This one is for all of the carrot cake fans! Creamy, crunchy, chewy, and sweet, this Carrot Cake Oatmeal packs in a full cup of carrots and a handful of healthy ingredients.

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.

Don’t forget to check out my other Carrot Cake Recipes:
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!
Omg I can’t even look at that without drooling. I MUST get the ingredients for this and make as soon as the weather starts cooling off. As of now, it is way to hot to eat a cooked breakfast. I’ve been doing smoothies and cold soaked oats all summer because just the thought of having the stove on makes me sweat. But I cannot WAIT to try this. It looks so amazingly decadent.
This is fantastic! I am making everyday a holiday!
Made this for my boys this morning without any explanation. “Mama, this tastes like carrot cake!” And then they launched into a lengthy conversation about how great it would be if our house was flooded with carrot cake oatmeal and you could eat it whenever you wanted.
So, yeah, a hit. Thank you!
(Adapted to use steel cut oats)
hahaha love that idea! Oh kid’s imaginations are just the best. Glad it was such a hit!
I decided to make this with the maple sugar instant oatmeal packages I had stashed away in the cabinet and it was amazing as well! Totally tastes like carrot cake:) perfect way to start a day:)
This was PHENOMENAL! Thank you for the recipe, Angela! I can’t wait to make it again on Christmas morning… maybe even Thanksgiving. I see it becoming a holiday tradition. :)
I tried this recipe, it was amazing! I didn’t have almond milk, nutmeg and ground ginger, so I omitted the nutmeg, used soy milk and grated ginger ( just a pinch ) instead, it was wonderful
Do you think I could make this in the slow cooker?
I made this and it was pretty tasty. I ate the whole thing though. There was no way i was only eating half.
worth trying , surely will put this to work . will also try on baking this . thank you !
I love this book. The recipes are great, but one thing is missing. The nutritional values at the end of the recipes would have been helpful. As a person who needs to count carbohydrates, protein and sugars the values would have made calculating so much easier. However, I do love the recipes and have made quite afew. The photos are always an assest to a cookbook and these ones are beautiful.
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!