Strawberry Cheesecake Oatmeal Bake
A dessert classic meets your morning oatmeal.
Breakfast doesn’t have to be blah and bland, and this recipe for Strawberry Cheesecake Oatmeal Bake is here to change the daily breakfast game. A base of oats studded with strawberries and topped with a cheesecake-like swirl will change your view of breakfast oats for good.
Oatmeal sometimes has a bad reputation. While considered a great neutral breakfast, its neutrality can be its downfall, often called a heavy beige bowl of cement. However, this recipe is here to give oatmeal a bit of a recipe facelift.
This recipe uses the tiniest bit of flour to bind the oats into a cake-like batter. Chopped strawberries are folded into the batter and used as a garnish on top of the batter as well. A quick, sweetened cream cheese is swirled with strawberries on top, giving the bake a bright and lively visual appeal.
Bake covered and then uncovered. This oatmeal bake needs to rest for a few minutes before being sliced and served.
Strawberry Cheesecake Oatmeal Bake is a great way to have the flavors of a dessert without the intense sweetness of the real dessert. The sweetened cream cheese gives the element of a creamy, tangy cheesecake slice. Here, the berries act like the fruit sauce that tops classic cheesecake. The oat base is filling without being heavy. Luckily, the eggs, yogurt, and milk lighten the oats, and the touch of cinnamon goes a long way to season the oats with a perfect bit of warmth.
It can be eaten straight from the oven or made ahead and eaten whenever. While it tastes good cold, it tastes even more divine when heated up and warmed through. With this recipe, you can have your cheesecake and eat it too!
Strawberry Cheesecake Oatmeal Bake
Allergens: Eggs Milk strawberries
For cheesecake swirl:
- 4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
- 3 tablespoons powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon whole milk, room temperature
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the baked oat base:
- 2 cups rolled oats
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup whole milk, room temperature
- 2/3 cup Greek yogurt, room temperature
- 3 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 1 large egg white, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup chopped strawberries, if frozen defrost them (you can keep some strawberries reserved to garnish on top of the baked oatmeal)
To make the cheesecake swirl:
- Beat cream cheese until smooth and lump free, about 1 to 2 minutes. Add in powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla, mixing until thoroughly combined, set aside.
To make the oat bake:
- Preheat oven to 350°F and grease a 9x9-inch baking dish with baking spray, set aside. In a bowl whisk together oats, flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.
- In another bowl whisk together milk, yogurt, butter, sugar, egg, egg white, and vanilla.
- Gradually add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, until there are no visible streaks of flour. Fold in strawberries.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
- Dollop the cheesecake mixture on top of the batter and use a butter knife to marble the cheese mixture into the batter Sprinkle with some additional chopped strawberries.
- Cover the pan with foil and bake in the oven for 20 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for an additional 20 to 25 minutes. The center of the oatmeal bake should be mostly firm with very little movement when the dish is shaken.
- Allow the dish to cool for 10 minutes before slicing and serving, enjoy! It can also be made ahead and the dish wrapped tightly with plastic wrap and foil and refrigerated. You then take out as much as you want and eat cold or reheated.
Recipe adapted from Peanut Butter and Fitness.
