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 1 year old, who loves them just as much. Sadly, they ripen quickly so I have to find ways to enjoy them before they turn to mush.
Once again, I faced this dilemma on a wild Friday night in during the pandemic. 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. 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.
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 delicious option. I always go for honeycrisp as they are nice, sweet and juicy!
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.
How to brown 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 and let the butter cool for 5 minutes before using it in this recipe.
How to make this pear baked oatmeal
- 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 oatmeal recipes to try
Chunky Monkey Banana Baked Oatmeal
Strawberry Banana Baked Oatmeal with Chocolate Chips
Peanut Butter Banana Baked Oatmeal Cups
Carrot Cake Baked Oatmeal Cups
Healthy Apple Pancakes (made right in the blender!)
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.
Vanilla Brown Butter Pear Baked Oatmeal
Wonderful vanilla brown butter pear baked oatmeal with hints of cinnamon and sweet pears in every bite. This easy pear oatmeal bake is filled with warming flavors and makes the perfect winter breakfast or brunch!
Ingredients
- Wet ingredients:
- ¼ cup butter*
- 2 eggs
- ¼ cup pure maple syrup
- 1 3/4 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
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.
To store: 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.
Recipe by: Monique Volz // Ambitious Kitchen | Photography by: Eat Love Eats
51 comments
I haven’t made this yet, but make a very similar one with about the same ratio of wet to dry ingredient and just wanted to say I use a flax egg all the time and it comes out great!
Happy to hear that! Perfect breakfast.
Hi! This looks delicious! Do you think I can use canned pears for this? I have a can that is sitting there and Im looking to use it up.
Yes, I think that would be fine, just make sure to fully drain them of all excess liquid before chopping up!
Sounds good! Do you think flax eggs would work?
I haven’t tested it but I think it might work. Let me know if you give it a try!
I used apples and pears and it turned out absolutely delicious!!
Love that! Glad you enjoyed 🙂
Wow, absolutely incredible! Tasted like French toast
Love it! Glad you enjoyed!
if i make this for my 8m old and leave out the maple syrup will it still stay together?
yes! you can add a splash more milk if you’d like.
Just made this for Sunday morning breakfast! It was incredible! The brown butter really adds a fantastic flavor that makes it stand out from other baked oatmeals. Will definitely be making this again! Thank you!
Amazing! So happy to hear that 🙂
Is the sliced pear on top of your oatmeal in addition to the two pears you chopped and stirred into the oatmeal?
I’m all for lots of pear (fiber!) and will add more if I can without ruining the recipe.
I LOVE pears, too. If I have more than I can eat I will poach them in slices or chunks and freeze them. Because they are so sweet I find I really don’t need to add more then spices and some water to create delicious pears. However, I just did a batch in some leftover Port wine (reduced so no alcohol left) and golden raisins. Wow! Great flavor on yogurt or eaten straight up! Love adding it to oatmeal, too.
Looking forward to this recipe with brown butter. I know it will great 🙂
Love it! Those pears are extra for making the dish look pretty, so feel free to add some more before baking 🙂
My toddler and I both loved!
I’m so glad!
This was delicious!! I used regular 2% milk instead of almond and it seemed like a lot of liquid but it baked up perfectly. Served with a drizzle of honey and flakey salt yum!
Perfect! Sounds delicious 🙂
Is it possible to put this together the night before and then bake in the morning, or would that affect the liquid ratio too much as the oats absorb the liquid?
I measure out the wet ingredients and the dry ingredients the night before and then combine them in the morning. I don’t think combining all the ingredients the night before and then baking in the morning would work.
Hi! I’d recommend doing what Stephanie mentioned above – measuring everything out and then mixing it together in the morning before baking 🙂 that way the oats won’t absorb all of the liquid over night.
This was delicious! I made a double batch to enjoy for the week and we were fighting over the last piece! Thank you!
So glad it was a hit!
Can I have this every morning?
Absolutely! 🙂
Can I have this every morning for breakfast? ☺️
DELICIOUS!!! And so easy!
Such a great breakfast!
Glad you love this one!
I made this for a cozy breakfast for dinner on a COLD Wisconsin night. It was delightful. The kids loved it, too! I wouldn’t change a thing!
Was delicious! I substituted the pears for apples because that’s what I had on hand. Definitely on my repeat list
So gooooood! My children love it!
Great recipe for easy weekday morning warming breakfasts! The browned butter really adds depth of flavor that I would never get making a pot of oatmeal.
My pears were not as ripe and sweet as I had hoped so I added a leftover apple I had on hand to add some sweetness. I’ve been trying to make all the meals in our house baby friendly so I don’t need to cook multiple meals – thus, I swapped out the maple syrup for smooth mashed banana (1:1 = 1/4 cup) and did not add the salt to the recipe. I added a dash of cardamom and nutmeg to try and make up for it. For the adults, we added a bit of flake salt and a little maple syrup to the top when we ate it.
Can’t wait to try this closer to as written when my babe is older but it turned out great. I’ve also seen Monique flash a teaser for more baked oatmeal’s on Instagram and am super excited to try them all!
Soooo delish!! The browned butter makes it next level! Thanks Monique!
Great meal prep. I’m a shift worker and bringing three meals for a shift is hard work to plan ahead. Often breakfasts get forgotten. Loved this. Stored in the freezer in individual portions and had delicious meals ready to go for work. My kids are begging me for some but I don’t want to share! Topped with a drizzle of maple syrup. Yum!
This was so easy and SO delicious. I reduced the amount of oats and used chia and flax and topped the finished product with some vanilla yogurt. The best!
Omg. This is an incredible bake! Was a little worried about the brown butter step, but soooo worth it. Will definitely make this a lot!
So glad you enjoyed!
Delicious! I’ve been on a pear kick lately. The flavors of brown butter, vanilla, cinnamon and pear combination is delicious! Very easy to make and great for weekend brunch.
The best treat! Glad you loved it 🙂
I made this a few days ago and my family loved it. I baked it in muffin tins so it was easy to grab and go for everyone in the family. We like to warm it up for about 45 seconds in the microwave and it gives you a happy warm and cozy feeling, almost like eating a warm cobbler. I’ll be baking this again very soon!
Perfect! Such a great breakfast 🙂
This was a meal I made on one of those nights where I really needed to grocery shop and had to throw something together using what little I had on hand. It turned out amazing, far exceeding expectations. Will make again.
Perfect! Such a great way to use up pantry staples.
Followed the recipe exactly and it was wonderful. My 1yr old daughter loved this new take on oatmeal. Even my husband, who is usually quite suspect of “healthy” recipes, thoroughly enjoyed it. In his words, “don’t change a thing!” when I suggested we try it with another fruit for even more variety. I think this will come in handy – especially frozen bars – for busy weekday morning breakfasts. Thank you, wonderful recipe!
Amazing! So happy to hear that.
I love a baked oatmeal for breakfast on the weekends and this one didn’t disappoint! Not too sweet but both my kids ate it up. Makes a good leftover breakfast to take to work too, Will make again!
Perfect! Great one to prep for the week 🙂
Wow, this is almost too good for breakfast. I think this might be a dessert now haha! It’s so moist and flavorful, and the pear really shines in it. I’ve never loved a baked oatmeal before this one. So great!