Strange, yet familiar, back-to-school feelings have been making their way into my brain lately. It has been 4 years since I graduated with a master’s degree in social psychology and I’m convinced I will forever feel like a student this time of the year. Sometimes, I wish I could do it all over because I’d do things a bit differently. For starters, I wouldn’t settle for a major that I wasn’t completely in love with and secondly, I would’ve fed myself better and not beat myself up so much. I loathed my body in university and now when I look back on pictures I think, damn, why was I so hard on myself? Live and learn.
When I entered university, I wanted to become a registered dietitian, but I was lacking a few science courses. Instead of delaying university for a year (and not getting to go with friends), I decided to major in psychology even though nutrition was my true passion. Knowing my passions now, I would’ve majored in photography/food styling, culinary arts, or waited a year to pursue my RD. The thing is, I didn’t really figure out I had a passion for photography until many years later, which just goes to show that you have to figure some things out as you go. Things always have a way of working out one way or another. If you don’t get it right the first time, you certainly aren’t doomed (this took me a while to figure out).
Anyway, I came to tell you about portable snack ideas and got a bit side-tracked.
Lately, I’ve received several questions with a similar theme – what are some portable vegan snacks that I can bring to work or school? I figured it was time to put a post together on this very subject.
Here are some of my favourite portable snacks:
- Crackers + veggies (e.g., celery, carrot, pepper, & cucumber sticks) & hummus
- Nut or seed butter, jam, & whole grain bread or crackers
- Endurance Crackers & hummus/nut butter
- Energy bars like Last Minute Protein Energy Bars or Larabars
- Fruit – bananas, apples, peaches, grapes, etc (I love to pair apples with PB for extra protein)
- Vegan Overnight Oats – very portable! I bring VOO on road trips and make it in hotel rooms
- Homemade Trail Mix like my Go Go Glow Mix or simply throw nuts & seeds together with dried fruit
- Crispy Breaded Tofu Strips with dipping sauce like ketchup or sweet and sour sauce
- 5 Ingredient No Bake Date Squares
- On the Glow Basic Oatmeal Squares
- Homemade muffins
- Dark Chocolate Cherry Energy Bites
You can add this mini baked oatmeal to the list now too!
I love baked oatmeal and when I make it, I often find myself eating leftovers for a snack – straight from the fridge! So, I thought – why not make mini baked oatmeal purposely for on-the-go snacks? These mini mason jars (125ml/4.2 oz) are the perfect size for a snack and they won’t take up a lot of room in your bag. I picked mine up from Canadian Tire. You can find different sized mason jars at many home hardware type stores, as well as Wal-Mart.
It only takes 5-10 minutes to whip up the recipe and then it’s into the oven for 20-25 minutes. Cool completely before putting on the lid and placing in the fridge. Now you have 6 grab-and-go snacks ready for the week ahead. Well, actually, you have 5 snacks because you’ll obviously eat one right out of the oven!
Fill your mason jars like so. You want to leave some room for toppings.
After baking, you can enjoy them plain…
Or add your favourite toppings just like you would with regular oatmeal. Here I added almond butter and jam.
Other topping ideas:
- homemade chia seed jam & nut or seed butter
- Finely chopped fresh fruit
- Pure maple syrup
- Granola
- Sliced banana
- Protein Peanut Butter
Last night I also discovered this can be turned into dessert. Serve it warm with a scoop of non-dairy ice cream for a healthy dessert. Just throwing that out there.
Portable Baked Oatmeal...Snack Size!
Yield
6 servings
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
Ingredients
- 1 cup rolled oats (use GF oats if necessary)
- 2 tbsp chia seed (or ground flax)
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- pinch of fine grain sea salt
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 cup almond milk
- 1.5 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp pure maple syrup
- 1 peach (or other fruit like apple or banana), chopped
- 1/3 cup walnuts or pecans (or use seeds for nut-free), chopped
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Grab 6 mini mason jars (125ml/4.2 oz) and remove lids. Alternatively, you can use 8oz jars and make 3-4 servings.
- In a large bowl, mix together the oats, chia seed (or ground flax), cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and baking powder.
- Add the almond milk, vanilla, and maple syrup and stir until combined. Fold in the chopped fruit and nuts.
- Keep stirring the mixture so some of the milk will absorb. Divide the mixture between the 6 mason jars (about 1/3 cup mixture each), leaving about 1.5 cm at the top. If any milk remains at the bottom of the bowl, divide it between the jars. Gently push the oatmeal down with your fingers.
- Bake at 350°F for 22-25 minutes on a small baking sheet, or until slightly firm and golden on top. Allow to cool completely for about an hour or longer. Add any toppings you desire, place on lid, and into the fridge.
Nutrition Information
(click to expand)Want another in-a-jar recipe? Check out my Mini Peanut Butter Cups In A Jar.
I’ll leave you with Sketchie’s latest hobby…camping in his new cat “tent”.
As always, he’s thrilled to have his picture taken for the blog.
