If you’re in need of a simple, healthy breakfast in bulk or something to feed the family over the weekend, this baked protein oatmeal has you covered. It’s high volume (filling), high protein, and has real peanut butter inside so you know it’s tasty.
And before you dive in, I’ll add that even if you just need one serving, the recipe is super easy to cut down to fit your needs.
High Protein Baked Oatmeal Ingredients and Substitutions
This oatmeal bake is as easy as throwing everything in a bowl, mixing, and baking. So, I’ll just briefly touch on a few ingredients you might have questions about modifying.
Protein Powder
The recipe calls for vanilla with added cocoa powder. But feel free to use a chocolate protein powder if that’s what you have on hand. You might add an extra 1/3 scoop to account for the loss of cocoa.
One of the most important things to keep in mind when using other protein powders is scoop size.
The recipe calls for PEScience Select which is a blend of whey and casein. If you’re using a whey-only protein powder, you may need to add a bit more protein powder or reduce the milk slightly.
This protein oatmeal bake is hard to mess up since you’re kinda under baking it, though. So don’t sweat it too much!
Rolled Oats vs Quick Oats
A lot of my protein oatmeal recipes (like the infamous Butterfinger Proats from my Protein Oatmeal Guide) use quick oats for fast cooking. If you wanted to use quick oats instead of rolled oats, that should work fine but the oatmeal bake might cook a bit faster.
Peanut Butter and Canned Pumpkin
Ah, the real MVP—peanut butter. You could use almond butter like in my low carb brownies for these high protein baked oats, but I wouldn’t recommend using something like a powdered peanut butter. You’ll need some fat to balance the protein powder and avoid a dry and tough finished product.
The canned pumpkin is there to add some fat-like properties without the actual fat and calories of something like peanut butter. You’ll never know it’s there but if you wanted to use something else, try unsweetened apple sauce, another fat source, or just more peanut butter.
To see apple sauce in action, check out my protein carrot cake recipe.
I’ll also add that if you wanted to reduce the fat even further and deal with a slightly less delicious oatmeal bake, you could use the powdered peanut butter and use more pumpkin. You can also use a full fat milk to accommodate for some lost fat from other ingredients.
All right, let’s get to cooking. If you make this oatmeal bake, I’d love to see it! Snap a pic and tag me on Instagram @mason_woodruff.
Chocolate Peanut Butter Protein Oatmeal Bake
Ingredients
- 1/2 C 40g Rolled Oats
- 1 1/2 scoop, 47g Vanilla Protein Powder*
- 2 Tbsp 10g Unsweetened Dark Cocoa Powder
- 1/4 tsp Baking Powder
- 3 Tbsp 50g Peanut Butter
- 1/4 C 60g Canned Pumpkin
- 1/3 C 80mL Unsweetened Cashew Milk (or your choice of milk)
Instructions
- Preheat an oven to 350F.
- Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl.
- Add the pumpkin, peanut butter, and milk. Stir well.
- Transfer the ingredients to a 6.5" cast iron skillet or similar sized baking dish. (Different dishes will affect cook time.)
- Smooth the top of the mixture and bake for 12-15 minutes, depending on the dish and desired center. I purposely left out any food safety concerns so you can have this like gooey oatmeal or more done like a breakfast cookie.
Used applesauce and Bowmar PHC without cocoa powder. I don’t know if I had too high of expectations but it was way mushier than I expected. I was expecting the consistency of Nature Valley crunchy granola bars? Loved the flavor but not the texture!
It should be softer on the interior almost like a gooey oatmeal cake. If you want granola, I have several recipes for that! https://masonfit.com/chocolate-peanut-butter-granola/
I made these this morning and the were delish. Is there anyway to make these o eenight and microwave them in the morning for during the week or can you bake a batch and reheat in microwave later?
I bet you could do either. If I had to choose a method, I’d probably go with the overnight version and just heat to warm. Baking and reheating dishes with protein powder can be tricky. Let me know if you try it!
This was AMAZING!!!
How much applesauce did you sub for the pumpkin? Gram to gram?
This was quick and easy! I used frosted chocolate cupcake from pescience and it still turned out pretty good with a nice chocolate flavor. I would maybe add some sweetener to this next time though to give it a more dessert flavor if that’s what you’re looking for.
hi,
can you use plant based protein powder?if so do i need to tweak anything?
tnx!
It’s hard to say. Every protein powder is a bit different. You can try matching the consistency before baking using the photos above and hope for the best. Good luck!
@Lucia M Catalano,
Hi there, I use plant based protein powder and all I do is add extra milk because vegan protein always makes everything so thick and dry. I use 100 or a little more mL instead of 80, hope this helps
@Lucia M Catalano, I did today . Did 2 scoops of OWYN protein powder & about a cup of milk .
Can you use greek yoghurt instead of pumpkin? If so, how much?
I’ve not tested it, but Greek yogurt is usually a safe bet for substituting in recipes like this. I’d probably start with a comparable amount (1/4 C).
Would vegan protein powder be ok in the recipe? I do not tolerate dairy.
Probably so. It might take a little experimenting to get the ratios right. Every protein powder is a bit different. Good luck!
I make this for dessert for my husband and I on Friday night, it’s the perfect treat to end the week!!
This recipe is so good, its honestly a dessert to me. It has such good flavoring, and does not dry out (undercook like it says) you won’t be disappointed.