For a sweet and filling breakfast dish, try this baked oatmeal recipe full of fresh cherries and crunchy almonds. – Jump to Recipe
Although cherries are more of a summer produce, I’ve still seen them at the stores, hanging on as we transition into fall. I had bought a few large bags of the antioxidant-rich fruit last month, and my favorite way to use them up was in a new baked oatmeal recipe.
I basically just went off my favorite Coconut Almond Baked Oatmeal, but tweaked it to be cherry focused, incorporating different add-ins and seasonings. That ended up being my breakfast for over a month straight, because I would make new versions of it weekly. (It also worked very well squeezed into the middle of my early morning routine.) Now I’m realizing that baked oatmeal is the answer to my lazy breakfast dreams.
Sure, you have to put forth some effort the first day, but then it’s ready to go the rest of the week—a gourmet meal to start busy days. While I love my Apple Spice Baked Oatmeal, which at this point is more season-appropriate, I’m not about cleaning muffin trays often, so an 8×8 baking dish is more my speed.
Almonds seemed like the perfect complement to cherries, which is why it’s also a major player in this recipe. Sweet cherries and crunchy almonds on/in a filling oatmeal base? Yes, please!
Cherry Almond Baked Oatmeal
Ingredients
- 2 cups old fashioned oats
- 1/3 cup chopped almonds
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 cups milk
- 2 large eggs beaten
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp almond extract
- 1 cup pitted and chopped cherries divided
- 1/4 cup sliced almonds
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat an 8×8 baking dish with no-stick spray.
- In a large bowl, combine oats, almonds, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Mix in milk, eggs, maple syrup, vanilla, almond extract, and 1/2 cup cherries.
- Pour into prepared baking dish. Bake for 15 minutes; stir and add the reserved 1/2 cup cherries and sliced almonds on top.
- Bake for an additional 15-20 minutes, or until the mixture is set. Let cool for 5-10 minutes before serving.
If you happen to have frozen cherries (is that a thing?), that would also work for this, because you’re baking them anyways so a crisp texture isn’t important. You could also sub any fruit in place of cherries, really. The goal is to add some sweetness and a different texture to keep the baked oatmeal exciting. But I gotta say… cherries were perfection.
