Baked Oat Pudding with Apple & Cinnamon

Baked Oat Pudding with Apple & Cinnamon is a super easy dessert with a taste and soft texture you’ll love.

It combines rolled oats, grated apple, optional sultanas, brown sugar and cinnamon with milk, eggs, melted butter and a touch of vanilla. The result is a soft and fluffy bake, fruity and spicy, with all the goodness of wholegrain.

Serve just as it is or pour over cream, custard, or top with yogurt or ice cream.

Put together in ten to fifteen minutes, baked in half an hour, Baked Oat Pudding is perfect when you want a fuss-free, easy dessert that tastes fantastic.

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I absolutely love oats.

That fact should be pretty obvious if you consider the number of recipes I’ve already posted using this nutritious, versatile, wholegrain food.

Here’s just a few:

• Scottish Oatcakes in 3 different flavours
• Homemade Digestive Biscuits including chocolate covered ones 🤤
• Mushroom, Cheese & Bacon Oat Bake
• Zesty Oat Biscuits
• Beer & Cheese Bread with Oats
• Carrot Cake Oat Bars
• Savoury Flapjacks again, 3 different varieties

And that’s without oat dishes associated with breakfast: porridge and overnight oats.

Talking of breakfast, one thing I hadn’t made until recently is ‘baked oatmeal’.

If the profusion of internet recipes is anything to go by, then this mix of oats, sugar, sometimes fruit/nuts and/or chocolate chips baked with milk and eggs is a popular breakfast dish in the US.

(By the way, what Americans call oatmeal is just plain old porridge to us Brits. Here, oatmeal is basically flour made from oats).

But baked oatmeal sounds more like dessert to me. So, I thought, why not turn it into a proper British-style pud?

Warm, soft, comforting. And perfect with a jug of cream or custard to pour over. Or maybe a scoop of cold ice cream or dollop of yogurt.

The result of my tasty experimentation was Baked Oat Pudding with Apple & Cinnamon.

BAKED OAT PUDDING WITH APPLE & CINNAMON

Apart from the fantastic flavour (sweet, fruity, spicy) and light texture, what I love about this recipe is how dead easy it is.

No creaming of butter and sugar. Forget whipping up egg whites. No carefully folding in flour.

You simply stir the dry ingredients and apple in a bowl. The wet ingredients are lightly whisked in a jug. Mix them together, transfer to a baking dish and pop in the oven.

Twenty-five to thirty minutes later you’ve a wonderful hot pudding.

Oh, and if you have oats and baking powder that are gluten-free, then it’s suitable for gluten-free diets too.

DRY INGREDIENTS

Conveniently, the dry ingredients are simple cupboard staples.

• Rolled Oats. These are sometimes packaged as ‘jumbo’ or ‘old fashioned’ oats. Larger than the finer ‘porridge’ oats, they have a more satisfying bite, but still turn creamy when cooked.
• Sugar. I recommend soft brown sugar for this recipe. Its caramel notes work well with apple and cinnamon.
• Sultanas. I like the little bursts of juicy fruit these bring. But you could swap for other dried fruit or just leave out.

• Cinnamon. A classic partner to apples and oats, I add two generously heaped teaspoonfuls. If you can get cinnamon labelled ‘sweet cinnamon’ then do try it. It’s actually ground cassia rather than true cinnamon, but I think it has a much better flavour.
• Baking Powder. Adds a little rise to the baked oat pudding.
• Salt. Balances the sweet elements.

WET INGREDIENTS

Whisk together in a jug:

• Milk. I use whole dairy milk, delivered fresh to my door from a local farm. Any milk should work but note that the recipe has only been tested with dairy milk.
• Eggs. Two large free-range eggs for their texture, lift and setting properties.

• Vanilla extract. Subtly enhances the sweet flavours.
• Melted butter. Adds richness and helps to set the bake.

APPLES

I recommend eating/dessert apples rather than cooking apples for this pudding.

We don’t want them to break down like a Bramley would. Naturally sweet dessert apples also mean less added sugar is needed.

I grate the apples rather than chop them. Not only is this super-fast, but ensures they’ll be cooked perfectly during the relatively short time they’re in the oven.

I leave the peel on, but you can remove it if you prefer.

If your apples are particularly juicy (these were) then take handfuls and give them a squeeze. Otherwise, the bake could be too wet.

The grated apples are stirred into the dry ingredients just before they’re combined with the wet stuff.

Easy!

