Start your day on a healthy note with these grab-and-go Cherry Baked Oatmeal Cups! Packed full of protein and fiber from rolled oats, eggs, hemp hearts, chia and flax seeds, these tender baked oatmeal cups have sweet cherries in every bite!
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❤️ Why you'll love this baked oatmeal recipe
There are so many reasons to make this recipe, but at the top of my list is their flavour: they're simply delicious!
- Convenient. Make-ahead breakfasts can help to make your morning routine easy and stress-free. Having these baked oatmeal cups in the fridge or freezer guarantees you won't leave the house without some wholesome fuel in your belly!
- Portion control: Baked oatmeal muffins are great for portion control.
- Easy to adapt. It's easy to adapt this basic recipe with different flavours and add-ins.
- Comforting. Best of all, they're as comforting as a bowl of oatmeal without having to stand and stir a pot on the stove.
Along with chia seed puddings, overnight oats, granola, breakfast parfaits, and breakfast bars, these baked oatmeal cups are an easy make-ahead breakfast.
You might also like these other delicious and healthy baked oatmeal recipes:
- Mixed Berry Baked Oatmeal Cups with Chia,
- Chocolate Espresso Baked Oatmeal or
- Warm Cranberry-Apple Pumpkin Baked Oatmeal
🛒 Ingredients
You'll find a complete list of ingredients with amounts in the recipe card at the end of this post. Here are a few notes about what you'll need to make this baked oatmeal with cherries.
- Rolled oats: You'll want to use old-fashioned or rolled oats to make these oatmeal cups, not quick oats. While oats are naturally gluten-free, sometimes they're processed in a facility that also processes wheat. If you have celiac disease, make sure to check that your oats are certified gluten-free.
- Milk: You can use any time of milk you like, dairy or plant-based. I often use plain unsweetened oat milk or almond milk to make this recipe.
- Yogurt: Plain, unsweetened yogurt adds protein and moisture to these oatmeal muffin cups. You can substitute milk kefir if you prefer.
- Eggs: You'll need 3 large eggs.
- Sweetener: I like to use coconut sugar, but I've also made these baked oatmeal cups with 0-calorie monk fruit sweetener. Feel free to substitute brown sugar if you'd prefer.
- Baking powder: 2 teaspoons help to give these oatmeal cups a little bit of a lift as they bake.
- Spices: Cinnamon works well here, as does cardamom. Cardamom and cherries are a winning combination!
- Pure vanilla extract: The combination of cherries and vanilla is irresistible!
- Cherries: You can use fresh or frozen cherries. Frozen organic cherries sold in bags are already pitted! I like to thaw the cherries first (it only takes a few minutes) and drain them before gently stirring them into the batter.
🥄 How to make baked oatmeal with cherries
You'll find complete instructions in the recipe card below, but here's a quick overview of this simple method.
- Mix. You'll simply mix the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl, whisk the wet ingredients in a medium mixing bowl, then combine the two and gently stir in the chopped cherries.
- Rest. I like to let the batter rest for a few minutes to allow the oats to absorb some of the liquid and the chia seeds to soften and swell.
- Bake. Then portion the batter evenly into greased or lined muffin cups and bake for about 22-25 minutes. Let the oatmeal cups stand on a cooling rack for about 10 minutes and remove the paper liners.
🔁 Recipe adaptations - Make it your own!
- Change the spices: If you love that cherry-cardamom flavour combo as much as I do, add ½ teaspoon of ground cardamom, as the recipe states. If not, stick with a teaspoon of cinnamon.
- Change the flavouring: Add 2 teaspoons of pure vanilla extract. It may seem like a lot, but cherries and vanilla bring out the best in each other. Cherries and almonds also complement one another. You could substitute ½ teaspoon pure almond extract for the vanilla extract.
- Use your choice of sweetener: coconut sugar, brown sugar or 0-calorie monkfruit.
- Keep this recipe dairy-free: Substitute plant-based or coconut yogurt for milk kefir or Greek yogurt and use coconut oil instead of butter.
- Bake this recipe in an 8-inch or 9-inch square dish. You'll need to increase the baking time and that will depend on the size of your dish.
- Change the fruit: Instead of baked oatmeal with cherries, make blueberry baked oatmeal, blackberry baked oatmeal or even raspberry baked oatmeal by subbing in different berries for the cherries.
