It’s that time of year when zucchini is going wild in the garden and you need all the zucchini recipes – and this Zucchini Chocolate Chunk Baked Oatmeal fits the bill! I love baking with shredded zucchini because it makes for such tender and moist baked goods. This baked oatmeal is moist and dense, with little pockets of melty chocolate. It’s a perfect meal prep breakfast that I love to serve in a bowl with some milk or maple syrup. Enjoy!

how to

Store and Freeze Baked Oatmeal

You can store baked oatmeal in the refrigerator or freezer, and it’s a perfect meal prep breakfast!

• Refrigerator: Once the baked oatmeal has completely cooled, cover the entire baking dish with aluminum foil or plastic wrap before transferring it to the refrigerator. It will stay good covered in the refrigerator for 6-7 days.
• Freezer: Once the baked oatmeal has completely cooled, cut it into 6 slices and wrap each slice in foil or wax paper. You can also freeze the entire baked oatmeal (with the baking dish if it’s freezer safe)- just wrap it well, minimizing the amount of air between the baked oatmeal and the wrap, then place it in the freezer.

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Re-heating and Serving Baked Oatmeal

• Hot or cold: I prefer to eat my baked oatmeal warm, so I just reheat it in the microwave for 30-60 seconds before serving. You can totally eat it cold if that’s what you prefer though! I also love to serve mine with some nice cold almond milk in a bowl with fresh berries.
• To reheat from frozen: The best way to reheat from frozen is to remove the wrapped slice from the freezer the night before you plan to eat it and place it in the refrigerator. It will mostly thaw overnight, then when you’re ready to eat it, place the unwrapped slice of baked oatmeal on a microwave safe dish and microwave it at 30 second intervals for 1-2 minutes. To reheat the entire baked oatmeal, cover it with foil and stick it in the oven for about 20 minutes at 350°F.

Ingredients and Substitutions

Here’s what you’ll need to make this Zucchini Chocolate Chunk Baked Oatmeal at home:

• Rolled oats – I love to see the whole oats in my baked oatmeal, but don’t worry – they’re baked to perfect tenderness! Other types of oats like quick oats or steel cut oats will behave differently, so I don’t recommend swapping this ingredient.
• Milk – Use whatever neutral tasting milk you prefer! I used almond milk, which doesn’t have a strong flavor. Some non-dairy milks have a really strong flavor or are overly sweet – I’d stay away from those in this recipe.
• Applesauce – Adds volume, sweetness, and moisture without watering the batter down.
• Eggs – These are the glue that bring the dough together and add a bit of protein too. Like the melted butter, egg yolks also add some much needed fat to keep the baked oatmeal tender.
• Zucchini – Grate the zucchini with a fine grater to make sure you don’t end up with large chunks. I love seeing the little specks of green throughout, plus it helps make a really moist baked oatmeal!
• Protein powder – I used a plant based protein powder for this recipe, but you could also use a whey/casein blend. Just be sure to decrease the amount of almond milk by about 1/4 cup.
• Chocolate – I opted for a 60% dark chocolate chopped into chunks from a bar for maximum meltiness, but go for whatever chips or chunks you like. If you’re using chocolate chips, I do recommend regular sizes rather than minis so the flavor doesn’t get lost.
• Baking powder – This gives the oatmeal bake a good rise as it cooks, plus helps add air in the final product, meaning it’s less dense.
• Maple syrup – For a touch of sweetness, plus maple syrup helps make the baked oatmeal more tender. You could also use honey light brown sugar if you prefer.
• Melted butter – Adds some much needed fat to the baked oatmeal, keeping it from being dry and crumbly. You could also use peanut butter or coconut oil if you’d prefer to stay away from butter. If you’re not worried about the macros, throw in an extra tablespoon for even more tender and delicious baked oatmeal.
• Vanilla extract – Like salt in a savory dish, vanilla tends to enhance the flavors of a sweet recipe.

Shop for This Recipe

Here are some items I used to help make this recipe a success:

Baking Dish

Spatulas

Grater

Rolled Oats

Recipe

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Zucchini Chocolate Chunk Baked Oatmeal

Prep: 15 minutes mins

Cook: 40 minutes mins

Total: 55 minutes mins

Servings: 6 servings

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Servings: 6 servings

Ingredients

• ▢ 2 1/4 cups rolled oats, (216 grams)
• ▢ 1 1/2 scoops Optimum Nutrition Vanilla Plant Based Protein Powder, (57 grams)
• ▢ 2 oz Ghirardelli 60% chocolate, chopped, (56 grams)
• ▢ 1/2 tsp baking powder, (2 grams)
• ▢ 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• ▢ 1/4 tsp salt
• ▢ 1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk, (8 fl oz)
• ▢ 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce, (122 grams)
• ▢ 1 medium zucchini, finely grated, (170 grams)
• ▢ 1/4 cup pure maple syrup, (2 fl oz)
• ▢ 3 tbsp unsalted butter, melted, (42 grams)
• ▢ 2 large eggs, (100 grams)
• ▢ 1 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

• Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease an 8×11" baking dish with coconut oil and set aside.
• Place grated zucchini on top of a double-layered paper towel and squeeze the most of the liquid from it. Don't completely wring it out – some liquid should remain in the zucchini. Set aside.
• In a medium bowl, combine all wet ingredients except the zucchini, carefully whisking in the melted butter last so it doesn't cook the eggs. Set aside.
• In a large bowl, combine all dry ingredients except chocolate chunks. Add drained grated zucchini, using your fingers to break the zucchini apart and toss in the dry ingredients to separate. Add the wet ingredients and mix until just combined, then fold in the chocolate chunks. Pour into prepared casserole dish and spread evenly.
• Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes or until the top of the baked oatmeal is lightly golden and has some give but does not collapse easily when gently poked with a finger.
• Allow to cool, then cut into 6 pieces for serving.

Tips & Tricks

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Nutrition Information

Serving: 1slice, Calories: 347kcal (17%), Carbohydrates: 43g (14%), Protein: 14g (28%), Fat: 14g (22%), Cholesterol: 84mg (28%), Sodium: 150mg (7%), Potassium: 367mg (10%), Fiber: 6g (25%), Sugar: 14g (16%)