By Made with simple ingredients and all mixed up in the pan it's baked in, this cookie-baked protein oats is delicious and easy to make. Each slice packs in 20 grams of protein, and while it looks like it's topped with frosting, this breakfast is actually filled with healthy ingredients like hemp seeds and topped with a chocolate Greek yogurt spread to pack in the protein.
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Meal prep, high protein breakfasts that taste good all week and have no protein powder can be hard to find. And as someone who likes sweet things for breakfast, it feels extra hard.
Well, that's where cookie-baked oats come in. Based on my viral cinnamon roll baked oats, these ones pack in the same 20 grams of protein per serving but are sprinkled with chocolate chips and finished with a chocolate Greek yogurt "frosting." It's basically a chocolate chip cookie for breakfast but with no banana and is gluten free.
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ingredient notes & substitutions
All substitutions are a 1:1 substitute unless otherwise noted. See the recipe card for quantities.
- Rolled Oats: I've used both old-fashioned rolled oats and quick oats. I preferred the not-quick cooking style for this bake, but either works just fine. If you use quick-cook oats, add an additional ½ cup of oats. And if you want more ideas for your oats, try our oatmeal protein cookies!
- Chia seeds & hemp seeds: Both of these ingredients add more fiber and protein while also helping to thicken the oats.
- Egg whites: For this recipe, I like to use ready-to-use egg whites rather than cracking a bunch of eggs. If you do and have egg yolks to use, you can save them to make rigatoni carbonara. You can use flax eggs instead for less protein or whole eggs but the texture will be much different.
- The batter: Grab plain Greek yogurt (non-fat), skim milk (or milk of choice), salt, and vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste. Feel free to use any unsweetened Greek yogurt, Icelandic yogurt, or other thick, strained yogurt. If you use vanilla, just omit the maple syrup.
- Monk fruit maple syrup sweetener: This is lower in carbs, but you can use regular maple syrup or your favorite liquid sweetener instead.
- Chocolate chips: These get mixed into the batter and used to make the topping. I like to use no-sugar ones or Hu ones that use natural sweeteners.
- Optional: For extra toppings or mix-ins you can also add peanut butter, cashew butter, or almond butter.
high protein ingredient spotlight: Greek yogurt
Greek yogurt is in so many of our recipes because it packs anywhere from 15 to 20 grams of protein per serving. We love it in sweet things like this protein apple cake and this chocolate protein baked oats and in savory recipes like this tarragon chicken wrap. In general, the lower the fat, the higher the protein.
let's make cookie baked oats
- Mix: In the baking dish, mix all the baked oats ingredients together.
- Bake: Bake for 30-35 minutes or until all the liquid has absorbed.
- Frosting: Make this by melting the chocolate chips, then add the milk and finally the yogurt and maple syrup. Leave this in the fridge until ready to use.
- Enjoy: Let it cool slightly, then cut it into 8 large slices (I know, big, beautiful servings). Enjoy topped with chocolate Greek yogurt frosting.
quick recipe video
expert tips
- Keep it in an airtight container: The yogurt frosting and the baked oats tend to get hard when exposed to air so it's best to keep them both sealed well.
- Use a different pan: I made this one to look like a cookie cake but you can use any similar sized pan like an 8x8 square pan. You can also use a muffin tin and bake for just 15 minutes or use a 9x13 pan and bake for 20 minutes.
common questions
This can happen if your yogurt has too much water content. We use Greek yogurt, which has a very low moisture content, so it bakes well. But, if you feel like the mixture is too wet, add ½ cup more (or up to 1 cup) oats to the mixture.
We believe rolled oats or old-fashioned oats are best for baking. This is because they are processed in a way that allows them to absorb moisture like a typical flour would. For this reason, steel cut is not appropriate to use for baked goods.
No! Steel-cut oats take much longer to bake, so they won't work for this recipe. And if you don't like oats, you can just make my gluten-free protein chocolate chip cookie!
storage and meal prep tips
It's best to store the base and the frosting separately so you can easily reheat the base and not the top. These will last for 5 days in the fridge in an airtight container like this. Or, you can freeze just the baked oats base for up to 3 months wrapped tightly in plastic wrap and in a ziplock bag.
If you tried this cookie baked prtein oats without protein recipe or any other recipe, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below. Thanks!
Recipe
Cookie Baked Protein Oatmeal
Ingredients
Oatmeal Batter
- 2 cups rolled oats
- 1 cup egg whites (see notes for possible alternatives)
- ¼ cup chia seeds
- ¼ cup hemp seeds
- 1.5 cups plain non-fat Greek yogurt
- ¼ cup pure maple syrup (or monk fruit maple syrup)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup skim milk
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cups chocolate chips
topping
- 1 cup plain non-fat Greek yogurt
- 1 tablespoon skim milk
- 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup (or monk fruit maple syrup)
- ⅓ cup chocolate chips
Before you start!
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Instructions
- Preheat: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line or grease a 9" or similar round pan or pie tin.
- Mix: In the baking dish mix together all the batter ingredients and bake for 30-40 minutes or until set.
- Topping: Make the topping by melting the ⅓ cup chocolate chips in the microwave first (in 30-second increments so they don't burn). Then, mix in the 1 tablespoon skim milk to temper the chocolate. finally stir in the 1 cup plain non-fat Greek yogurt and 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup.
- Assemble: If you are eating it all right away, you can top it with all the Greek yogurt, as I do in the image. Otherwise, just keep them separate so you can reheat the baked oats and top them with a cold Greek yogurt topping.
Video
Notes
Looking for more information?
Additional substitution information can be found above in the substitution section of this post.
Nutrition Disclaimer
Nutritional information is an estimate and for informational purposes only.
Another awesome baked oatmeal recipe! Delicious with the topping or without, the chocolate chips really give it a great taste.
Maybe I didn't cook mine long enough, but it wasn't as put together as yours. I added a good 8-10 minutes. It still tasted good. I'll try it again, but cook it even longer. 🤷