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. 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 like Smucker’s or Wild Friends. 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.
- 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
More zucchini recipes to try
- Healthy Double Chocolate Zucchini Muffins
- Grain Free Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Zucchini Bread (2 different ways!)
- Chunky Monkey Zucchini Banana Muffins
- Fluffy Whole Wheat Zucchini Bread Pancakes
- Summer Garden Crustless Zucchini Pie
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!
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Zucchini Baked Oatmeal
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup 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 1/3 cups unsweetened vanilla almond milk (any milk will work)
- 1 1/2 cups old fashioned rolled oats, gluten free if desired
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup shredded zucchini that’s been squeezed of excess moisture
- 1/4 cup 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.
- 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.
- Fold in oats, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.
- Fold in shredded zucchini that's been squeezed of excess moisture, and mini chocolate chips.
- 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:Â Eat Love Eats
120 comments
This looks delicious! I wanted to say that I appreciate the nutrition facts that you include with your recipes. I know this is often controversial among intuitive eating enthusiasts/HAES advocates… I consider myself an intuitive eater, but I am also a Type 1 diabetic so I have to be aware of macros to some extent in order to accurately give insulin for what I eat. I sometimes shy away from making new recipes from blogs because I don’t know how many carbs etc. to account for, so the info that you include lets me make your recipes with confidence đŸ™‚
One of my new favorite breakfasts! And absolutely – I do like to include it as everyone’s dietary needs are different, and I want everyone to be able to make these with confidence. Hope you keep finding recipes that you love!
I am going to try these healthier choices and see off my husband likes them….
Let me know how he likes this one!
What is a good egg substitute for someone allergic to eggs?
flax eggs are great! also adding like 3 TBSP of apple sauce or mashed banana might work!
Yes you can use a flax egg!
I am highly allergic to nutmeg. Is there a substitute I can use?
Of course! Cinnamon would be a great choice, or cloves or ginger or cardamom
Feel free to leave it out!
I subbed the chocolate chips for banana and it was fantastic! Lightly sweet and filling for breakfast!
Delicious! Such a great breakfast. Glad you loved it!
Sorry to hear you had a problem. It’s more of a scoopable consistency! but we were able to cut into squares once it cooled. I’m wondering if perhaps you didn’t fully squeeze the zucchini of all excess moisture?
Came out great! used a mix of quick and rolled oats!
Perfect! Best breakfast đŸ™‚
Amazing! So happy you all loved this one.
So, so good and super easy to throw together! I totally thought I’d have to add more maple syrup to sweeten when I tried it, but the recipe is perfectly sweet as written. I’ll be making this again!
I’m so glad you loved this one! The naturally-sweetened ingredients help to give it that perfect sweetness đŸ™‚
What’s your fave way to shred zucchini? I’ve been using my hand grater and not loving the results – very finely shredded and super messy with all the water content before squeezing it out…
I usually use a hand grater as well, but you could also pulse it sections in a food processor if you’d like!
Wow, this was amazing! Thank you so much for this recipe. Finally a breakfast that we ALL enjoyed!! I ran out of eggs so I substituted the eggs for a chia egg and it worked great.
Love that!! The perfect breakfast đŸ™‚ glad the chia egg worked out well, too.
The oatmeal was perfectly moist and flavorful. The recipe was simple enough to Engage my two daughters’ help – they loved participating, and loved the finished product even more! We ate it with cut up bananas and a splash of milk. Thanks for offering a healthy recipe that offers an alternative to waffles, pancakes, etc. It was a hit!
The perfect breakfast! I’m so glad your daughters loved it, too đŸ™‚
Delicious! Other baked oatmeal recipes I have tried had a wobbly texture. But this recipe had a great texture and was moist. Adding this to my regular meal-prep breakfast list!
Perfect! So glad you loved this one.
I love oatmeal but have always hated the dryness of every baked oatmeal I have tried. This one has the BEST texture. So moist and creamy, and sweetened just enough.
Yes! Totally agree on dry baked oatmeals. So glad you loved this one!
Hey Monique,
If I want to make this recipe without eggs, what should be the substitute for that?
Thank you!
Hi! A flax egg should work well đŸ™‚
I think i am in love with this recipe.
Seems Easy preparation with such a clear step by step process.
Thanks for that
So happy to hear that!
This was so delicious! I felt like I was eating healthy dessert! My only addition which took it over the top was adding a handful of fresh cherries to the top right before eating!!!!
Sounds amazing! Glad you enjoyed!
We made this last night as a healthier alternative to my craving for CC cookies and they were wonderful! Used almond butter because it was what we had and also added in a mashed banana since I had one that really needed to be used, I just decreased the liquid slightly. I love the wonderful texture they have- not dry(Like a lot of baked oatmeal) but almost creamy! Thanks so much for all of your wonderful recipes đŸ™‚
Perfect! So glad you loved it!
