As winter sets in and my desire for a hot breakfast grows, I find myself searching for the perfect bowl of hot oatmeal.
I’m pretty picky when it comes to hot oatmeal. If you have been reading the blog for a while now, you may remember that I used to dislike homemade hot oatmeal. There was just something about it that made my stomach feel off after eating.
But I don’t go down without a fight. I have been on a quest to make a hot oatmeal recipe that I would fall in love with and I think I have finally found my match. I attempted a couple carrot cake oatmeal recipes last winter, but they never turned out as good as I was hoping. This recipe finally got it right!
If you enjoy carrot cake, you will go absolutely crazy for this bowl of oatmeal. I could totally see this as a fun, quick, and easy holiday breakfast for families who are looking for something that tastes indulgent, but is packed with nutrients and a full cup of carrots per bowl.
I believe i t would turn any oatmeal hater into a fanatic with first bite.
Update recipe:
This one is for all of the carrot cake fans! Creamy, crunchy, chewy, and sweet, this recipe packs in a full cup of carrots and a handful of healthy ingredients. This oatmeal is also wonderful as part of a holiday breakfast with loved ones (the serving size can be scaled up). I love serving it with Coconut Whipped Cream to take it over the top! This recipe is an updated version from my 2010 version.
Carrot Cake Oatmeal
Yield
Serves 2Prep time
Cook time
Total time
Ingredients
For the oatmeal:
Topping suggestions:
Directions
Tip:
Nutrition Information
(click to expand)
Carrot Cake Oatmeal (original recipe)
This one is for all of the carrot cake fans out there! Creamy, crunchy, chewy, and sweet, this recipe packs in a full cup of carrots and a handful of healthy ingredients that will keep you feeling full for hours and hours. This oatmeal is also wonderful as part of a holiday breakfast with loved ones. If you are adapting this recipe for several people, I suggest pouring the oats into a large casserole dish when they are ready, adding your toppings, and using a large spoon to scoop portions onto plates or bowls.
Yield: 2 servings
Ingredients:
- 1 heaping cup finely grated carrot (about 1 large)
- 1 cup almond milk
- 2 tbsp full-fat coconut milk cream (or use more almond milk)
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon, to taste
- 1/4 tsp ground ginger
- 1/8th tsp ground nutmeg
- pinch of salt
- 1/2 cup regular oats
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp lemon juice (optional)
- 2 tbsp chopped walnuts, divided
- 2 tbsp raisins, divided
- 2 tbsp pure maple syrup
- 1 tbsp sweetened shredded coconut, for garnish
- 1 tbsp coconut milk cream + 1/2 tsp pure maple syrup, to garnish (optional)
Directions: Finely grate 1 heaping cup of grated carrots. You want to use the fine grate and not the large one so the carrot shreds are very small. This helps the carrot blend in more.
In a medium sized pot over medium heat, whisk together the almond milk, optional coconut milk cream, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and a pinch of salt.
Stir in the grated carrots and oats. Adjust heat if necessary or bring heat to low if it starts to boil. Cook for about 8-9 minutes, stirring frequently. When the mixture has thickened up, remove from heat and stir in the vanilla extract, 1 tbsp walnuts, 1 tbsp raisins, and 2 tbsp of maple syrup. Remove from heat and portion into bowls.
Top the oatmeal with the remaining walnuts, raisins, and shredded coconut. If you are using coconut cream, you can mix a bit of the cream with maple syrup and drizzle on top of the oatmeal, as shown in the photo. Sprinkle with cinnamon for garnish.
Gather up the troops.
I urge you to make this recipe exactly as I wrote it above…it was that good!!!
Finely grate your carrot.
Gnaw on stump.
Who knew you could eat a heaping cup’s worth of carrot in a bowl of oats and it would taste amazing?
Heat over low-medium.
After cooking for about 8 minutes it will be nice and thick:
Pour into a bowl.
I picked up this cute mini casserole from Benix the other day and it makes the perfect oatmeal vessel!
