Enjoy all the flavor of carrot cake without the guilt and eat it for breakfast too! This Carrot Cake Baked Oatmeal with Maple Cream Cheese Glaze is an easy, gluten-free and naturally sweetened treat perfect for your next breakfast or brunch.
Colorado got the saying “in like a lion, out like a lamb” confused. We went into March with abnormally warm temperatures and plenty of sun and soaked it all in like summer was just around the corner. Then this past Saturday, April 1st, April fools day, the weather made fools out of all of us. Nothing like starting off the month with cold, cloudy, rainy weather with a little snow mixed in too.
Since spending the day outside wasn’t in the books, I decided to make the best of it by turning on the oven and baking this Carrot Cake Baked Oatmeal with Maple Cream Cheese Glaze. It was my way of sticking it to the cold and cloudy first day of the month and it was a pretty darn delicious way to do it too.
I don’t know what it is about gloomy days, but whenever there is one I always get in the mood to bake. Probably because like the sun, baking lifts my mood. I’d probably have to open a bakery if I lived in the Pacific Northwest. Luckily the cloudy days don’t last long here and yesterday the sun and warmer weather (52 degrees) returned. There were also plenty of leftovers of the carrot cake baked oatmeal to be eaten.
Carrot cake is probably one of my top 5 favorite cakes, it’s a shame we can’t eat it for breakfast. Luckily, I’ve come up with plenty of recipes to give me my carrot cake fix and this baked oatmeal version is my new favorite!
The carrot cake baked oatmeal is full of warm cinnamon and ginger spice, plenty of carrots (I hate when recipes skimp on the star ingredient), crunchy toasted pecans and of course sweet, chewy raisins. It’s sweetened with maple syrup and to make it extra special, as in Easter brunch special, topped off with a maple cream cheese glaze. Carrot cake just isn’t carrot cake without some cream cheese in it somewhere!
It’s an easy to make recipe that can be made the night before if you’re short on time in the morning and the leftovers also reheat well for those mornings when you need something fast. There’s a good chance we’ll be having this as part of our Easter morning breakfast and you should probably go ahead and add it to your menu too! Enjoy!
Carrot Cake Baked Oatmeal with Maple Cream Cheese Glaze
This Carrot Cake Baked Oatmeal with Maple Cream Cheese Glaze is an easy, gluten-free and naturally sweetened treat perfect for your next breakfast or brunch.
Ingredients
Carrot Cake Baked Oatmeal
- 1 1/2 cups gluten-free rolled oats
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 3/4 cup low fat milk
- 1 egg
- 3 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup grated carrots
- 1/4 cup toasted pecans, chopped
- 1/4 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
- 1/4 cup raisins
Maple Cream Cheese Glaze
- 2 ounces low fat cream cheese, room temperature
- 3 tablespoons plain non-fat Greek yogurt
- 2 1/2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons low fat milk
- Pinch of kosher salt
Instructions
Carrot Cake Baked Oatmeal:
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. and spray an 8x8 or similar sized baking dish with cooking oil.
- In a large bowl stir together the oats, cinnamon, ginger, baking powder, salt, pecans, coconut and raisins.
- In a smaller bowl whisk together the milk, maple syrup, egg and vanilla.
- Pour the wet ingredients in with the dry along with the shredded carrots and stir everything together until combined.
- Pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish and bake for 40-50 minutes or until lightly browned and set.
- While the oatmeal bakes make the glaze.
Maple Cream Cheese Glaze:
- In a small bowl whisk together all of the ingredients until smooth.
- Drizzle the glaze over the baked oatmeal before serving or serve it on the side.
Nutrition Information:
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 1629Total Fat: 58gSaturated Fat: 25gCholesterol: 213mgFiber: 24gSugar: 128gProtein: 54g
More Carrot Cake Inspired Recipes
Do you have to cook this longer if you assemble it the night before and refrigerate?
You may need to bake it a little longer since it will be going into the oven cold. I would let it sit out on the counter for 30 minutes if possible before baking it. Bake it until the recipe recommends, check for doneness and if needed bake another 5 minutes or until it’s set and golden brown around the edges.
You had me at “maple cream cheese.” :)
I can’t believe I’ve never tried baked oatmeal before. This looks incredible! Thanks for the inspiration!
– MAK