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Despite having a vegetable in its name, carrot cake is still cake—which typically means it’s loaded with sugar.
Although we love desserts here at The Nutrition Insider, we also love making healthier versions of sweet treats—including the classic carrot cake.
With warm and earthy spices, sweet carrots, hearty oats, and a bit of creaminess, this carrot cake baked oatmeal recipe gives you all the flavors of carrot cake for a fraction of the calories, sugar, and time.
If you live alone, don’t have much storage space, or simply don’t want to make a dessert fit to feed an army, single-serve recipes are the way to go.
And when you swap out the hour-long bake times in the oven for a microwave and a few button pushes, you’ll have a dessert ready faster than you can say “carrot cake.”
But that doesn’t mean that this dessert isn’t nutritious—with carrots, rolled oats, cottage cheese, and a few spices and baking staples, you could eat this carrot cake-inspired recipe for a healthy breakfast or a post-meal sweet treat.
With just two tablespoons of maple syrup, this recipe is much lower in calories and sugar than a typical carrot cake, which can clock in at 650 calories and 50 grams of sugar per slice—plus, we’re adding fiber, protein, and healthy fats from the oats, cottage cheese, and walnuts.
All you need to do is blend the ingredients (except the cream cheese) and place three-quarters of the mixture in a microwave-safe ramekin.
Then, add a layer of cream cheese and top with the rest of the carrot cake and oat mixture. Microwave for 3 minutes and 30 seconds, top with cinnamon, and you’ve got yourself a healthy and delicious carrot-cake-inspired snack, breakfast, or dessert.
As you could probably guess, you definitely need carrots and oats to make a carrot cake baked oatmeal—but some of the other ingredients might surprise you.
Want more oatmeal recipes and carrot cake flavors? Try our Best Stovetop Oatmeal Recipe and our favorite healthy dessert brand, Honey Mama’s, for their Carrot Cake Blonde Truffle Bar.
Although oats are not an ingredient found in traditional carrot cakes, you can definitely include them in a carrot cake recipe if you desire. Rolled oats can add a hearty texture and chewy bite, similar to dried fruit or chopped nuts.
Yes, you can easily make carrot cake oatmeal vegan, as the key ingredients are already plant-based (oats and carrots). Simply use dairy-free milk (like oat or unsweetened vanilla almond milk) and dairy-free cream cheese if desired. Many people also use plant-based protein powder in vegan baked oatmeal. If a recipe calls for eggs, you can use flax eggs as a vegan substitute. Instead of butter, try melted coconut oil.
You should store baked oatmeal covered in the fridge for three to four days or in the freezer indefinitely. You can freeze an oatmeal bake by cutting it into individual servings before separating the pieces with parchment paper. Alternatively, store the individual squares in separate freezer-safe bags for easier reheating. Another option is to make carrot cake oatmeal cups, which would entail baking the mixture in lined cupcake tins (instead of a baking dish) and refrigerating or freezing the cups.
Baked oatmeal and oatmeal have the same starting ingredient: oats. The difference is that baked oats are typically baked in the oven with several other ingredients, forming more of a solid cake or bar-like texture. Oatmeal is often cooked on a stovetop or in the microwave and is more liquidy or has a porridge-like texture. You can usually cut baked oatmeal into squares with a knife, while oatmeal is consumed with a spoon.
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