Healthy Almond Joy Baked Oatmeal

This healthy almond joy baked oatmeal is secretly made with cauliflower rice, almonds, coconut and chocolate chips. It tastes just like your favourite candy bar but packed with nourishing ingredients – so delicious! Recipe is both vegan and gluten-free.

Baked oatmeal for dessert for breakfast? Why not both?! This almond joy baked oatmeal is the ultimate healthy-ish breakfast treat that combines flavours of almonds and coconut into an easy breakfast bake.

It’s vegan, lightly sweetened, and extremely DELISH! As a nutritionist, I made sure to pack in a ton of vitamins and minerals, too! It sneaks in some cauliflower, but I promise you will never know!! The cauliflower rice bulks up the oats + adds fibre, while also boosting the nutrients, but you can’t even taste it! I promise 🙂

This recipe definitely makes for a great meal prep breakfast, or for a holiday morning breakfast with the family! I personally love eating this with some yogurt on the side and a fresh fruit like bananas or berries. Or you can shovel it all into your mouth and eat it on the run too – totally fine by me. Ha!

Ingredients you’ll need

This almond joy baked oatmeal recipe uses simple wholesome ingredients with the addition of cauliflower rice for a sneaky serving of vegetables! Here’s what you’ll need:

• Rolled oats: the key ingredient in this baked oatmeal, of course. Feel free to use regular, old fashioned rolled oats or gluten free oats.
• Cauliflower rice: The cauliflower is going to add volume, fibre, vitamins, and minerals, for little calories. And you really won’t taste it!
• Sweetener: along with the bananas you’ll just need a couple tablespoons of pure maple syrup or honey.
• Bananas or applesauce: to help naturally sweeten the baked oatmeal.
• Almond butter: to give that true almond flavour. 
• Baking powder
• Vanilla
• Almond milk: You can also use regular milk or coconut milk here. Or whatever milk your heart desires
• Mix-in’s:The delicious “almond joy” flavour comes from almonds, unsweetened shredded coconut, and chocolate chips. To keep this baked oatmeal recipe vegan, try dairy free dark chocolate chips.

How to make healthy almond joy baked oatmeal

This wonderful veggie packed vegan baked oatmeal only requires a bowl and baking dish. Get out your ingredients and let’s get baking!

Start by preheating your oven to 350F/ 180C. While the oven heats, mash up the bananas.

In a large mixing bowl, stir your dry ingredients together (rolled oats, cauliflower rice, almonds, coconut, baking powder and salt).

Then, pour your wet ingredients (mashed bananas, almond milk, almond butter, maple syrup and vanilla) into the mixing bowl. Stir wet and dry ingredients together until well-combined.

Pour the mixture evenly into a 8×8 baking dish and sprinkle the top with chocolate chips and additional almonds.

Place baking dish in oven for about 35 minutes or until ready.

The oatmeal will be done once it starts to brown at the top, almost like a cake! Remove oatmeal from oven and allow to cool for a few minutes before slicing and serving.

How to store and reheat baked oatmeal

This almond joy baked oatmeal is a great breakfast recipe to meal prep at the beginning of the week! Here are some ways to store it:

• Fridge: once completely cooled, store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 4-5 days. 
• Freeze: cut into 9 squares/ slices and wrap each square in plastic wrap or in a freezer safe container for up to 6 months
• Freezer: the easiest way to reheat baked oatmeal is in the microwave for 30-60 seconds. The cholate chips get all nice and melty

Oatmeal nutrition benefits:

Oatmeal is an incredibly nutrient dense whole grain food to include in your diet. You can prepare oatmeal in several different ways: on the stovetop, as overnight oats, and into blended into flour, to name a few. One cup of oatmeal cooked in water provides:

• 6 grams of plant-based protein
• 4 grams of dietary fiber, half of which is soluble fibre
• 20% of your daily iron and zinc needs
• A good source of several other micronutrients, including folate, copper, magnesium, and phosphorus

Cauliflower nutrition benefits

Cauliflower is a nutrient dense cruciferous vegetable, in the same family as broccoli, kale, cabbage, and brussels sprouts. It is rich in sulforaphane, a sulphur- containing compound which have been shown to have high antioxidant activity, and may help reduce blood pressure and help prevent certain types of cancer (1,2). One cup of cauliflower provides:

• 3 grams of dietary fiber, 
• 45 mg of choline (about 10 percent of your daily needs!)
• 85% of your daily Vitamin C needs
• 14& of your daily folate needs
• 20% of your daily Vitamin K needs

Other oatmeal recipes you may like

Pumpkin Apple Baked Oatmeal

Peanut Butter and Jelly Oatmeal Bars

Chocolate Zucchini Baked Oats

Zucchini Protein Baked Oats (Vegan)

If you try this almond joy baked oatmeal recipe or have a question, please let me know! Leave a comment and rate it below. I love to hear what you think, or any changes you make.

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