Carrot Cake Baked Oatmeal
on Oct 20, 2021, Updated Mar 04, 2025
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This easy vegan carrot cake baked oatmeal is easy to whip up in 30 minutes for a delicious breakfast.
About the Recipe
Though inspired by the classic dessert, these carrot cake oats are not overly sweet and they taste wonderfully nutty and wholesome. Enjoy served warm topped with coconut yogurt and almond butter for a delicious breakfast or treat any time of day!
Spiced with cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger and studded with bites of walnut and raisins, this oatmeal bake is definitely reminiscent of carrot cake! Here are a few more reasons to love them:
- This recipe is vegan (dairy-free and egg-free), gluten-free (use gf-certified oats if needed) and oil-free.
- Sweetened naturally with just 1/4 cup maple syrup. For a sugar-free recipe, you could use liquid monk fruit sweetener.
- Great for breakfast meal prep. Just heat and enjoy!
- Makes a healthy snack or even dessert too.
- Under 200 calories with 5 grams each of fibre and plant-based protein per serving.
I also have these Carrot Cake Overnight Protein Oats for a no-bake option.
Baked oatmeal is great for meal prep or an easy warm breakfast. You can also try this Apple Cinnamon Baked Oatmeal, Easy Vegan Banana Baked Oatmeal and Vegan Baked Steel Cut Oatmeal.
Ingredient Notes
You’ll need just a few simple pantry ingredients plus milk and carrot. Here’s an overview of what you’ll need and substitutions you can make.
This list is not complete. Please see the recipe card at the end of the post for the complete ingredient list with measurements and detailed instructions.
- Oats: Rolled oats, old-fashioned oats or large flake oats work best.
- Maple Syrup: This can be substituted with agave syrup or honey (not vegan).
- Applesauce: Use unsweetened applesauce. This can be substituted with 1/4 cup mashed ripe banana.
- Flax: Be sure to use ground flax and not whole flax seed. The flax acts as an egg in this recipe and helps bind everything together.
- Milk: Any non-dairy milk works. Try unsweetened almond milk, cashew milk or soy milk. If you’d like to use canned coconut milk, I’d suggest combining 1/2 cup light coconut milk with 1 cup water.
- Walnuts: Can be substituted with pecans or slivered almonds. Omit for a nut-free recipe or try pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds instead.
- Raisins: Can be substituted with chopped dates or omitted.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step 1: Add the oats, spices and ground flax to a 8-inch square baking dish and mix well.
Note: I mix everything up right in the baking dish but if you find it easier to mix in a large mixing bowl, go ahead and add everything at once and mix until well combined, then transfer to the baking dish.
Step 2: Add the grated carrot and mix well to distribute and break up any clumps.
Step 3: Add the wet ingredients and mix well. If you’d like you can sprinkle a little shredded coconut or coconut sugar over top before baking.
Bake for 30 minutes then let cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Slice and enjoy!
FAQs
You can if you like. I prefer the texture of large flake or rolled oats for baked oat recipes but it’s totally fine to use quick oats too.
Sorry, I would not recommend steel cut oats for this recipe but I do have a baked steel-cut oat recipe here.
Baked oatmeal can be enjoyed cold straight from the fridge for an easy snack or breakfast or reheated in the microwave or oven. Try it topped with yogurt and/or nut butter for breakfast.
For dessert try it spread with the cashew frosting from this vegan cinnamon rolls recipe or the simple glaze from this vegan monkey bread recipe.
Let cool before storing. Fridge: Store in a sealed container for up to 5 days. Freezer: Store in a sealed container for up to 3 months. Consider portioning them into single-servings before freezing so they’re easy to grab and go.
Reheating: Reheat briefly in the microwave until heated through. They’re also yummy cold for a quick snack!
More Recipes to Try!
Carrot Cake Baked Oatmeal
Ingredients
- 2 cups rolled oats, 200 g
- 2 tbsp ground flax, 14 g
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1 cup lightly packed, finely grated carrot (115 g)
- 1.5 cups non-dairy milk of choice, 335 mL
- 1/4 cup maple syrup, 75 g
- 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce, 60 g
- 1/4 cup walnut pieces, 30 g
- 1/4 cup raisins, 40 g
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 F.
- Mix the oats, flax and spices together in an 8-inch baking dish.2 cups rolled oats, 2 tbsp ground flax, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp ground ginger, 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
- Add the grated carrot and mix to distribute and break up any clumps.1 cup lightly packed
- Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Spread the mixture evenly in the dish. Option to sprinkle with shredded coconut any/or a bit of coconut sugar.1.5 cups non-dairy milk of choice, 1/4 cup maple syrup, 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce, 1/4 cup walnut pieces, 1/4 cup raisins
- Bake for 30 minutes then let cool for 10 minutes in the pan.
- Divide into 6 portions and enjoy as is or with your favourite toppings such as coconut yogurt and almond butter.
I used maybeeee a little more carrot than required and put in a handful of pecans because that’s what I had around and it came out great! Even without raisins or dates it’s still sweet enough for that carrot cake vibe.
Can you replace shredded carrots with something else
You can replace them with whatever you like, leave them out or make my basic baked banana, apple or protein baked oatmeal.
Could you prepare this the night before?
You could but I think it would thicken up a lot after sitting so you might need to mix in more liquid before baking. Let me know if you try it! I just bake it ahead and reheat as needed.
Made them this morning for breakfast. Delicious and fulfilling! Perfect meal prep meal and I had some cashew butter so I put teaspoon instead of almond butter.
Sounds great! So glad you enjoyed it. Love these for meal prep too.
Delicious! It smelled so good when it was cooling, I ate it for dinner!
Haha, I like your style! Glad you enjoyed it.