I added raisins and raw coconut shreds. Delicious!
That sounds amazing!!
I bought enough zucchini so I could make this recipe more than once and I made it last week, it lasted a few days! So easy to make and I ended up cutting small squares so it was a little treat when I wanted something sweet in the morning with coffee or in the afternoon. I’ll be making it again this week! Super moist and love the fresh zucchini, peanut butter, chocolate chips combo.
Love that! One of my fav zucchini recipes đŸ™‚
Hi!
Will a 9×9 baking dish work?
Hi! Yes that will work, it might just bake up a little thinner.
Making these now! Would they keep okay in the fridge if I plan on eating them all week for breakfast?
Yes, absolutely! Enjoy đŸ™‚
baked for 35 min. still very very wet, put in lower temp for another 12 min. STILL VERY moist, I knew I should have trusted my gut when it seemed like too much milk….
That’s strange! I haven’t had an issue but its likely due to not squeezing the zucchini out of all excess moisture! As you can see in the video of this recipe, the bake comes out beautifully!
We LOVE this – it has become a regular breakfast for us…easy to make, fills us up and is super delicious! We add sliced bananas and extra peanut butter drizzle on top. YUM!!
Amazing! So happy to hear that đŸ™‚
This is one of my staples for breakfast! Keeps us full for many hours, it’s delicious and has hidden veggies in it! What more to want from a baked oatmeal!
So happy to hear that! Such a great way to start the day đŸ™‚
Possibly the greatest oatmeal I’ll ever eat. Could I prep it the night before and cook it in the morning?
So glad you love it! Yes absolutely!
This is one of the best zucchini/oatmeal bake I have ever tasted! I did add a scoop of vanilla protein powder and a little extra milk so it would be dry. I tried it warm out of the oven and this is definitely 5+ stars!
Meant so it wouldn’t be dry!
I’m glad that worked out well! Love it đŸ™‚
Yet another ambitious kitchen recipe that’s an absolute hit!! It’s super easy to make and insanely delicious. I already can’t wait to make it again.
Amazing! I’m so glad đŸ™‚
Made this yesterday. Love it. I think its just perfect. Quick and easy to make. These make healthy breakfast or snack. I was just wondering if the egg could be replaced. After reading other comments I’m definitely going to try making it vegan. I’m sure my vegan sister will love these. THANKS
So happy to hear that! Let me know how it goes making it vegan đŸ™‚
This dish is AMAZING!!! It has the best texture and flavor, while not being too sweet. I ate it every morning until it ran out and then I wanted more. Eating it warmed up with some peanut butter on top made the most perfect breakfast. Make this immediately!!!!
Perfect! Such a great breakfast!
My favorite healthy breakfast to make ahead for the week! I like to double the recipe for a 9×13 pan and add a few spoonfuls of chia seeds as well!
Perfect! So glad you love this one!
I’ve made this so many times I can almost do it without looking at the recipe now. It’s that good. I leave out the chocolate chips and add in some ground flax and find it makes 5 servings instead of 6. It’s perfect to heat up with a little splash of almond milk and top with more peanut butter and some chia seeds every morning!
Amazing! So glad you love it!
Excited to try this! Do you think I could add ground flax and chia as is or would I need to make additional changes?
I think either would be a great add. A few tablespoons should do nicely!
I’ve made this recipe 3 times now and it is THE BEST. I have a lot of dietary restrictions right now and this is one of the recipients that makes me feel nourished, but brings me joy too. It also cures my sweet tooth without a ton of sugar. Just delish!
This tasted like dessert for breakfast, and I’m always down for that! It you are afraid of the zucchini addition, don’t be. You cannot even taste it, and it makes the bake so moist. It had been awhile since I made an oatmeal bake, but I’m planning to make it a regular thing. I made this at the beginning of the week, followed the directions for fridge and freezer storage. I thoughts this was tasty straight of the fridge, or reheated, for a snack/breakfast. Thank you!
The best! Glad you love them!
It’s so good and easy to make!! The be of my favorites!
This was so good my husband forgot it had zucchini in it and added it to some vanilla ice cream for dessert (and then got mad when I laughed at him that he ate healthy zucchini with ice cream!). Even my 5 and 7 year olds ate it and they try to avoid zucchini.
Haha love it! Such a great breakfast or treat đŸ™‚
This has become a go-to make ahead breakfast – husband and toddler both love it. Have made with apples or pears instead of zucchini depending on what I have and it comes out delicious every time.
Love it! Sounds delicious đŸ™‚
I love baked oatmeal in general but this one . . . this is the one I return to over and over again. It’s my favorite by far.
So happy to hear that!
Yummm!! Thanks for sharing the recipe. I will definitely try this.
