Does anyone else agree that pears are one of the most underrated fruits out there? SO JUICY, SO SWEET. SO FABULOUS. Anyone else remember my fabulous juicy pear crisp? YUM.
Anyway, I used to eat pears all the time as a kid; now I find myself buying them for my kiddos, who love them just as much. Sadly, they ripen quickly so I have to find ways to enjoy them before they turn to mush.
Once again, a couple of years back, I faced this dilemma on a wild Friday night in. I saw ripe pears sitting on my counter and figured I’d throw them in a simple, yet fabulous oatmeal bake that the entire family could devour the next day. Wow, just wow — it turned out insanely good. A hint of brown butter caramel flavor, lots of vanilla, and juicy sweet pears in every bite.
This brown butter pear baked oatmeal is easy to make and truly the perfect breakfast or brunch! Serve it up for Thanksgiving breakfast — you’ll need the fuel for all of that cooking and I promise you’re going to love it!
What you’ll need to make this pear baked oatmeal
This easy pear baked oatmeal is incredibly simple to make and uses lots of pantry staples for a quick breakfast. Plus, you’ll get the coziest flavors from juicy pears, cinnamon, caramel-like brown butter and vanilla. Here’s what you’ll need:
- Butter: you’ll need some butter, of course, to make that rich brown butter for the oatmeal. We’re only using 1/4 cup in the recipe to give it that caramel-like flavor and keep it extra moist.
- Eggs: this baked oatmeal recipe uses 2 eggs. I haven’t tried with flax eggs, but let me know if you do.
- Sweetener: we’re using a little pure maple syrup, vanilla & cinnamon to give it that deliciously sweet vanilla flavor.
- Milk: I like to use unsweetened almond milk in this recipe, but you can use any milk you’d like. Coconut milk would be fabulous!
- Oats: because it’s baked oatmeal, of course! Please be sure to use old fashioned rolled oats, not steel cut or quick oats, in this recipe.
- Baking staples: you’ll also need some baking powder & salt.
- Pears: the juicy pears truly make this baked oatmeal special. I love Bartlett pears for the best texture.
- Optional: I love adding diced walnuts or pecans for a little crunch, too!
How to tell when a pear is ripe
It can be difficult to tell when a pear is perfectly ripe, but here are my best tips: apply a slightly pressure to the fruit, near the stem. If it is slightly soft, then it’s perfect for eating or using in a recipe. I do not recommend eating or using in recipes if the pear is still hard. Always store your pears on the counter (or at room temperature!).
Should I peel the pears before adding them?
No need! You can slice the pears as-is, however, feel free to peel them first if you prefer them that way.
How to brown butter
The brown butter adds such an incredible flavor to this oatmeal bake and is easier to make than you think! Get all of my tips and tricks for browning butter in this post and get ready to add it to literally everything.
Optional ingredient swaps
- To keep this baked oatmeal dairy free: you can use vegan butter or melted coconut oil instead of real butter. However, do not try browning either of those options, as it will not work.
- To make gluten free: be sure to use gluten free rolled oats if you’d like to make this recipe gluten free.
- Don’t have pears on hand? Instead of pears, apples would also be a delicious option. I always go for Honeycrisp as they are nice, sweet and juicy!
Looking to add more protein?
Feel free to mix in 1 scoop of your favorite protein powder (I love Vital Proteins collagen peptides) before baking the oatmeal. You’ll then get over 10g of protein per serving!
Can I make this pear oatmeal bake vegan?
I haven’t tested a vegan version of this pear oatmeal bake but you can try using a flax egg or two! I think it should work well, but please let me know in the comments.
Be sure to also use melted coconut oil or vegan butter instead of regular butter.
Wonderful pear baked oatmeal in 5 simple steps
- Prep your pan. Grease a 9×9 inch baking pan with cooking spray and preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
- Brown that butter. Just like in the instructions above!
- Mix the wet. Add all of the wet ingredients to a large bowl and mix well.
- Add the dry. Then mix in all of the dry ingredients, stirring in the pears and brown butter last.
- Bake & enjoy! Pour the pear baked oatmeal mixture into your prepared pan, top with nuts if you’d like, and bake until set! Cut into 6 slices for breakfast.
