How to Make Viral Baked Oats, the Healthy TikTok Breakfast Trend

It's official: TikTok is completely transforming how we cook. This influential video-sharing platform has shown us how to make the creamiest mashed potatoes, the most delicious customizable quesadillas, and perfectly crispy roasted potatoes. TikTok also familiarized us with three-ingredient cloud bread, mini pancake cereal, whipped dalgona coffee, and (duh) baked feta pasta.

Today TikTok is introducing the masses to the latest and greatest healthy breakfast hack: baked oats. (The hashtag #bakedoats has garnered over 1 billion views and counting.)

What Are Baked Oats?

Baked oats are the fluffy, cake-like cousin of your favorite oat-based muffin recipe. Apparently, when you whirl oats with a combination of baking ingredients (such as baking soda and eggs) in the blender, the resulting batter is incredibly airy and smooth.

After scooping the batter into a loaf pan or ramekin, you can customize it to your heart's content—think almond butter and blueberries, funfetti, carrot cake, strawberry cheesecake, or pumpkin—before baking.

"When I saw #BakedOats trending on TikTok, I thought how wonderful. I have tons of baked oatmeal recipes to share!" says Yumna Jawad, the genius food blogger behind Feel Good Foodie. "But this isn't your average baked oatmeal. This is baked oats that look and taste like cake. And it's all done in a blender for a fine and airy texture."

Jawad made a vanilla and chocolate version, then shared her step-by-step process with us so you can try it at home.

Ingredients

Rolled Oats

This is the base for the recipe. You can use rolled oats, quick oats, or even oat flour. According to Jawad, steel-cut oats won't blend enough to give you the cake-like texture, so stick with rolled or quick oats to ensure you get the fluffiest results. You'll need 1/2 cup.

Egg

You'll need just one egg for baked oats. "You can make it vegan by using a flax egg or just using 1/4 cup of [dairy-free] milk instead of the egg," says Jawad.

Banana

A ripe banana will add flavor, sweetness, and moisture to the recipe. If you're short on bananas, no problem—you can add one egg or 1/4 cup of any milk instead.

Maple Syrup

A tablespoon of maple syrup adds a touch of sweetness to oats that can sometimes be bland.

Baking Soda

This helps the baked oats rise while baking—you'll need 1/2 teaspoon.

Salt

Just a pinch will round out the flavor.

How to Make Baked Oats

1. Place all the ingredients together in a blender.
2. Blend until the mixture is evenly mixed and pourable.
3. Transfer to a greased ramekin, oven-safe pan, or bowl. You can add toppings like shaved white chocolate, chopped almonds, sliced strawberries, or banana slices if desired.
4. Bake in a 350 F oven until the edges pull away and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean, around 20 to 25 minutes.

Tips for Making Baked Oats

Use a high-speed blender to blend the ingredients.

The difference between baked oatmeal and baked oats is all in the texture. "And getting that cake-like texture comes from adding the egg, but also blending the ingredients well," Jawad explains.

You can double (or triple) the recipe. 

The yield on this dish is only about two to three servings, so make more if you want to have extra for tomorrow morning's breakfast. To double or triple the recipe, Jawad says you can throw everything together into a blender, divide it into multiple ramekins, or transfer it to a cake or loaf pan.

Remember to grease the ramekin or pan. 

Because we're not using any oil or butter in the recipe, the cooking spray will help ensure that the batter doesn't stick to the ramekin when cooking.

To make it even faster, consider cooking it in the microwave for 90 to 120 seconds. "Make sure you're using a microwave-safe bowl, though, and that it's twice the size of the batter since it will rise while baking quickly in the microwave," Jawad suggests.

Try making it into muffins.

"Yes, you can make it in a muffin tin, but the recipe will only make about three muffins. You can also make it in a cake pan, but it may help double the recipe. The bake time will depend on the depth of the baking pan, but I recommend starting to check for doneness at 20 minutes," says Jawad.