The best part about the mini casserole dish is that you can pop the lid on and refrigerate any leftovers that you have. I had some leftover and I just ate it as a snack later on in the day, straight from the fridge!
Garnish with 1 tbsp of crushed walnuts and 1 tsp of shredded coconut. Sweetened coconut, if you are feeling downright crazy.
Now pour on the 1 tbsp of coconut milk cream + maple syrup mixture and drizzle your heart out!
This mixture tastes incredible. Silky, creamy, and sweet. It is the perfect topping for the carrot cake oats!
Want a bite?
I also tried this recipe making vegan overnight oats and it wasn’t as good as the cooked version. I will have to do some tweaking of the recipe…
I was feeling crazy, so I ventured outdoors for some pictures!
The great thing about oatmeal is that you can take it outside in the cold for a photoshoot, come back indoors, and it is still hot! bahaha.
My mini casserole dish got me thinking how great this recipe would be adapted for several servings and poured into a large casserole dish.
You could easily double, triple, quadruple (etc) the recipe to serve the amount of people that you need to. Then simply, pour the cooked oats into a large casserole dish, add your toppings, and use a large spoon to serve so others can scoop out their desired portion onto their plate.
I think it would be a wonderful holiday breakfast!
If you are looking for a delicious, healthy, and super quick holiday breakfast, you should give this one a shot.
Just be warned….an obsession may set in…
BYE!
Angela, would you be interested in donating one or two of your cookbooks for our online auction? Adam’s Dream Fund is in its 17th year of fundraising for the Sick Kids Hospital, have already raised over $1.7MM toward two programs: Paediatric Oncology and the Clown Therapy Program. We would love to have your book in our auction. It takes place May 23-May 27. Please let me know.
Deborah, Committee Member
416.562.7536
Hi Deborah, Please email Erin Kelly from Penguin at: [email protected] – thanks!
Looks amazingly yummy! Can’t wait to try :)
Hello Angela, I’ve recently discovered your blog and made this yesterday…it was amazing, and will definitely be making regular appearances on our breakfast table!
This was AMAZING!!! I had this for breakfast today and will definitely be making it again!
Could you make this the night before and eat it for breakfast the next day?
I made this yesterday and it was SO good! It worked out perfectly. I substituted nutmeg for all spice, the walnuts for macadamias, currents instead of raisins and honey instead of maple syrup. It tasted like I was eating carrot cake for breakfast! Thanks for sharing this recipe ;)
Thanks for this recipe. I found it this morning and tried it out on my little people. My eleven month old son had two servings (I left the maple syrup out of his). I love that I can get oats and vegetables into the children at breakfast time! I shouldn’t have deviated from your recipe – I used fresh grated ginger because I have heaps of it at the moment, and it made it a bit too spicy (I will stick with powdered next time). I’m going to go and try making an adapted version of my favourite breakfast oat muffins and turn them into oat and carrot muffins. Thanks again for the post, glad I found your website.
Can you use shredded sweet potato instead of carrots for the oatmeal?
I thought you might like to know that this recipe, almost word for word, just won the grand prize of $5000.00 from Bob’s Red Mill Natural Foods recipe contest and that they plan to take it to Scotland to compete.
Hi Mary, Thanks for the headsup. I was emailed about this 3x today…eek. I guess I better look into it!
My toddler and I loved this, a great way to get her to eat carrots, thanks for the recipe!
Made this Carrot Oatmeal this morning, it was absolutely delicious
How would you go about adjusting this if you were to use quick oats?
So I tried this recipe, but the result was a bit too bitter from the 1 tsp of cinnamon. I’d suggest reducing the amount of ground cinnamon to about 1/4 tsp. Will try it again, with less cinnamon :)
Looks wonderful. What’s the nutritional info on this, I didn’t see it? I have a diabetic in the family.