How to store & reheat baked oatmeal
- In the fridge: be sure the pear baked oatmeal has completely cooled, and then cover your 9×9 inch pan with tinfoil before transferring it to the refrigerator. It will stay good covered in the refrigerator for 3-4 days, and you can reheat individual slices in the microwave for 30-60 seconds. You can also store individual slices in airtight containers for quick, on-the-go breakfasts.
- To freeze: once the pear oatmeal bake has completely cooled, cut it into 6 squares and wrap each square in plastic wrap and tinfoil. When you’re ready to eat it, place the unwrapped frozen square of baked oatmeal on a microwave safe dish and microwave it at 30 second intervals for 1-2 minutes. If you’d like to freeze the entire baked oatmeal for later, simply reheat it in the oven for 20-25 minutes at 350 degrees F while it’s covered with tinfoil.
More breakfast recipes you’ll love
- Chunky Monkey Banana Baked Oatmeal
- Healthy Pumpkin Oatmeal Pancakes
- Grandma’s Buttermilk Waffles
- Upside-Down Orange Caramel Pecan French Toast Bake
- Change Your Life Salted Brown Butter Pancakes
Get all of my delicious breakfast recipes here!
I hope you love this amazing vanilla brown butter pear baked oatmeal recipe! If you make it be sure to leave a comment & a rating so I know how you liked it. Enjoy, xo.
Ambitious Kitchen
Cookbook
125 Ridiculously Good For You, Sometimes Indulgent, and Absolutely Never Boring Recipes for Every Meal of the Day
Vanilla Brown Butter Pear Baked Oatmeal
Ingredients
- Wet ingredients:
- ¼ cup butter*
- 2 eggs
- ¼ cup pure maple syrup
- 1 ¾ cups unsweetened almond milk (or any milk of choice)
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- Dry ingredients:
- 2 cups old fashioned rolled oats
- 1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- Mix-ins
- 2 small to medium ripe bartlett pears, diced (about 1 ½ cups diced pears)
- Optional:
- ¼ cup finely diced walnuts (or sub pecans)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9x9 inch pan with oil or nonstick cooking spray and set aside.
- *First, brown your butter: add butter to a small saucepan and place over medium heat. Once melted, the butter will begin to crackle, and then eventually foam. This will take a few minutes. Make sure you whisk constantly during this process. After a couple of minutes, the butter will begin to brown and turn a nice golden amber color on the bottom of the saucepan. Continue to whisk and remove from heat as soon as the butter begins to brown and give off a nutty aroma. Set aside to cool for 5 minutes.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, pure maple syrup, almond milk and vanilla extract.
- Add the dry ingredients to the bowl with the wet ingredients: oats, cinnamon, baking powder and salt. Mix until combined, then stir in diced pears and finally, the browned butter.
- Pour mixture into the prepared pan and smooth top. Sprinkle the top with chopped walnuts, if using. Bake for 35-45 minutes or until the edges are slightly golden brown and center is set. Remove from the oven, allow to cool for 10 minutes, then cut into 6 slices and serve.
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Recipe by: Monique Volz // Ambitious Kitchen | Photography by: Eat Love Eats
This post was originally published on February 3, 2021, republished on November 4, 2021, and republished on November 1st, 2023.
This was a great way to use up my pears that were ripening way too quickly, and I appreciate that! Thank you! Had no idea what to do with them
I felt that the bake itself was lacking quite a bit of sweetness and I was oddly getting some more prominent salty notes – for anyone reading, this is still delicious!! Just plan to serve with extra syrup drizzled on it before eating. That’s the only thing I would say. Would also be great served with vanilla Greek yogurt
Thanks for the idea!
Excellent! It’s still hot but I took a bite and yum….I did make some changes based on what i had on hand. And, also, spoiler alert, I did not brown the butter due to time constraints. I doubled the recipe because I have a ginormous bag of oatmeal from Kirkland I”m trying to use up before I move. I also had an apple and some very ripe bananas that I threw in there. I didn’t have any maple syrup so I subbed for a small amount of brown sugar. I used regular milk instead of a plant based milk. I am looking forward to feeding these squares to my teenager as we run out the door to school each morning! Thanks for the recipe!
