Flag Baked Oatmeal
5
Published Jun 29, 2021, Updated Jul 05, 2023
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This American flag baked oatmeal is inspired by my favorite 4th of July dessert, flag cake. It’s the perfect patriotic breakfast, snack or healthy dessert.
This tasty red, white and blue baked oatmeal is inspired by one of my childhood favorites = flag cake! You know the one made with angel food cake, whipped cream and berries? My mom used to make it every 4th of July and I was obsessed.
I’ve made my own healthy flag cake before, using Simple Mills cake mix, but this year I decided to turn my easy baked oatmeal recipe into a flag cake and it worked out so well.
Using my strawberry baked oatmeal as inspiration, I just added some blueberries to the mix and skipped the dark chocolate chips. This baked oatmeal is a bit thinner than my other baked oatmeals because it’s baked in a larger pan. It’s honestly more similar to my berry oatmeal bars, which are super tasty and festive too!
Here’s What You Need:
- old–fashioned rolled oats – my fave brand is Bob’s Red Mill gluten-free old fashioned rolled oats.
- pure maple syrup – pure maple syrup is the perfect natural sweetener to use for baked oatmeal in my opinion!
- baking powder – helps the baked oatmeal rise.
- cinnamon – for a hint of spice.
- sea salt – to bring all of the flavors together.
- almond milk – I like using unsweetened almond milk but any dairy-free milk works.
- flaxseed – Instead of an egg we’re using flaxseed to help bind the dish together.
- coconut oil – make sure you’re using extra virgin coconut oil. I’ve purchased several different brands of coconut oil before, but Nutiva organic extra virgin coconut oil is my favorite.
- vanilla extract – a wonderful flavor enhancer.
- bananas – you’ll mix in 1 mashed banana and then use 1 sliced banana to make the stripes on top if using the naked oatmeal option for decorating.
- fresh strawberries – to both mix into the batter and top the baked oatmeal.
- fresh blueberries – to both mix into the batter and top the baked oatmeal.
- white chocolate chips – I used Lily’s white chocolate chips because they are low in sugar, but still delicious! Another option for this section of the flag design is a vanilla icing (I like the Simple Mill’s brand) or even whipped cream!
- cooking spray – to make sure your oatmeal doesn’t stick to the baking dish!
Here’s the Process
How to Make a Flag Design
Once the baked oatmeal has cooled, it’s time to decorate with a cute flag design. The best part is that there are a couple options for decorating. Option one is great if you want to keep things simple, but I do like option two because each portion gets a little of the whipped topping and the contrast of the white really makes the berries top. Option two is also more similar to traditional flag cake and really makes it feel like a dessert since the baked oatmeal almost tastes like soft cookie. It’s not a dessert I would take to a party, but it’s certainly something I would eat for dessert at home. My 19 month old gobbled it right up!
Option 1: Naked baked oatmeal with melted white chocolate chips – this is how I decorated the baked oatmeal you see in the photos. For the stars, simply melt Lily’s white chocolate chips and spread the chocolate into a rectangular shape in the upper left hand corner. Place blueberries into the white chocolate before it sets, making rows of touching blueberries. You can do 5 rows, 10 columns for 50 blueberries total or less if it looks better. To make the stripes, use sliced bananas and strawberries slices to make rows and spread them horizontally across the baked oatmeal. You could also use frosting instead of the white chocolate chips. For the icing you can use the cream cheese frosting recipe from my birthday cake baked oatmeal or store-bought. I’m a big fan of the Simple Mills vanilla icing.
Option 2: Whipped topping or vanilla frosting – for this option you simply spread a layer of whipped topping (I used So Delicious Cocowhip) or vanilla frosting (I’m a big fan of the Simple Mills vanilla icing) over the entire baked oatmeal. Then make rows of touching blueberries in the left corner to act as the stars. You can do 5 rows, 10 columns for 50 blueberries total or less if it looks better. For the stripes, just do 3 rows of sliced strawberries horizontally across the baked oatmeal.
How Long Does Baked Oatmeal Last in the Fridge?
Baked oatmeal lasts about 4-6 days in the fridge. If I’m not serving it to a group of people for brunch, I love making one batch on Sunday and having balanced breakfasts the rest of the week. This is a great recipe for meal prep!
More Festive Recipes to Try:
- Healthy Greek Yogurt Berry Tart
- Frozen Yogurt Bark with Berries
- Summer Berry Salad with Walnuts
- 3 Ingredient Icebox Cake
- Chocolate Covered Banana Pops
- Strawberry Coconut Milk Sorbet
- Creamy Avocado Lime Tart
If you enjoyed this recipe, please consider leaving a ⭐ star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below.
Flag Baked Oatmeal
Ingredients
- 2 cups rolled old-fashioned oats
- 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 2 cups almond milk
- 1 Tablespoon ground flaxseed
- 1 Tablespoon coconut oil, melted
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ripe banana, mashed, plus 1 additional banana if using banana slices for topping
- 1 cup strawberries, divided, (half chopped and half sliced)
- 1 cup blueberries, divided
- toppings: 1/4 cup white chocolate chips, Cocowhip or vanilla icing , (depending on how you want to decorate)
- cooking spray
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F.
- Spray a rectangular baking dish with cooking spray. I used a 3.15 qt. (12.5" x 8.25") baking dish.
- In a large bowl, mix together the oats, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Add in milk, maple syrup, flaxseed, coconut oil, vanilla and mashed banana. Stir well to combine.
- Gently fold in 1/2 cup chopped strawberries and 1/2 cup blueberries.
- Carefully pour oatmeal mixture into the prepared baking dish.
- Bake for 30 minutes or until the middle of the bake is set and the top/edges are a little golden.
- Remove from the oven and let cool and decorate as a flag using one of the options I share below in the notes.
- Cut into portion and serve.
Notes
- Naked baked oatmeal with melted white chocolate chips – this is how I decorated the baked oatmeal you see in the photos. For the stars, simply melt Lily’s white chocolate chips and spread the chocolate into a rectangular shape in the upper left hand corner. Place blueberries into the white chocolate before it sets, making rows of touching blueberries. You can do 5 rows, 10 columns for 50 blueberries total or less if it looks better! To make the stripes, use sliced bananas and strawberries slices to make rows and spread them horizontally across the baked oatmeal.
- Option 2: Whipped topping or vanilla frosting – for this option you simply spread a layer of whipped topping (I used So Delicious Cocowhip) or vanilla frosting over the entire baked oatmeal. Then make rows of touching blueberries in the left corner to act as the stars. You can do 5 rows, 10 columns for 50 blueberries total or less if it looks better. For the stripes, just do 3 rows of sliced strawberries horizontally across the baked oatmeal. For the icing you can use the cream cheese frosting recipe from my birthday cake baked oatmeal or store-bought. I’m a big fan of the Simple Mills vanilla icing.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I’d like to know if you think this could be made without the fruit and cut into bars? I’m looking for healthy breakfast options for my Mom, but she can’t eat blueberries or strawberries.
If you’re looking for an oatmeal bar recipe, I’d follow this recipe for my baked oatmeal bars. I think it’d be fine to skip the berries in this recipe! Let me know if you try it and how it turns out. 🙂
Thank you for the suggestion. I made your other recipe and the bars turned out great! I left out the applesauce and doubled the bananas so they tasted a lot like banana bread. I baked them in an individual brownie pan, so I got 12 perfect bars, they all had nice crispy, chewy edges. All three of my kids heated one up for breakfast this morning. I’ll definitely make these again.
Would regular milk work in this recipe?
Hey Ginny- Yes, regular milk would definitely work!