Had some leftover carrots and decided to make this recipe. Never would’ve imagined using carrots in my oatmeal but it turned out very tasty!
we loved this recipe! i have made it several times and all the kids (aged 2 to 10), enjoyed it very much. we eat a lot of oatmeal around here, but when i make this, my kids say “mommy made the yummy oatmeal also wanted to share that i often make this using cow’s milk and it still turns out great
Fantastic recipe! And why should I keep that for a Holiday? I prepare it now for the second week-end in a row for me and my son, making this time a big batch. We love it. Amid this sea of women’s comments, well sorry, I’m a bloke. Thank you Angela for your amazing recipes! Etienne
Hi! Can this be made the night before?
Sound goooooooooooooooooood!
hi Angela,
can i replace regular oats with instant oats?
thanks!
hi Angela, can i replace the regular oats with instant oats? thanks!
How far in advance can I make this? If I make it 2 days before and leave it in the fridge, can it be reheated before serving?
Hi everyone,
This looks so so yummy – but – as I’m trying to lose weight I can’t
work out the calories in it. I’m afraid to make any cos I absolutely
know I’d LOVE it.
I’d be so grateful if anyone could let me know the calorific value of this
wonderful looking breakfast? PLEASE……..
Barbara
O.k soooooooo…. I just made this and it was extremely amazing. I followed all of the instructions didn’t change a thing. I have a family of 6 so 8 just need to triple the recipe. Thanks
I’m so happy to hear the recipe was a hit!
When do I put the lemon juice in?
Hi Jess, I’d add it in when you add in the vanilla extract, walnuts, raisins, and maple syrup.
Great recipes!!
Hi Angela,
This looks amazing! I’m in love with your overnight oatmeal power bowl from Oh She Glows Everyday right now. It’s super filling and really quick in the morning.
Could I “sprout” the oats and carrots overnight for this recipe for a quick breakfast as well?
Thanks!
Just made for breakfast, excellent! I left out the coconut cream and the added a little vanilla protein powder to up the protein factor after it finished cooking. Ate the whole thing in one sitting without regrets! Will definitely make again
Hey Carolyn, Oh love your recipes tweaks! I’ll have to try it with some protein powder next time.
Make this for my 2.5 year old and we loved it! Does it freeze well if I make a big batch?
Thank you Nancy! I haven’t tried freezing it before but I can’t see why not :)
This is excellent! I’m out of vanilla so it’s the only ingredient I didn’t include but it’s still perfect!
Hey Larke, So happy you tried this out and loved it! It’s one of my all-time favourite oatmeal recipes.
Hi! I’d love to share this recipe with my Heart of Winter CSA members. Is that ok?
Thanks,
Andrea
Hi Andrea, Thank you! Please send your inquiry to press[at]ohsheglows.com and we will help out.
I’ve never liked any oatmeal at all. Im going to try this because I’m wanting the nutrition. Thank you
I’ve been on an overnight oats kick and decided to make this “hot” oatmeal into a refrigerated version instead. I followed the recipe exactly as written but instead of cooking the oatmeal on the stovetop, I instead put everything in a bowl and set it in the fridge overnight. As suggested I used the small side of my box grater for grating the carrots which I think did give it a better texture than using the standard holes. This way, the carrots didn’t need cooking either and tasted fine the next morning without being heated. I’d have two suggestions for anyone else wanting to make this recipe into overnights oats in the future: 1.) cut the amount of liquid down to 1 cup & 2.) I felt this recipe really served 1 person as opposed to the 2 servings suggested. It may have been a bit much for one person, but I feel like 2 people would have gone hungry otherwise. Maybe a good sub would be 1/3 cup oatmeal and 2/3 cup milk per person?
Hey Ceilidh, Thank you so much for your feedback! I love that you turned it into overnight oats.
Hi Angela, Hope you are Well & thank you very much for sharing your yummy recipes ! But I need help.. Can you please give me the measurements in grs I really want to do this Recipe.
Me again, sorry I just realized that you also mensionned the Recipe in grs. Have a nice week-end & hope you the best.