Perfect! This one’s great for customizing 🙂 I hope your teen loves it, too!
This is so good. I buy pears just to make this now. Great meal prep!
Thanks Monique.
Love it! Perfect breakfast 🙂
Omg—I thought this would be good, but it’s literally the most unexpectedly amazing thing I’ve ever eaten 😂
I meal-prepped it for breakfast, but it was so good I ended up having it for dessert too.
Can’t wait to add this to my weekly rotation!
Aw so happy to hear that!!
This was a perfect recipe for a cold winter morning. The brown butter takes it to another level and the pears cook beautifully. The entire family loved it!
Absolutely! One of my favorites for winter 🙂
Hi! Can I make this in a 8 by 8 pan?
It might need to bake a bit longer but I think that should work fine!
Don’t leave reviews for things often but WOW THIS IS SOOOO GOOD!!! Paired with some high protein yogurt.. you got yourself a delicious and healthy breakfast!!!
The best!! Thanks for your review!
The flavor is phenomenal! I’m not a big oatmeal fan, but this is a game changer for me. Thank you!
Glad you loved it!
Wow, this recipe is delicious!! I added nutmeg and a little cardamom too for a spiced flavor. And about 1/4 cups diced almond inside. My breakfasts are revolutionized haha. Amazing, thank you!
Love that!!
Perfect…super simple and delicious…I used brown sugar had no.mappw syrup…came out beautiful…will do again. Thank you for sharing you recipes with us.
This is so delicious! Perfect recipe for overly ripe pears.
Yes! Love this one for the holidays.
This is delicious, flavorful and simple to make. I used duck eggs and I think that also added a level of richness but it would still be flavorful and good with chicken eggs.
Perfect! Glad you enjoyed!
I make something similar for dessert, am looking forward to legitimatising it for breakfast by adding those eggs😄
Perfect!
Was a little skeptic on the pears but tried it anyway and OMG it tasted like a Thanksgiving pie!! The brown butter truly makes the whole thing more caramel-y. Do yourself a favor and make this!! I had a piece every day till it was gone😋😋😋
The best!! Glad you enjoyed!
We make this all of the time and it is always so good! Such a delicious and wholesome breakfast to start the day off with!
One of our favs, too!
Absolutely delightful. Such a warm treat for breakfast. Will be making this again.
One of our fav breakfasts, too!
Hi there, can canned pears be used for this recipe?
Sure!
I didn’t see the note about not using quick cooking pasta until it was too late. I hope it still turns out OK.
I literally make this weekly my kids love it and legit think they’re having cake for breakfast every morning. So easy to make and store for easy before school breakfast thank you thank you for this godsend of a recipe!!!
Love that!! Best way to wake up 🙂
This baked oatmeal was okay but consistency was way off. Very wet and eggy like consistency. I compared the ingredients with another one I make all the time and the milk to oats ratio was off. I use one cup milk to 3 cups oats and it’s perfect every single time. The pears also make this oatmeal recipe wet so the oats should be increased.
Sorry to hear that this didn’t turn out for you! I’ve made it many times with the ingredient ratios listed, so I’m not sure what could’ve gone wrong here. Feel free to add more oats next time!
Do you have any suggestions for how to make this vegan to accommodate a friend?
You can try using flax eggs, I haven’t tried it but it should work. Also, you can use vegan butter, but keep in mind it won’t brown like regular butter the flavor profile will be a bit different. Enjoy!
This recipe is a breakfast game changer. So far I’ve made it twice, once with whole milk, another time with almond milk. I successfully added extra pears because they were going soft. I subbed half a cup of oats with oatbran, because its healthy, and I love the taste and texture of it. I also subbed half teaspoon of cinnamon for cardamon. because it pairs well with pears. I will continue to morph this based on fruit in season. Thanks so much. Never skip the brown butter. It is magic!
Perfection! Glad you are loving this recipe and it turned out great for you with your adaptions!