BAKING

My baking tin that’s 26 x 20 x 5 cm is perfect for this pudding. Any dish of similar capacity and dimensions (not too deep or shallow) should be fine.

I grease it generously with butter then add the pudding mixture, lightly smoothing the top.

For a slightly crunchy crust, I sprinkle over a little more sugar. But it isn’t absolutely necessary.

Then pop it in the oven to bake for 25 minutes.

To test whether it’s ready, insert a skewer or cocktail stick into the centre. It should come out clean, but the pudding should still feel springy when you lightly press the top.

Return to the oven for another few minutes if necessary, but not much longer unless you’re happy with a firmer bake.

QUICK & EASY BAKED OAT PUDDING

Because we are a rather greedy household, I divide this baked oat pudding into six generous portions.

More reasonable people would stretch it to eight servings.

I have eaten it just as it is, unadorned.

But the pudding comes into its own with proper homemade custard or cream poured over.

I’m pretty sure a scoop of vanilla ice cream would be good too.

In an echo of the breakfast dish that originally inspired the recipe, I also like it with a dollop of thick yogurt and a sprinkle of cinnamon.

Leftovers can be covered and stored in the fridge for 4-5 days or frozen. I reheat in a microwave which keeps the texture light.

There’s something wonderfully comforting about this baked oat pudding. I love that it’s substantial without being heavy.

Add to that lightly tart apple, juicy sultanas plus warming spice and I think it ticks all the boxes for a classic British hot pudding. Even if no one’s heard of it… yet!

I hope you’ll try my Baked Oat Pudding with Apple & Cinnamon. Let me know what you think in the comments.

Put together in little more than ten minutes and containing fruit plus nutritious oats, you can allow yourself to feel a little worthy while enjoying an easy, delicious pudding.

5 from 5 votes

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Baked Oat Pudding with Apple & Cinnamon

A quick and easy hot, fruity and spicy dessert with a soft and fluffy texture plus the goodness of wholegrain oats.

Serve with custard, cream, yogurt or ice cream.

Use gluten-free versions of the oats and baking powder for a gluten-free pudding.

Course Breakfast, Dessert, Snack

Cuisine American, British, gluten-free

Keyword oats, easy, oatmeal, baked oatmeal

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Total Time 45 minutes

Servings 8

Author Moorlands Eater

Ingredients

• butter for greasing baking dish
• 3-4 dessert apples approx 400 g before preparation

Dry ingredients

• 250 g rolled oats see Recipe Note #1
• 100 g soft brown sugar plus extra for sprinkling (optional)
• 80 g sultanas optional: replace with other dried fruit or leave out
• 2 heaped tsp ground cinnamon see Recipe Note #2
• 1 level tsp baking powder
• 1 large pinch salt

Wet ingredients

• 350 ml milk
• 2 large eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 60 g butter

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 180C / 160 C Fan / Gas 4.

2. Butter a baking dish approximately L 26 x W 20 x D 5 cm.

3. Mix the dry ingredients with the apples:

   Put all the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl and stir together.

   Core the apples. Remove the peel if liked, or leave on. Coarsely grate.

   Tip: if the apples are very juicy take handfuls and squeeze (the bake could otherwise be too wet).

   Stir the grated apple into the rest of the dry ingredients.

4. Mix together the wet ingredients:

   Put the milk in a jug and crack in the eggs. Add the vanilla then use a fork or hand whisk to beat them together.

   Melt the butter then stir it into the milk and eggs.

5. Pour the contents of the jug into the bowl and stir well to combine everything.

   Transfer to the prepared baking dish, spreading the mixture evenly and lightly smoothing the top. Add a sprinkle of sugar over the top if liked.

   Put in the oven straight away (otherwise the oats will soak up too much liquid which could make the pudding dry).

6. Bake for 25-30 minutes: a skewer or cocktail stick inserted into the centre should come out clean, but the pudding should still feel springy if you lightly press the top.

7. Serve the pudding on its own or with cream, homemade custard, yogurt, or ice cream.

   Once cold, leftovers can be wrapped and stored in the fridge for 4-5 days, or frozen.

   Reheat in a microwave to keep the soft texture.

Recipe Notes

Note #1  Rolled oats are sometimes labelled 'jumbo' or 'old fashioned' oats. You can use finer porridge oats, but the texture won't be quite the same.

Note #2  Ideally, buy cinnamon labelled 'sweet cinnamon'. This is actually ground cassia rather than true cinnamon, but I think it has a much better flavour.

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