This gingerbread baked oatmeal tastes like the holidays—and packs nearly 20g of protein per serving

When the holiday season rolls around, so do thoughts of the tasty treats that come with the season. I love baking and gingerbread is one of my absolute favorite holiday cookies. It’s not a good idea to eat gingerbread cookies for breakfast day after day, so I came up with a delicious, high-protein, baked oatmeal option to satisfy my gingerbread cookie cravings.

I love this recipe because you simply mix everything into a single bowl, dump it into a pan, bake and serve. One pan gives you a pre-prepared breakfast for nearly a week. It keeps well in the fridge for about five days and can be eaten either cold or reheated. If you do choose to reheat it, consider adding a splash of milk so it doesn’t dry out.

The nearly 20g of protein packed comes from vanilla protein powder (I use Dymatize ISO100 hydrolyzed whey isolate) combined with a high-protein milk like Fairlife or Darigold Fit. It’s not quite 30g of protein for breakfast—a popular nutritional target—but if you want to add even more protein, you can eat it like I do, served warm and topped with vanilla yogurt.

This breakfast is great for eating before or after a workout, thanks to the balance of carbs, fat and protein.

Gingerbread baked oatmeal recipe

This recipe makes six servings. Each serving is about 300 calories, has about 20g of protein, and around 10g of fat (including the almond butter swirl). I calculated the nutritional value of this recipe by entering all ingredients and creating a recipe in the MyFitnessPal app.

Nuts or dried fruits can also be added to the batter before baking or added on top when serving.

Ingredients

• 2 cups rolled oats
• 2 scoops vanilla protein powder
• 1tsp baking powder
• ½tsp ground ginger
• 1½tsp ground cinnamon
• ¼tsp ground cloves
• Pinch of salt
• 2 cups protein milk
• 1 egg
• 2tbsp molasses
• 2tbsp maple syrup
• 1tsp vanilla extract
• 2tbsp almond (slightly melted for swirl)

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F and spray an 8x8 baking dish with cooking spray.
2. Whisk together the milk, egg, vanilla, molasses and maple syrup.
3. Add oats, spices and protein powder.
4. Mix until well combined.
5. Pour into the baking dish.
6. Top with melted almond butter and use a butter knife to swirl it around
7. Bake for 30-35 minutes, until set and golden on top.
8. Let cool for 10-15 mins, add toppings if desired, and enjoy.