Breakfast Squares From One Pan
I bake this every Sunday in a 9 inch pan and cut it into eight squares. Rolled oats are the part that matters here. Quick oats turn the whole pan into a single soft slab that will not hold an edge. Forty minutes, and breakfast is handled for most of the week.
Baked oatmeal is closer to a soft granola bar than to porridge. The ratio is roughly 2 cups of oats to 2 cups of liquid plus one egg, and the egg is what sets the pan into slices you can pick up. Leave it out and you have baked porridge, which is fine but will not hold a square.
Old Fashioned Oats, Never Quick
Rolled oats have been steamed and flattened but remain in fairly large pieces, so they stay distinct through a 40 minute bake. Quick oats are cut into smaller pieces and pre-cooked more, and they absorb liquid so fast that the finished pan is dense and paste-like. Steel cut oats will not soften in time at all.
The liquid matters too. Milk gives a richer result than water, and a mix of milk and a little maple syrup browns better along the edges. Those browned edges are the best part of the pan, so do not line the dish with parchment so high that they steam instead.
Toss the Berries With a Spoon of Flour
Berries sink in a wet oat mixture and leave a soggy layer at the bottom. Tossing them with a teaspoon of flour or cornstarch first coats the surface and helps them suspend. Frozen berries work without thawing, but add them frozen so they do not bleed color through the whole pan.
Rest Before Cutting
Straight from the oven the pan is loose and will slump when you lift a square. Fifteen minutes on a rack lets the egg and starch set. This is also when the edges pull away from the dish slightly, which makes the first square much easier to remove.
Ingredients
- 2 cups old fashioned rolled oats
- 2 cups milk, dairy or unsweetened plant based
- 1 large egg
- 1/3 cup maple syrup
- 3 tbsp melted butter or coconut oil
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 2 cups mixed berries, fresh or frozen
- 1 tsp flour or cornstarch for tossing
Steps
Heat the oven and grease the dish
Set the oven to 375 degrees F. Grease a 9 inch square baking dish with butter or oil. Do not use parchment all the way up the sides; you want the edges to brown against the dish.
Whisk the wet ingredients first
In a large bowl, whisk the milk, egg, maple syrup, melted butter, and vanilla until smooth. Whisking the wet side separately prevents overmixing once the oats go in.
Fold in the oats and dry seasonings
Add the oats, cinnamon, salt, and baking powder and stir just until combined. Let it sit 5 minutes so the oats start to absorb liquid before baking.
Coat the berries and scatter them
Toss the berries with the flour, then fold half into the oat mixture and scatter the rest over the top. The coated berries stay suspended instead of sinking.
Bake 40 minutes until the center is set
Bake 38 to 42 minutes. The center should no longer jiggle when you tap the dish, and the edges should be deep golden and slightly pulled away.
Cool 15 minutes, then cut into squares
Cool on a rack for 15 minutes before cutting into 8 squares. Serve warm, or refrigerate and reheat individual squares in the microwave for 45 seconds.
Variations That Actually Work
- Swap berries for diced apple plus a handful of walnuts, and add 1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg with the cinnamon.
- For a protein boost, whisk 1/2 cup of Greek yogurt into the wet mixture and reduce the milk by the same amount.
- Individual portions bake in a muffin tin in 22 minutes, which is handy for freezing and grabbing on the way out.
When I made this
I swapped in quick oats the first two times because that is what I had in the cupboard, and both times it came out of the oven as one uncutable mass. Rolled oats keep their shape when they bake, so the squares actually separate when you cut them. The other mistake was fruit distribution. I dolloped the berries on top thinking it looked nicer, and half of them stayed behind when I lifted a square. Mixed in through the batter, they end up in every bite.
Nutrition per serving
| Calories | 285 kcal |
| Protein | 8 g |
| Carbohydrates | 44 g |
| Fat | 10 g |
| Sodium | 260 mg |
