I’m not sure how many of you remember my delicious peanut butter and jelly baked oatmeal, but it was by far one of my favorite make ahead breakfasts of all time.
Today, I’m back with another delicious baked oatmeal that’s packed with vegetables (HI ZUCCHINI), protein-packed peanut butter, and naturally sweetened with just a touch of pure maple syrup.
Okayyyy and mini chocolate chips, because you know how we do. #chocolateineverybite. The texture is reminiscent of a doughy peanut butter oatmeal cookie. Delicious for breakfast, but also perfect warmed up in the afternoon with a tall glass of milk. Get this zucchini bread baked oatmeal on your brunch menu ASAP!
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Ingredients in zucchini baked oatmeal
This zucchini bread baked oatmeal is super easy to make with simple ingredients you probably have in your pantry. Here’s what you’ll need:
- Peanut butter: I like to use a natural, drippy peanut butter, but you can also use a natural almond butter, cashew butter or chunky peanut butter.
- Pure maple syrup: to perfectly sweeten the baked oatmeal. Feel free to use honey if you’d like.
- Egg: you’ll just need 1 egg to help hold the zucchini oatmeal bake together.
- Baking staples: you’ll need baking powder to help it bake up, plus cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and vanilla extract for delicious flavor.
- Milk: I like to use almond milk to keep the baked oatmeal dairy-free, but you can use any milk you’d like.
- Old fashioned rolled oats: the base of this baked oatmeal. Feel free to use gluten free rolled oats but I would not recommend steel cut oats as the texture will change.
- Shredded zucchini: the star of the show! Zucchini adds the perfect amount of moisture and give the oatmeal that zucchini bread flavor.
- Mini chocolate chips: the little bites of sweetness from chocolate chips make this baked oatmeal extra special. Feel free to omit or use dairy free chocolate chips.
Easy ways to customize this baked oatmeal
There are a few simple ways you can really make this baked oatmeal your own! Here’s what I can recommend:
- Choose your nut butter: feel free to use almond butter or cashew butter in place of the peanut butter.
- Go nut free: swap the peanut butter for sunflower seed butter to keep the recipe nut free!
- Try new mix-ins: not into the chocolate chips? Try folding in 2/3 cup blueberries or chopped-up banana instead.
Can I make it vegan?
I haven’t tested it, but I think you’d be able to swap the egg for a flax egg. Let me know how it goes in the comments, and then be sure to use vegan chocolate chips.
How to make zucchini baked oatmeal
The best part about this peanut butter zucchini bread baked oatmeal is how easy it is to make. You literally mix everything in a bowl, pour it into a pan and bake it up!
- Prep your pan. Grease an 8×8 inch pan and preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Mix the wet ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk together all of the wet ingredients until they’re well combined.
- Add the dry. Fold in the dry ingredients until smooth.
- Fold in the mix-ins. Stir in your shredded zucchini and mini chocolate chips.
- Bake & enjoy. Pour batter into your prepared pan and make sure the oatmeal is evenly spread out. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of mini chocolate chips on top and bake it up until it’s golden on the edges!
I recommend drizzling it with extra peanut butter and/or serving with almond milk. YUM.
Tips for baking with zucchini
- Use the small side of your grater so that you get little shreds of zucchini. No one will be able to tell there’s a veggie in their brownies!
- Squeeze out your zucchini shreds as much as possible to get all of the excess liquid out.
- Measure the shreds before you squeeze the moisture out.
- Feel free to shred a bunch of zucchini and freeze it for later! Follow my tips and tricks here.
Want to make oatmeal cups instead?
It’s so easy, and perfect for an on-the-go breakfast! My kids LOVE this recipe as little oatmeal cups. Here’s how to do it:
- Prep your pan. Add muffin liners to a muffin tin and spray with cooking spray to prevent sticking.
- Divide the batter. Divide the peanut butter zucchini baked oatmeal batter into the muffin tin — you should get around 10-12 oatmeal cups.
- Bake & serve. Bake for 20-25 minutes until the oatmeal cups are set and a little golden brown and enjoy!
Storing & freezing instructions
- To store: be sure the baked oatmeal has completely cooled, and then cover your 8×8 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. I like to individually store slices in airtight containers for quick, on-the-go breakfasts.
- To freeze: once the baked oatmeal 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.
Tools I use to make this recipe
Check out all of our favorite kitchen essentials here.
More zucchini recipes to try
- Healthy Double Chocolate Zucchini Muffins
- Chunky Monkey Zucchini Banana Muffins
- Fluffy Whole Wheat Zucchini Bread Pancakes
- Summer Garden Crustless Zucchini Pie
- Spiced Apple Zucchini Bread with Cream Cheese Glaze
Get all of my zucchini recipes here!
I hope you enjoy this peanut butter zucchini bread baked oatmeal recipe! If you make it be sure to leave a comment and a rating so I know how you like it. Enjoy, xo!
