Chocolate Cherry Baked Oats

🍫 Why We Love This Recipe

• Easy to make: These Chocolate Cherry Baked Oats come together in just a few steps – perfect for any skill level.
• Perfect for meal prep/make ahead: you can easily prep and bake several days before eating. It even tastes good cold, but it's also super easy to warm up.
• Vegan & gluten free: most baked oatmeal recipes contain egg as a binder. To keep this recipe fully vegan, we use applesauce and flax eggs instead! This recipe is also nut free.

🍒 Ingredients

Here are the key ingredients you'll need to make these chocolate cherry baked oats:

📋 Ingredient Notes

• Oats: Be sure to use old fashioned whole rolled oats in this baked oatmeal, not quick cooking or steel cut oats.
• Cherries: Fresh or frozen both work in this recipe. If using frozen, you'll want to pat dry as much as possible before adding to the oats, otherwise they will have too much moisture.
• Applesauce: Applesauce is the perfect sub for eggs in this recipe, acting as a binder to help this bake perfectly. If preferred, you can also sub with mashed, ripe banana.
• Flax eggs: In addition to applesauce, we also use flax eggs as a binder. If you're not familiar, flax eggs are essentially ground flax meal and water, which form a gelatinous substance that works like egg. Read more about them here.
• Oat milk: We prefer oat milk in this recipe but you can sub with any nondairy milk of choice. (Coconut would be great!)
• Cocoa powder: We actually use unsweetened cacao powder when we make these baked oats, but any unsweetened cocoa powder will do. If using sweetened, you may want to adjust the amount of sugar in the recipe.

🔪 Step-by-step Instructions

PREP: Preheat oven to 350˚F / 175˚C. Grease a 9x9" baking dish and set aside.

(1) In a small bowl, stir together flax meal and water. Set aside for 15 minutes to thicken.

(2) In a large mixing bowl, stir together the oats, cocoa powder, cinnamon, and salt.

(3) In a separate bowl, whisk together the melted butter, applesauce, maple syrup, brown sugar, flax egg mixture, vanilla and nondairy milk.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir well to combine. Let sit for 15 minutes, then stir in 2 cups of cherries. 

(4) Transfer to baking dish. Top with remaining halved cherries and chocolate chips. Bake for 35-40 minutes. Let cool for 10-20 minutes before serving.

💭 Expert Tips and FAQs

• Be sure to let the batter sit for 15 minutes before baking. This allows the dry ingredients to absorb some of the wet ingredients, so the final baked oatmeal is moist and perfectly baked. This also allows the flax eggs & applesauce to work as a binder in place of eggs.
• Oats are naturally gluten free but can have cross contamination with wheat products. If you have celiac disease or a gluten allergy, be sure to use certified gluten free oats.
• Storage: Cover leftovers and store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. For longer freezer storage, slice the baked oatmeal into squares, freeze until solid, then transfer to a freezer bag/container and store for up to 6 months.
• Reheating: If you're just reheating an individual square, microwave for 45-60 seconds until warmed through. If you're reheating the entire pan, cover with aluminum foil and heat in a 350˚F oven for a 10-15 minutes until warmed through.

🍽 Related Recipes

Tried this recipe? Please leave a star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating below and/or a review in the comments section further down the page. You can also stay in touch with us through social media by following us on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook or by subscribing to our newsletter.