Absolutely! Enjoy đŸ™‚
This has been my go-to breakfast since quarantine started. I make it ahead for the week and every morning it brings me a little joy before I jump into my workday. It feels like I’m eating cake for breakfast, but I know I’m getting in some good fiber and veggies right away. I typically use oat milk because that’s what I have on hand and then heat it up with a dollop of peanut butter. Thanks for this great recipe!
Love it! Best way to wake up đŸ™‚
This is so good, I gotta be careful to not eat it all at once!!
Such a great breakfast or brunch!
It is very hard to cut and paste your recipes with all the photos, and layout that needs to be omited. I am in my 70’s so a simple layout would meet my needs better. I appreciate the low sugar, gluten free recipes.
Hi, Kat. Sorry to hear that you’re having trouble navigating the posts. At the top of each blog page, there’s a “jump to recipe” button that sends you directly to the recipe. From there, you can also click a “print recipe” button that allows you to print it if that works for you đŸ™‚
Could you use powdered peanut butter to reduce calories
I haven’t tried it in here, but I think so!
Hi did you try it with powdered pb
I haven’t! But I’m sure you could try it in here đŸ™‚ Let me know if you do!
This is one of the best baked oatmeal recipes I have ever made! I had to come back to leave another review because I haven’t made this in over a year and forgot how good it is! This time I used very finely grated zucchini, Trader Joe’s crunchy natural peanut butter and 1/4 cup chopped up 85% dark chocolate. Since I used extra dark chocolate I added a tsp more maple syrup but it really doesn’t need more than that. The doughy texture is just lovely and it tastes like a soft peanut butter chocolate chip oatmeal cookie!
You’re making me crave this all over again haah!! So happy you made it again and are loving it đŸ™‚
So good! I made this for breakfast this morning… It was a HIT in my house! Will definitely be making again!
Yay!! So glad you tried and loved it, Christy!
This was delicious!
Yay!! So glad you loved it đŸ™‚
Excellent recipe! Only thing I would add, I got a spark to stir in 1 Tbsp of unsweetened cocoa and it be became so extra! I loved it!
That’s such a great idea!! So glad you loved it đŸ™‚
Left out the Chocolate chips and this was a massive hit with my 1 year old! Added a pinch of hemp hearts on top for some extra nutrition. Super easy to make and loved that I could bake and serve the next morning for breakfast!
So good and easy to make. I made a batch and put most of it in the freezer for snacking. It heats up in the microwave so well. Will be making again soon!
Made in muffin cups as I didn’t have a pan the right size. Nice to take to work and have as a quick snack.
Sooo good! This will be a go to recipe. Moist and delicious!
Yay! So happy you enjoyed this one, Jinelle!
One of the yummiest baked oatmeal! Obv adding peanut butter and zucchini makes it extra yum! Will definitely make again!
Yay! So glad you loved this one!
I LOVE THIS RECIPE! It’s very delicious, a perfect quick breakfast or a nice treat if you’re getting too hungry. It’s easy to make and never a fail! đŸ™‚
Woohoo! Happy you love this one, Angie!
Another win from AK! I have never made baked oats before so I did not know what to expect texture wise. But they are so good! Moist with a little chew from the oats. I realized half way through making this recipe that I did not have any maple syrup so I subbed honey. I also put mine into muffin tins so I could bring them to work and portion easily. This seems like a great recipe to riff on, I think best time I might sub out blueberries or raisins for the choc chips.
A go-to breakfast in my house! I love sneaking in some veggies early in the day and this does the trick. My toddler loves it as well, and I love I can make it once and have breakfast ready for the week for both of us.
I made this recipe for my weekly meal prep as a nurse working 4-12hr shifts as a breakfast option! It turned out SO tasty! I love the combination of peanut butter and spice and loads of shredded zucchini (I may have added EXTRA). Looking forward to a quick break to enjoy this!
Such a great one to meal prep! I’m so happy you enjoyed it đŸ™‚
Love oatmeal, and baked oatmeal recipes are great time savers when you freeze serving sizes for another time. This baked peanut butter zucchini oatmeal was totally over the top scrumptious!! So easy to make, and utterly delicious. I also made the spiced zucchini apple baked oatmeal which was also VERY good. However, this one is my new favorite. Thanks so much for these wonderful recipes!!
Aw I’m SO happy you loved it, Leslie!! Yay!
This looks delish! and bonus way to use up extra garden zucchini.
Yes!! Hope you can try it đŸ™‚
Would using Skippy peanut butter change the consistency of the finished oatmeal? I don’t know what ‘drippy’ pb is. Lol
It might work, but I prefer to use a natural peanut butter (just peanuts + salt as the ingredients) in my recipes because the texture is better and it’s not made with palm oil.
If you use Skippy, let me know how it goes!
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 đŸ™‚
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!