Enjoy the cozy flavors of carrot cake in this healthy baked oatmeal with a dairy-free cream cheese-inspired frosting.

Why We Love This Carrot Cake Baked Oatmeal

Dessert for Breakfast: It’s basically carrot cake in oatmeal form, making it super appropriate for breakfast! It even has a rich (dairy-free!) cream cheese-like “frosting”.
High Protein and Fiber: There are 14 grams of protein and 8 grams of fiber per serving, all from minimally processed plant-based sources. No protein powder necessary!
Meal Prep Friendly: Carrot cake baked oatmeal keeps for 4-5 days in the fridge, so it’s perfect to prep on Sundays for your weekday breakfasts. You can also freeze slices for later (but the frosting doesn’t freeze well).

Key Ingredients

Baked Oatmeal

Carrots ⟶ I shred my own carrots with the small holes of a grater. You can use pre-shredded, but they are a bit drier and the flavor isn’t as fresh.
Rolled Oats ⟶ Please use rolled oats, not quick oats or steel cut oats. Quick oats are much finer and will result in a more mushy texture. Steel cut oats require a much longer cook time and won’t soften in this recipe.
Medjool Dates and Apple ⟶ These add natural sweetness, fiber, and extra vitamins and nutrients.
Peanut Butter ⟶ Or another nut/seed butter for some healthy fats. Walnut butter would be delicious with the carrot cake flavors.
Ground Flaxseed ⟶ This helps bind everything together so the baked oatmeal isn’t too crumbly.
Cinnamon, Nutmeg, and Ginger ⟶ For the cozy carrot cake flavors. Feel free to mix and match other spices too like allspice, cardamom, and cloves.

“Cream Cheese” Frosting

Raw Cashews ⟶ Please use raw/untoasted and unsalted cashews for the most neutral flavor.
Silken Tofu and Extra Firm Tofu ⟶ A combination of silken and extra firm tofu creates a frosting that is smooth and silky but just thick enough.
Lemon Juice ⟶ To mimic the tangy flavor of cream cheese. It also helps hide any bean-y flavor from the tofu.
Maple Syrup ⟶ To balance out the acidity of the lemon and make this frosting just sweet enough for breakfast.
Miso ⟶ A little bit of miso adds an underlying umami flavor found in dairy cream cheese.
Vanilla Extract ⟶ This also helps mask any bean-y flavor.

How to Make

Here is a quick overview of this recipe. See the recipe card below for full details.

Blend wet ingredients (not including carrots).
Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl.
Pour in blended mixture and carrots combine with the dry ingredients.
Transfer oat mixture to a lightly greased baking pan. Cover and rest while the oven preheats.
- You can skip greasing if your baking pan is non-stick.
- I used a 7×11-inch pan but an 8×8-inch pan works, too.
- I like to let the oats rest for 10-20 minutes before baking so they can soak up some of the liquid. This makes the baked oatmeal softer but still firm.
Bake for 45-60 minutes until the top is firm.
- You can also check for doneness by inserting a toothpick in the center. It should come out clean or with a few moist crumbs when the oats are done.
Meanwhile, blend the frosting ingredients. Cover and chill in the fridge to thicken until ready to serve.
Cool the baked oatmeal for at least 10 minutes so the oats have time to set.
- I prefer to eat this baked oatmeal cold since I don’t want warm frosting, so I like to chill it in the fridge for a couple hours before frosting.
Frost and enjoy!

Carrot Cake Baked Oatmeal FAQ

Oats are naturally gluten-free, but can be cross contaminated with gluten/wheat during processing. So to ensure your baked oatmeal is gluten-free, use certified gluten-free oats.

You can freeze the baked oatmeal portion, but the frosting will not freeze well. So make the frosting when you’re actually going to serve the baked oatmeal, or you can skip the frosting and serve the oats with maple syrup, peanut butter, or (dairy-free) yogurt.

I haven’t tested it with protein powder, but I don’t see why not. You can add 1/4-1/2 cup of protein powder and increase the milk as needed.

Medjool dates are the main sweetener in this baked oatmeal. I like using dates instead of sugar for some extra fiber and nutrients, but if you don’t have medjool dates, you can use a 1/4 cup of maple syrup.

More Oat-Based Breakfasts

If you try out this recipe, don’t forget to leave a comment/rating down below and tag me in your photos on instagram @ellielikes.cooking. I love seeing all of your tasty recreations!

Prep Time:20

Cook Time:45

Servings: 6

Equipment

Blender

Ingredients

Carrot Cake Baked Oatmeal

6 large medjool dates pitted and soaked in hot water for 10 minutes
1 small apple
1¼ cups (300ml) soy milk
2 tbsp (30g) peanut butter, almond butter, or walnut butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups (160g) rolled oats¹
1 tbsp ground flaxseed
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp nutmeg
¼ tsp ground ginger
pinch of salt
200 grams carrots shredded

“Cream Cheese” Frosting²

45 grams raw/untoasted cashews soaked in hot water for 10 minutes
150 grams silken tofu
225 grams extra firm tofu
½ tsp vanilla extract
½ tsp miso
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp maple syrup

Instructions

Blend wet ingredients: Drain medjool dates and place in a blender. Chop apple, remove the core and seeds, and add to blender. Add soy milk, peanut butter, and vanilla extract. Blend for a minute or two until well combined.
Mix dry ingredients: In a large bowl, mix oats, ground flaxseed, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and salt.
Combine: Pour blended mixture into the bowl and add carrots. Mix until well combined. Cover and let sit while the oven preheats.
Preheat oven to 350°F/180°C. Lightly grease an 8×8-inch baking dish (or similar size – mine was 7×11).
Bake: Once oven is ready, pour the oat mixture into your baking dish. Place in the oven to bake for 45-60 minutes until the top is firm. Let the oats cool at least 10 minutes before slicing.
Make frosting³: Drain cashews and add to a blender along with the rest of the frosting ingredients. Blend until smooth, scraping down the blender as needed. It may get stuck at first, but once the tofu breaks down it should be easier. Transfer to a bowl, cover, and chill in the fridge until ready to serve.
Frost: You can either frost the entire baking dish, or frost individual slices as you eat them. If you want to frost the entire dish, let the oats cool completely first.
Storing: The cream cheese frosting will start to spoil around day 5, so please consume within 5 days. Be sure to keep it tightly covered and use clean utensils to remove.

Notes

1) To make this gluten-free, use certified gluten-free oats. While oats don’t naturally contain gluten, they can be cross contaminated during processing.

2) This makes a thick layer of frosting (see photos). If you don’t like this much frosting, just make a half batch. Do note, though, that a lot of the protein comes from the frosting, so you may want to serve something else on the side or have a bigger serving of the baked oatmeal.

3) I like to make this baked oatmeal a day in advance, chill in the fridge overnight, then frost it the next day before serving. It tastes great cold! If making in advance, you can wait to make the cream cheese frosting until the morning-of, since this spoils faster than the baked oatmeal.

Nutrition Facts

**Nutrition information is a rough estimate and intended for informational purposes only. I am not a registered dietitian or certified nutritionist, and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration.

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