This cookie dough oatmeal is like eating a warm chocolate chip cookie, with gooey, melted chocolate in every delicious bite!
A variation of the popular Pumpkin Baked Oatmeal.
And now you’ll be wanting a recipe, yes?
Cookie Dough Baked Oatmeal
(Serves One!)
- 1/2 cup rolled oats (50g)
- 1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract
- sweetener, such as 1 1/2 tbsp maple syrup or 1 to 1 1/2 packs stevia (I omitted, but I’ve cautioned you before about my lack of sweet tooth.)
- 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce (60g) (Or sub banana… it’s awesome this way!)
- 1/4 cup milk of choice, creamer, juice, or water
- 1/8 tsp salt
- Handful of chocolate chips (and a few for the top, too!)
- Optional: unless you like the taste of fat-free baking, add 1 tbsp oil, buttery spread, or nut butter (If oil, scale the milk back a little)
- Optional: 1/4 to 1/2 tsp cinnamon (If you like cinnamon in chocolate chip cookies)
Preheat oven to 380 degrees. Combine dry ingredients, then mix in wet. Pour into a small baking pan, loaf pan, or 1-cup ramekin (or, for mini boats, two 1/2-cup ramekins). Cook for 20 minutes, or more until it’s firm. Finally, set your oven to “high broil” for 3-5 more minutes (or simply just bake longer, but broiling gives it a nice crust). Don’t forget to spray your ramekins first if you want your cakes to pop out.
See the following link for Nutritional Information.
If you’re like me and are not trying to lose weight, I definitely recommend including the optional nut butter or oil in the recipe for more calories, because this oatmeal cake really fills you up!
Are there any breakfast foods that don’t fill you up?
I tend to steer clear of cold cereal, because whenever I eat it for breakfast, I’m hungry an hour later! Same thing with waffles or pancakes. In the case of pancakes, I’ll often eat them for snack instead of as breakfast.
Or with something filling, like a Whipped Cream Bowl.
Oh wow! This is just reminding me that it has been far too long since I’ve had baked oatmeal. Thanks to you I’ve got a lovely recipe with which to remedy that problem this weekend. 🙂
Yum YUM!!!! I just made some oatmeal bars with nuts and unsweetened chocolate….mmmmm….yummy 🙂 And so good when topped with banana slices!!!
Oatmeal usually fills me up really fast at first, but I digest it so quickly that I get hungry soon after. I find that when I eat a protein-filled breakfast, I feel more satisfied!
I don’t do cereal for vbreakfast either – because if I do, I’m awlays hungry soon after!!
AAAAH Katie you are SUCH AN AMAZING CULINARY GENIUS!!! No kidding I am TOTALLY making this ASAP!! 😀
And when you say added oil, you mean instead of applesauce yes? I love me some calories! 😉
P.S. I had your banana bread in a bowl this morning again (chocolatified) and I’m in LOVE. With you and it!! 😀
Nope, keep the applesauce too! Well, maybe you could sub it… but I’d keep the applesauce (for moisture and sweetness) and instead cut back on the water/milk. In other words, if you use 1T oil, cut back 1T of the liquid. If you use 2, cut back 2T of the liquid. Does that make sense, or did I completely confuse you? I’m so bad with directions!
No makes perfect sense- thanks!! 😀
This looks so amazing! you are such an oatmeal genius!
agreed 🙂
and to all the calorie-counting people: you will most certainly NOT gain weight, when consuming high calorie HEALTHY food.
a friend of mine is following a vegetarian whole foods diet. that includes eating butter, cream, whole fat milk, cheese (yes, I really did write those things down), and of course, healthy oils, whole grain products… and she is, just like other people following this diet, super skinny.
sure, there might be exceptions, but in general, it really depends on the type of food you are eating, not the amount of calories. I did experience the same thing!
Nooooot actually true.
When you eat a whole foods diet you tend to eat less calories since packaged stuff is nutrient low/calorie dense. With whole fat animal products like what you listed, the fat is filling and so folks eat less mass, which means less calories. That’s how things like Atkins work – they are actually quite low calorie diets but the sheer amounts of fat/protein in them mean folks feel full and eat less total food. Also, boredom at only eating animals probably plays a role. It’s a limited diet and seems sort of bland, IMO. Gimme a wide variety of carby plants!
It does matter what you eat – whole foods will provide nutrients that make you body feel nourished and can help you avoid cravings, they tend to have fiber (at least non-animal stuff does) to aid feeling full and satisfied and whole plant foods are mostly nutrient dense while being low calorie (exceptions are nuts/seeds, avocados, etc.) – however, calories still count. I can gain weight eating nothing but whole foods if I go overboard on nuts, dry fruit, nut butters, avocados and whole grains. All are very calorie dense and not particularly bulky which means you can eat a lot of calories without feeling stuffed.
Weight loss and gain isn’t as simple as calories in vs calories out but that DOES play a large role and it’s not correct to say, across the board, that it doesn’t matter and you won’t gain doing X, Y, Z. Every body is different and every person eats differently – your friend and you and don’t gain, I and others do.
Thanks for your opinion!
Well, I am interested to know whether you would gain weight, if you would be on the whole food diet WITHOUT going overboard on anything, only eating when you are feeling hungry.
And let´s just say you would eat a roll spread with butter. The whole wheat one with butter would definitely have more calories than the regular one with margarine. But last version would make you gain weight. That is proven.
With all diets it is the variety and the not-going-over-board-thing that matter, and not eating when you feel full, anyways.
I believe that there are a lot of other reasons that are the source of you are gaining weight, like emotional stuff, but that is only my personal opinion and I very much respect yours.
And I said “in general”, because I kinda knew somebody would respond to this 😉
I just hope I didn´t upset you with my comment, but this is how I and many other people think about it. (There is a great German book out there, called “Fat doesn´t make you fat”, I can only highly recommend it!)