🍽 How to Serve Cherry Baked Oatmeal Cups
I like to reheat one of these baked oatmeal cups in the microwave, then have it with a dollop of yogurt or a spoonful or two of cherry sauce or fresh cherries or blueberries. However, they're delicious cold, too.
If they're not sweet enough for you, add a drizzle of maple syrup or honey. Or warm one up, split it in half and drizzle it with a little maple syrup. So good!
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
Absolutely! Here's a simple task for a Sunday evening. Make a batch of these delicious Cherry Baked Oatmeal Cups and have your breakfasts prepared for the work week ahead. Serve with fresh fruit and a scoop of yogurt for a totally satisfying morning meal.
Frozen cherries work just as well as fresh cherries in baked oatmeal. Thaw and drain them first and stir them into the batter gently so you don't end up with purple batter!
Pitted frozen cherries are so handy to have in the freezer. They're easy to add to dessert recipes like this Light Cherry Coconut Yogurt Fool and this Creamy Lemon Cherry Ricotta Parfait or a nutritious Cherry Crisp. Make a simple cherry sauce to top cheesecake, pound cake or ice cream!
You'll find more ideas for ways to use frozen cherries in this post 8 Fabulous Recipes for Fresh or Frozen Cherries.
How to Store Baked Oatmeal
If you make this recipe in muffin cups, remove the paper liners and cool them completely on a wire rack. If you have baked this recipe in an 8-inch or 9-inch square pan, cool, then cut it into squares.
Line an airtight container with a piece of paper towel, seal the container and store in the fridge for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months. The paper towel will absorb the inevitable moisture that seeps out and threatens to make your healthy oatmeal cups soggy.
For more recipe ideas for using rolled oats, see 30 Healthy Oatmeal Recipes.
When you make these baked oatmeal cups with cherries, please leave a comment and a star rating below. Thanks in advance! Subscribe to my newsletter and have new recipes delivered straight to your inbox once a week.
This recipe was originally published in 2019. It has been republished with new photos and extra information to make it more helpful.
🗒 More healthy breakfast recipes
📖 Recipe
Baked Oatmeal Cups with Cherries and Chia
Ingredients
- 3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats, certified gluten-free, if necessary
- 1 tablespoon chia seeds
- 2 tablespoons hemp hearts
- 2 tablespoons flax seeds
- ½ cup coconut sugar, or brown sugar or 0-calorie Monkfruit sweetener
- ½ teaspoon ground cardamom or 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 3 large eggs
- 1 ¼ cups unsweetened milk of your choice (dairy milk, almond milk, oat milk, cashew milk, etc.)
- ½ cup milk kefir or plain yogurt or coconut milk yogurt
- ¼ cup butter, melted or coconut oil, melted
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup fresh or frozen cherries pitted and coarsely chopped and drained
Cinnamon/Sugar Topping (optional)
- 1 tablespoon coconut sugar
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
Instructions
- Heat oven to 350°F. Line 12 muffin tins with culinary paper muffin liners or spray with cooking spray. See Note 1. Alternatively, grease an 8-inch or 9-inch square baking dish or line with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, mix the dry ingredients: oats, sugar, chia, hemp, flax, cinnamon, baking powder and salt.
- In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs, milk, yogurt or kefir, melted coconut oil or butter and vanilla extract.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until well combined.
- Gently add the cherries, stir to distribute evenly. Fill each muffin cup ¾ full OR transfer mixture to an 8-inch or 9-inch square baking dish. See Note 2.
- Optional: Combine 1 tablespoon coconut sugar and 2 teaspoon cinnamon, sprinkle evenly over the top of each muffin.
- Bake muffin cups for 20- 25 minutes, an 8-inch square pan for 40 - 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin cup comes out clean. Serve warm, plain or with milk or yogurt and extra thawed cherries and blueberris.
- Freeze extra baked oatmeal cups in an airtight container lined with paper towel. Reheat for a few seconds in a microwave for a quick breakfast.
Notes
- Using culinary paper muffin liners makes these baked oatmeal cups easy to remove from the pan. Using a cooking spray will make the edges more crisp. Your choice.
- I use a large cookie scoop to fill the muffin cups. It makes it easy to distribute the batter evenly. Mess-free!
- These are even more delicious served with simple cherry sauce.
Dierdre
I took your advice and bought some frozen cherries! They add lots of natural sweetness to these oatmeal cups. Loved them with a little extra maple syrup on top.