Carrot Cake Oatmeal Bake

This Carrot Cake Oatmeal Bake is perfect for busy mornings!

Table of Contents

• Cake for Breakfast?
  • Healthy Fats
  • Whole Grains
  • Vegetables
  • Natural Sweeteners
• Is the Carrot Cake Oatmeal Bake Gluten-free?
• Is the Carrot Cake Oatmeal Bake Dairy-free?
• Can you make it ahead of time?
• Carrot Cake Oatmeal Bake
  • To Make:
• More Great Recipes from The Restorative Table

School has begun and with it comes the busy morning routines. Everyone needs to be up, dressed, combed, fed, and before the day begins. And try as I might to slow down and ease into the morning with a steaming cup of coffee and calm conversation and snuggles with my early bird children, it never seems to happen.

Whether you’re homeschooling or dropping children off at school, I believe in the power of starting the morning well. I’m an early riser, and practice the same morning routine that I have for years now. But this year, with four children heading to school in the morning, things have been a little more hectic than in years past.

While I will occasionally have time to make a batch of sourdough pancakes, for the most part, my husband—God bless him—is the one on breakfast duty. He can fry eggs and a make decent bowl of oatmeal, but that’s where his breakfast culinary skills end. We don’t eat cereal and not every child likes eggs of oatmeal, so I try and prep things that can be quick and simple breakfasts for him. I make things ahead of time, like waffles or granola.

My latest favorite? Carrot Cake Oatmeal Bake.

Cake for Breakfast?

Seriously, this stuff is so good. It tastes like carrot cake for breakfast. Everything that we love about carrot cake, but full of nourishing fats, mineral-rich carrots and almonds, and fiber-filled oats. Go ahead and tell your children it’s cake, and they won’t even notice how nutritious it is.

Healthy Fats

Healthy fats from the almond flour and butter help our bodies absorb vitamins and minerals, keep blood sugar stable, and bellies full. If you can, I recommend choosing grass fed and organic butter. If that is not an option, convention butter is still a good source of Vitamins A, D, K, and E, also known as fat soluble vitamins.

Whole Grains

Typically we don’t eat too many grains, but I use organic, rolled oats that I purchase in bulk from Azure Standard in this.

To get full health benefits and make them easier to digest, oats should be soaked ahead of time. But on a busy school morning, sometimes I just don’t have time. Is it the best? No. But it is definitely better than Lucky Charms or Pop Tarts.

Vegetables

Getting kids to eat veggies can be hard, I know, but how about getting some carrots in first thing in the morning?

I love carrots and try to eat at least one raw carrot everyday. It’s easily digestible, full of minerals, and incredibly sweet when your cook it. You cook also add shredded zucchini to this if you need to use up a bounty of zucchini.

Natural Sweeteners

I prefer to avoid white sugar as often as I can. We do sometimes have it on special occasions like a birthday or Christmas, but for every day, I prefer to use sweeteners that add more to a dish.

Apple sauce and maple syrup are the sweeteners for this cake, and it’s plenty sweet enough. Apple and carrot go very well together. Both apple sauce and maple syrup provided not only sweetness, but additional nutrition through vitamins and trace minerals

Is the Carrot Cake Oatmeal Bake Gluten-free?

If you use certified gluten-free oats, the oatmeal bake is gluten free. I use almond flour instead of wheat or einkorn flour which makes the cake very rich and moist. If you don’t have almond flour, you can substitute einkorn or a whole wheat pastry flour if gluten isn’t a concern for you.

Is the Carrot Cake Oatmeal Bake Dairy-free?

I use butter in my recipe, but you need to avoid dairy, you can substitute coconut oil. It will give a slightly sweet coconut flavor, but I think that works with a sweeter breakfast like this. Stronger oils like olive would not be a good fit.

You could also try ghee, if your aversion to dairy is more an intolerance than a full-blown allergy.

Can you make it ahead of time?

You can prep this the night before, keep it in the fridge, and bake it in the morning. I sometimes bake the entire thing when I meal prep and serve it chilled or reheat it. Go ahead and add walnuts, raisins, chocolate chips, or whatever add ins you like. Cranberries would also be good, especially in the fall.

Be sure to save this recipe for later! You’ll be glad you did.

Carrot Cake Oatmeal Bake

• 2 cups almond flour
• 2 cup gluten-free oats
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup applesauce
• 1 cup grated carrots
• 6 tablespoons grass-fed butter, melted, plus some from greasing the baking dish
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 1 tsp vanilla

To Make:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, mix together butter, eggs, maple syrup, carrots, applesauce, and vanilla until well-combined.
3. In a separate bowl whisk almond flour, oats, salt, cinnamon, and baking powder.
4. Add dry ingredients to the wet, and stir together gently until everything is evenly mixed.
5. Pour into a greased 9×13 baking dish and bake at 375 degrees for 30-35 minutes until done. (a toothpick should come out clean)
6. Let cool then cut into squares and serve!

More Great Recipes from The Restorative Table

• Lemon Garlic Grilled Shrimp
• Chicken and Squash Enchiladas
• Honey Mustard Salmon
• 5 Make Ahead Breakfasts
• Einkorn Chocolate Chip Cookies