(Tone is friendly, not angry or offended :D)
I’m actually thin and healthy. I run marathons and such. 😉 I’m not an emotional eater and actually tend towards the undereating/restrictive side of things but that’s neither here nor there. I just want to clarify. I eat a totally vegan, 80% plus whole foods diet avoiding added sugars and oils, for the most part. I don’t shy away from whole food fats, though, like nuts and nut butters. I just eat them in moderation. I know fat doesn’t make you fat. It’s about the calories, not the fat. Fats are satiating and necessary for optimal health! 🙂
I’m saying if you burn 2500 calories a day via exercise and your basal metabolic rate and eat 3500 of whole foods a day, every day, you WILL gain weight. It doesn’t matter what food you’re eating – a calorie surplus will equal weight gain. That’s biology. It’s how animals, including humans, survive in lean times. When we overeat we put on body fat so that if we find ourselves in a lean time, we have bodily resources to burn.
If someone stays lean on a whole food diet is it not because they can eat a calorie surplus and the whole foods magically don’t turn to fat. It is because whole foods generally are less calorie dense (since they lack all that added sugar and processed oil!) and are more filling/nourishing so folks eat less overall calories. Less calories in = weight loss or maintenance. It is much harder to eat tons of calories when you’re not consuming all that processed flour, sugar and added oil.
I just wouldn’t say it’s *impossible* to gain weight on only whole foods. It’s harder, sure, but not impossible. 😉 I’ve had some super amazing raw desserts that were calorie bombs while still being made of whole, unprocessed, totally healthy foods! And, as Katie has noted, those foods aren’t very bulky so it’s easy to get a fair amount of calories without a wicked full tum! It may not even be a matter of eating past fullness or what have you. Some foods are just richer in calories per serving and those foods are quite tasty, usually. Dates and coconut, I’m looking at you.
It is still very much an issue of calories eaten vs calories burned. Calories from whole foods are certainly healthier and offer way more bang for your caloric buck! We agree there. 🙂 I also think that, when one eats mostly or all whole foods one naturally eats less calories. We agree there.
I’m just a stickler and after nearly three years of calorie counting, 60 lbs lost (and maintained for 1.5 years) I’m hesitant to say any thing is a sure thing when it comes to weight loss/gain! Even with hard numbers and science behind some our ideas, the body can be a super screwy little machine and just blow it all to heck by behaving completely illogically! 😉
Oh! And I just want to say we are basically in agreement here.
I’m just saying that calories still matter even when eating a whole foods diet. It just happens that many folks on whole foods diets don’t NEED to worry about calories given the benefits that way of eating has as far as satiation and nutrient density goes.
I’m just still very control freaky with my food and couldn’t relax if I didn’t count, even eating healthy whole foods. I’m working on that. It’s rough.
oh yes, we are so in agreement! although it may have seen otherwise, at first sight. I apparently didn´t make my opinion clear. I would never deny the fact that when you are consuming a lot more (or just more) calories than you are burning, you will most certainly gain weight. But if you eat the “right” amount of calories, the kind of food your having will matter.
But what I wanted to say concerning the emotional part, is that I didn´t mean eating because of emotional reasons. I meant gaining weight or not loosing it, because of emotional reasons. This is another topic 😉
I really hope that you will, some day, stop counting calories. I have been there and done that, too. And I surprisingly lost weight after stop counting. Just saying 😉
No, seriously, I know how tough it is, and I believe it is especially hard for women!!
Glad we sorted it out 🙂
I made an oatmeal raisin cookie version of the Irish Soda Oatmeal Cake you posted the other day. It was huge, and so filling! This is my new favorite way to eat oatmeal! I’m going to make a bunch of them to take for breakfasts all week! The thing I like about these is that I don’t feel like I have to add a ton of sugar like I do with a bowl of oatmeal. Just a couple drops of stevia did the trick!
Also, I hope you don’t let the suckers get you down. I’m not overweight, but I watch what I eat and exercise because diabetes and heart disease run in my family, and because exercise and taking care of myself feels good! People always ask “Why?” It’s not really any of their business, but I don’t want to wait until I have a health problem to start taking care of myself. Prevention is better than any medicine!
Anyway, sorry for posting a novel, but I wanted to let you know your recipes and ideas are very much appreciated!
Oh don’t ever be sorry for posting a novel! Novel comments are my favorites :). Happy Tuesday, sweetie!
Ok that breakfast sounds absolutely amazing. Maybe breakfast tomorrow? I was thinking apple baked porridge but cookie dough?! Yum! 🙂
Cold cereal does nothing for me, as well! Although I do like snacking on it sometimes:)
I have to say that I don’t really buy into the whole less fat makes you lose weight. I lost weight eating a lot of fats. My body does better on higher fat and less carbs. So I would just say stay off the oil to lose weight. A bit of coconut oil can help one lose weight, they’ve done studies and someone even wrote a whole book on it.
Ooh maybe my post was confusing? I meant that people who weren’t trying to lose weight should include the extra fats because it gives extra calories without making you feel like you’ve just eaten a brick for breakfast lol. I definitely agree that even people wanting to lose weight shouldn’t eat a fat-free diet, as SOME fat is necessary in any diet. (I know some people will disagree with me, and that’s ok. This is just my opinion.)
I think everyone should have fats! Well, plant-based health fats.
Looks like a perfect breakfast for me – I would put nut butter in or on top! I need to try the baked oatmeal thing. I always think I don’t have time in the morning, but if I remember to preheat the oven and just let it bake while I’m getting ready, it would be easier than making something else!!
Cereal, bagels, waffles don’t fill me up either – I need something more substantial with proteins and fats to keep me full.