Soooo yummy!!
delicious and easy breakfast the brown butter adds such a nice dimension of flavour, i am obsessed!! i didnt have any pears on hand so i just used 2 mac apples which worked perfectly! i topped my piece with a little pinch of brown sugar, some maple syrup and oat milk which was amazing!! thanks for such an awesome recipe x
YUM! I am so glad you have this one a try and it turned out delicious for you!
It was very delicious, would make again!
Browned butter is definitely a nice touch.
I doubled it, and put it in a 9×13. Next time I make it, I’d add another pear or two, more cinnamon, and maybe some nutmeg.
YUMM! So glad you’re enjoying this oatmeal and it turned out amazing for you!
Just prepped this for breakfasts this week. Smells heavenly! Love pears and brown butter and am excited to try it. I’ve tried and loved all your other baked oatmeal recipes, so excited to try this one too.
Amazing! I am so glad you gave this recipe a a try and are loving it! 🙂
Very good! Thank you for the recipe.
I halved it and baked it in four ramekins in the air fryer. Ready in 20 minutes! Might add a bit more pear next time, just because I love pear!
Ah I love this so much! Glad they turned out amazing for you and they turned out great for you, Kay!
Very good! Thank you for this recipe.
I halved the recipe and baked it in four ramekins in the air fryer! Ready to go in about 20 minutes. Very good – next time I think I would add even more pear, just because…I love pear!
This is absolutely superb and the name really doesn’t do justice to this fabulous recipe (even though it is a totally accurate description). I think the use of pears with browned butter, maple syrup and a generous amount of vanilla make this recipe exceptional (and totally addictive). A truly perfect recipe that makes all other baked oatmeal recipes seem quite ordinary. Well done!
AMAZING!! Thank you so much, i am so happy to hear you’re loving this recipe and it turned out great for you ❤️
Thankyou for the most deliciousest (lol) baked oatmeal! OMG I made this today and didn’t change a thing- sooo yummy!!
Am practicing self control so I can take it to work w me the rest of the week but it’s so hard haha
Ahh this is great, Roselyn. I am so glad you are loving this baked oatmeal and it turned out great for you. Definitely a challenge to not eat it all in one sitting lol
I’m so excited- I have a pear tree now and it is giving tons of fruit! I’m gonna make this over and over and over 🙂
I’d like to try in muffin tins next.
Thanks again for such a yummy recipe!
Delicious. I used vegan butter – and browned it by adding 1 tsp (to 1/2 cup vegan butter) of almond butter. Any nut butter will work – you need protein and sugar to get it to brown. Worked great.
Such a great tip, thanks for sharing. Glad you loved this recipe and it turned out great for you! ❤️
I died for this recipe topped with Greek yogurt sweetened with maple syrup. Keeping pears in the freezer for the next time I am awake enough to brown butter on a lazy weekend morning 🙂
I loved this recipe the first time I made it, so I was really looking forward to making it again. The second time I attempted to make a half recipe, but apparently, I wasn’t quite awake yet. I forgot to cut the amount of ALL of the dry ingredients in half. I also added almond flavoring by mistake, after which I went ahead and added the vanilla too. I completely forgot the nuts. I added two tablespoons of chia seeds. It turned out delicious. So, this delicious recipe is also enormously forgiving and adaptable. Next time, I think I’ll try adding almonds and cardamon!
Great recipe! We used leftover frozen pears from the summer and it came out great and full of flavor. Next time I think I’ll add some chia seeds for more texture.
We absolutely love this baked oatmeal! My sister and her husband love it too. It’s the perfect breakfast when you want a different variation of normal baked oatmeal! The flavor of the browned butter and the sweetness of the pears just can’t be beat! We eat this with fresh homemade honey vanilla yogurt. 😋
The BEST! SO glad you are enjoying this recipe ❤️
This was wonderful; I did change or add a spice I like with pear. I decreased the cinnamon to 1/4 tsp. And added 1/2 tsp. Cardamom. All the flavors really came off beautifully together. This recipe is definitely a keeper!
YAY! I am so happy you ar enjoying this recipe, Joyce.
So delicious! I burned it, but still I love it
I’m glad you still enjoyed! Give it a little less time in the oven next time and it’ll be perfect 🙂