Ambitious Kitchen
Cookbook
125 Ridiculously Good For You, Sometimes Indulgent, and Absolutely Never Boring Recipes for Every Meal of the Day
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Zucchini Baked Oatmeal
Ingredients
- ½ cup (128g) natural drippy peanut butter (creamy or chunky will work)
- 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup or honey
- 1 large egg, slightly beaten
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ⅓ cups (320g) unsweetened vanilla almond milk (any milk will work)
- 1 ½ cups (143g) old fashioned rolled oats, gluten free if desired
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup shredded zucchini that’s been squeezed of excess moisture
- ¼ cup (45g) mini chocolate chips, plus 2 tablespoons for sprinkling on top
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Grease an 8x8 inch baking pan with coconut oil or generously spray with nonstick cooking spray.
- Mix the wet ingredients. In a large bowl, add in peanut butter, maple syrup, egg, vanilla and almond milk. Whisk together until well combined and no large lumps of peanut butter remain.
- Add the dry. Fold in oats, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.
- Fold in shredded zucchini that's been squeezed of excess moisture, and mini chocolate chips.
- Bake. Pour into prepared pan and make sure oatmeal is evenly spread out. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of mini chocolate chips on top. Bake for 30-35 minutes until barely golden brown on top and oatmeal is set.
- Allow to cool for a few minutes, then cut into 6 servings and enjoy with almond milk or extra peanut butter on top.
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Recipe by: Monique Volz // Ambitious Kitchen | Photography by: Eat Love Eats
This post was originally published on July 8th, 2020, and republished on September 7th, 2025.
Hi! I want to make this recipe and I’m wondering: 1 cup of zucchini is measured before or after you squeeze them? 🤔
Hi! Measure the zucchini before squeezing out the moisture 🙂
If you were to use powdered pb instead of drippy, how you recommend adjusting?
I wouldn’t recommend it in here!
This was fantastic! We enjoyed that it wasn’t sweet- except for the chocolate on top! Very easy recipe and yummy! It was easy to add extra protein into with high protein milk and a scoop of protein powder! Thank you for another great recipe! My kids adore it!! I loved the 8×8 size as well!
The perfect breakfast! Glad it’s a hit with the whole family!
This sounds absolutely delicious! Such a great way to sneak in some extra veggies too. If I wanted to add protein powder to boost the protein. what’s the best way to do that? Would I add another egg or a little bit more liquid? Thank you for sharing another delicious recipe!
The perfect breakfast! Hmm I haven’t tested it, but I think you could try adding a bit more milk to get the same consistency as in the photos and video. Let me know if you give it a try!
Love this recipe! Was looking for a chocolate and peanut butter baked oatmeal recipe without banana, so this was perfect! Love adding in veggies to baked oatmeal as an extra nutritious bonus too! I used the small shreds of zucchini as you mentioned, helps a lot with the texture. Thank you again!
So glad you found this one!
So yummy! I added a scoop of vanilla protein powder to up the protein and did raisins and coconut flakes instead
Perfect!!
I am making this recipe now and 1 1/3 seems like way too much milk. This is too runny compared to any other baked good I’ve ever tried (including many of yours). Might this be a typo? Going to add a lot more oats and hope for the best…
Hi! That is the correct amount of milk and it should still bake up properly! Let me know how it turned out.
I love this recipe as is but could something be substituted for the nut/sunflower seed butter to lower the fat? Applesauce? Mashed Banana? Thank you!
I’ve only made the recipe as is so I’m not sure how the texture will turn out with a substitute. Sorry!
Super delicious! I like the fact it has zucchini in it for some veggie! Used almond butter and turned our great.
Love the sneaky veggies!
this is really delicious! perfect on its own, with yogurt and fruit, with scrambled eggs, anything really. I do have a few notes / tips re: ingredient substituting. I have omitted the maple syrup, and as someone who doesn’t love overly sweet things, i found that it was better with, even though it’s a dash of maple syrup, it does make a difference. I tend to omit the chocolate chips, mainly because I forgot to buy them once and have since just not added them. I have also used a flax egg, and although it works, I would really recommend (if you can) using regular eggs: it comes out airier, lighter, and generally cakier with regular eggs, as opposed to a little stodgy with the flax eggs. I also prefer this warm as opposed to cold! I usually air fry a slice for around 2 minutes at 400°, or until warm, but it works in the microwave too. I hope this helped anybody who was looking for answers- and thank you for this endlessly versatile recipe!
WOO! I am so glad you’re loving this recipe, Summer. Thanks SO much for sharing your tips too!
Delish!! Only thing I would do differently is double the recipe next time.
YUM! Glad you’re loving this baked oatmeal 🙂
Can I use chopped up walnuts and/or raisins in place of chocolate chips?
Sure!
Can I make this without the egg?
I would recommend swapping with a flax egg. Enjoy!
I’m not sure if I know what you mean by ‘drippy’ peanut butter. Do you mean that it separates and needs to be mixed?
Yes, natural pb that has only peanuts in it!
This is absolutely delicious, honestly I could even eat it as a dessert. I reheated this morning for breakfast and it was still great. Because of all the milk it doesn’t even taste like traditional oatmeal cups. Loved this! I made the following modifications:
-Used cashew butter instead of peanut butter (would recommend cashew over almond butter if you are looking for something close to pb flavor)
-Used a whole large zucchini, squeezed within an inch of its life to remove excess moisture. Honestly I think I removed TOO much excess moisture
-Ran out of chocolate chips to top so only did the 1/4 cup in the batter but honestly found it to be more than enough
Those modifications all sound great! Happy you enjoyed it 🙂