sure. But that’s when I make Cherry Pie too. Always with almond extract.
Baked oatmeal, when left alone, is a monotonous slab of beige. To dress her up for the weekend, we add tart ruby red cherries on top just before heading into the oven. With about 5 minutes left of cooking, we add sliced almonds for a short toast. Then once she comes out of the oven, we generously garnish her with natures sprinkles—unsweetened coconut, hemp seeds, and cacao nibs. Not many breakfasts escape a dollop of plain whole milk yogurt around here. Neither does this one.
Beware, tiny people like Hal are known to go cherry picking straight out of the baking dish. I hope you’re ok with that. Here’s to keeping that unspoken weekend rule with a bunch of other warm breakfast ideas.
Almonds and tart cherries make the best marriage. This is our favorite winter baked oatmeal. Tart cherries are harvested in the summer, but due to their delicate nature, they are immediately dried or frozen to preserve their greatness. You can eat them all year long, but we tend to grab for them in the depth of winter. This recipe uses this baked oatmeal base.
Ingredients
Scale
2 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
2 c. old-fashioned oats
1/2 c. brown sugar, lightly packed
1 tsp. aluminum-free baking powder
1/2 tsp. flaky kosher salt
1 1/2 c. milk
1/4 c. unsweetened applesauce
1 large egg
1/2 tsp. almond extract
1 c. frozen tart cherries
1/4 c. sliced almonds for topping
Instructions
Preheat oven to 375°. In a saucepan, melt butter until a thump tip sized hunk remains. Remove from heat and swirl to melt remaining butter. This will method will help to cool the mixture faster. Set aside.
Meanwhile, combine oats, brown sugar, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl.
Into the cooled butter, whisk together milk, applesauce, egg, and extract.
Add milk mixture to oat mixture and stir well. Place frozen cherries evenly around the dish.
Pour mixture into an 8-inch square baking dish (or similar size) and bake for 20-22 min. In the last 5 minutes of baking, top with sliced almonds to toast.
Serve warm. Garnish with plain yogurt, unsweetened coconut, cacao nibs, and hemp seeds (natures sprinkles).
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You could put all the dry ingredients into a bowl the night before and prep the wet in the morning and mix together and bake. Prepping everything the night before will give the oats too much time to absorb the liquid, and that’s exactly what they’ll do. You’ll end up with something more like overnight oats. Though, now you’ve got me thinking. I wonder if that would bake into a breakfast bar!?
You can add an extra egg as a binding agent that the applesauce is standing in for. I sometimes use a very ripe banana too, but that will change the flavor quite a bit!
Omg this is exceptional. I love almond flavor, and the brightness of the tart cherries really compliment the sweetness of the oatmeal. Definitely going to be making this again!!!
oh no, i only have quick-cook steel-cut oats and the only extract i have on hand is vanilla. any way i can make it using these two ingredients as subs (i have all the others). thanks!
Hi Teresa! Steel-cut oats handle so differently (need a longer cook time and more liquid) so I would recommend trying a different recipe for the best results!
Sadly, not without major modifications. Steel cut oats take quite a bit longer to cook and need more cooking liquid to soften. If you’re looking to use up steel cut oats, I love adding them to my overnight oats! I use a mixture of regular and steel cut, soaking them in water or milk overnight. I add sweetener (maple syrup, brown sugar, or honey), yogurt, and fruit in the morning. The steel cut oats soften but still keep a bit of their bite.
Hi Melissa, Mary Ann here! I made this this morning and it was so easy. Ours was a little on the sweet side, I couldn’t find unsweetened applesauce and should have cut back on the brown sugar but we liked it all the same. It is nice that we have leftovers for tomorrow. Thanks for your creativity!
Those towels are actually a craft project from a BeCrafty Workshop! Can you believe it? She had white flour sack towels (the kind you can get at target) and black paint. I used a lid to create the Os and a similar sized straight edge dipped in paint to create the Xs.
I love love a good baked oatmeal and have been missing summer cherries like mad 🙂 I do love a sweet croissant on a weekend morning for breakfast, but oatmeal is a nice balance too!
Can this recipe be prepared the night before and cooked in the morning?
You could put all the dry ingredients into a bowl the night before and prep the wet in the morning and mix together and bake. Prepping everything the night before will give the oats too much time to absorb the liquid, and that’s exactly what they’ll do. You’ll end up with something more like overnight oats. Though, now you’ve got me thinking. I wonder if that would bake into a breakfast bar!?
Would I be able to use fresh cherries in this? Thanks!
Absolutely! No changes to the recipe necessary.
Hi! I was wondering if there was anything I would be able to substitute for the applesauce? Thank you!
You can add an extra egg as a binding agent that the applesauce is standing in for. I sometimes use a very ripe banana too, but that will change the flavor quite a bit!
Could this be made with almond milk replacing the regular milk?
For sure!
Omg this is exceptional. I love almond flavor, and the brightness of the tart cherries really compliment the sweetness of the oatmeal. Definitely going to be making this again!!!
oh no, i only have quick-cook steel-cut oats and the only extract i have on hand is vanilla. any way i can make it using these two ingredients as subs (i have all the others). thanks!
Hi Teresa! Steel-cut oats handle so differently (need a longer cook time and more liquid) so I would recommend trying a different recipe for the best results!
Can you make this with steel cut oatmeal??
Sadly, not without major modifications. Steel cut oats take quite a bit longer to cook and need more cooking liquid to soften. If you’re looking to use up steel cut oats, I love adding them to my overnight oats! I use a mixture of regular and steel cut, soaking them in water or milk overnight. I add sweetener (maple syrup, brown sugar, or honey), yogurt, and fruit in the morning. The steel cut oats soften but still keep a bit of their bite.
Love the almond flavor and how easy this was to whip up this morning – thanks for changing up the baked oatmeal flavors!
This was so delicious! It is going into our regular breakfast rotation.
Hi Melissa, Mary Ann here! I made this this morning and it was so easy. Ours was a little on the sweet side, I couldn’t find unsweetened applesauce and should have cut back on the brown sugar but we liked it all the same. It is nice that we have leftovers for tomorrow. Thanks for your creativity!
Hi Mary Ann! I think the almond flavor heightens the sweetness somehow too. It’s kinda weird/awesome. Also, thanks for sticking around here!
Love this – I think I’d be happy to jump out of bed in the morning for this!
Also: where are your towels from? Looks like X and O? Apologies if you’ve covered in other posts, but I also love this about this recipe!
Those towels are actually a craft project from a BeCrafty Workshop! Can you believe it? She had white flour sack towels (the kind you can get at target) and black paint. I used a lid to create the Os and a similar sized straight edge dipped in paint to create the Xs.
GENIUS! what a crafty/cute/not too cute 😉 idea. love it.
I cannot wait to try this. We’ve been going through Megan Gordon’s everyday oatmeal, like, everyday. Love this for the weekend.
Megan Gordon is my oat hero!
I love love a good baked oatmeal and have been missing summer cherries like mad 🙂 I do love a sweet croissant on a weekend morning for breakfast, but oatmeal is a nice balance too!