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.
I used pb2 instead of regular peanut butter (pre mixed 3 tbs with water) and it turned out surprisingly delicious! Definitely would taste better with real peanut butter but was sooo good
This didn’t even last a day at my house. If you have adult guys living with you, you might want to make two at a time.
I could not believe how rich this was. I could not taste the pumpkin at all and the texture was perfect
This was absolutely delicious! I used chocolate protein powder instead of vanilla and swapped in applesauce for the pumpkin and it came out unreal! I had never had baked oats until making this recipe, and now I will continue to make them! I also had to use a muffin tin to bake the oats, so the time for baking decreased a bit, but there was no issue whatsoever; still absolutely delicious!
I love eating oats every day for breakfast, so this was a nice switch up. I loved how chocolatey and easy it was to throw together. I subbed out All American Butter Pumpkin Cheesecake and added 50g of cauli rice. I probably would have added a little more moisture with the cauli added, but it was still a good texture!
The pumpkin in this is a game changer. It works so well as a binder and makes everything gooey and moist, and the best part is you can’t even taste it in there!! I would have preferred it a little sweeter than mine came out, but I’ll just note that for next time. The serving size is actually pretty filling, so I ended up doing half of it…still a good little protein boost! Pairs well with coffee 😉
Great recipe. I subbed pumpkin for applesauce and used PB2 since that’s what I had on hand. I wish I would have used regular PB as mine came out a little dry. Next time I’ll use reg PB!
I love all of Mason’s recipes but WOW!! This oatmeal is sooo good. I love that all the ingredients are foods I always have on hand and it’s packed with protein. I usually use some unsweet apple sauce in place of the PB thats actually mixed into the oatmeal so I can put more peanut butter on top without adding extra calories. I’ve also made this in the airfryer and it’s phenomenal. Thank you for satisfying my peanut butter & chcoolate obsession!
For those who are increasing the portions, I would highly reccomend watching it closely when baking. This recipe definitely wants to be fudgey and not cooked until dry.
I don’t have a 5″ skillet. Mine is 10″. Will the consistency work out if I double the recipe?
I’ve not tested a double batch, but I would think so. The center might be a bit more ooey-gooey.