Hi Angela,
I made these and found them to be a little dry. Next time I might lower the chia seeds to 1 Tbsp instead of 2Tbsp or lower the cooking time. I should probably check to be sure my oven temperature is accurate. My jars were very full and I only used a small peach for the fruit. I wouldn’t be able to put any toppings on the oatmeal without creating a huge mess while eating.
HUGE FAN,
Michele
P.S. I LOVE anything made and served in Mason Jars–it’s just so cute!
Thanks for your feedback Michele!
Thank you for this recipe – I made it for the farmers this morning I am feeding and they loved it. Easy – so I loved it. Do you eat it cold or warm. We had it both with maple syrup on it! Yummy, I am making it again for tomorrow’s breakfast!
I am guessing you use the standard rolled oats and not the quick cooking ones. I tried to see if anyone else had commented but missed it if you have already addressed this question. thanks!
Yes I did use regular rolled oats – enjoy!
Hi Angela here at home both my boyfriend and I are loving the portable baked oatmeal so much that tomorrow I have to make another batch. Thank you again for all your delicious and easy recipes. <3
Yum! Did we find out if they are freezer friendly?
Yes they are. Just be sure to wrap them very well! I had them in the freezer for a couple weeks or so.
Just made these last night- used steel cut oats so they looked at little more watery when I plopped them in the jars but still turned out great! I baked them a little longer since they normally take longer to cook than rolled oats :) Eating one right now at work for my morning snack! Topped with your recipe for lower calorie almond butter – absolutely genius to mix it with almond milk to make it lighter and better for dipping fruit in and topping stuff with!
Great blog :)
I’m curious as to what the texture of these is like. Is it liquid-y after being baked, or solid, more like a cake-y cookie? I do not like regular oatmeal in a bowl…it’s a texture thing for me. However, I love oats in granola or oatmeal cookies, so that’s how I know it’s not really a taste thing. I’m curious enough to maybe try these out! If I don’t eat it, I’m sure somebody around this house will!!
These get quite firm – almost like my portable oatmeal squares. It’s not mushy or runny like regular oatmeal.
Great! Thanks so much! I’m definitely making these now!
Wow. These are amazing! Super easy, handy and delicious!!! I used 250ml jars and doubled the recipe so that each one could be more of a real breakfast rather than a snack. It filled 7 jars! Also just made mixed berry chia jam beforehand! SO good! and the combination of the oatmeal and jam is to die for. So excited about this!
I was wondering what the texture is supposed to be like. I made these and they were almost like granola rather than oatmeal.
Did you ever find out if you can freeze these?
I love these! I’m not a huge fan of oatmeal but I love the drier texture of these, like a bread or cake. I just put a dollop of jam on top, soooo good! I make a whole bunch and then freeze them. I like to warm them up for 30 secs in microwave.
When you say, in the reply to a post above about freezing this recipe, “just be sure to wrap them very well,” can you explain what you mean by wrapping them? (i.e. what should I wrap them in – foil? plastic bags? – and do you mean wrapping the jars or wrapping the oatmeal after it’s been cooked in the jars?) I’d like to make these in a larger batch and freeze them for a few weeks so I have a few weekends (that I’ll be spending away from home) worth of breakfasts.
I’ve been browsing your blog for the last couple weeks as I transition to a greener, cleaner diet and I’m very impressed! What I’ve tried thus far has been great and everything else looks delicious – I can’t wait to try so many of these recipes (I must have like 100 bookmarked lol)!!!
Thank you Matt!
When I wrap them, I usually wrap in tin foil and then place them into an air-tight container. Hope this helps!
I hardly create responses, however i did some searching and wound up hdre Portable Baked Oatmeal – Snack Size!
Plus, 10 Other On the Go Snadk Ideas — Oh She Glows.
And I do have some questions for you if you don’t mind.
Could it be simply me or does it look like a few of these remarks look like written by brain
dead people? :-P And, if you are posting on other sites, I would like to
keep up with anything fresh you have to post. Could you list of the complete urls of all your
community sites like your twitter feed, Facebook page or linkedin
profile?
Anxious to try out the recipe, I bought the exact same Mason jars. I couldn’t find the oven-safe label on the box so I contacted Bernardin and they advised not to put them in the oven as the could shatter and/or explode (they sent me a whole article on the dangers). Just thought I’d let you know. I guess I’ll have to bake them in perhaps custard cups or muffin tin?
Would Brown Rice syrup or local honey work instead of maple syrup? I am ALWAYS low on that! lol Hoping to make this today (in about an hour lol …yes, I am a night owl!) for the bf to take for breakfast
I will try it out and let you know (if i remember lol)…
So I’d love to try out this recipes for I don’t want any added sugar (except fruit) so can I swap out the maple syrup for almond milk or water? Thanks :)
I was just wondering what the baking powder does in the oatmeal? I have seen a few recipes for baked oatmeal which don’t include this. Sorry I have never made baked oatmeal before as I am from the UK and its not common here!
It just helps it rise every so slightly – but you can probably leave it out! :)
The link on this page for On the Glow Basic Oatmeal Squares is broken but I found it with a google search. Just wanted to let you know so you can do a quick fix. Appreciate your recipes!
Hey Anne, Thanks for letting me know. It has been fixed.