Get the taste of your favorite Girl Scout cookie in a healthy make ahead breakfast with this Baked Samoa Oatmeal. Sweetened with an easy date caramel and topped with a chocolate drizzle, you'll be smitten after one bite! (gluten-free, dairy-free and vegan options)

When it comes to Girl Scout cookies, there are two kinds of people in this world. Thin Mint people and Samoa people. I am 100% the latter. Which is why I came up with a healthy, make ahead oatmeal recipe that tastes like Samoa cookies.

Baked SAMOA OATMEAL. IE, COOKIES FOR BREAKFAST. I'll let that sink in a little.

Why You'll Love This Baked Samoa Oatmeal

If you, like me, are a Samoa person, this baked Samoa oatmeal will be your new favorite breakfast! It's:

Make-ahead/meal prep friendly.
Healthy - made with no added sugar except for the chocolate, and full of fiber and health fat.
SO tasty! Topped with date caramel, shredded coconut, and a dark chocolate drizzle, you'll be in love at first bite.
Freezer friendly, so you can pull a square out of the freezer any time you need a lightning fast breakfast that isn't a sad granola bar.

What is Date Caramel?

This Samoa oatmeal is primarily sweetened with date caramel. You may be thinking, what in the world is date caramel? Well, it's a caramel-like paste made from dates. Dates naturally have a very sweet, caramel-like flavor, so when you blend them up very finely, they make a delicious, spreadable 'caramel'. It's naturally sweetened and provides benefits like fiber, antioxidants, magnesium, and potassium!

To make my date caramel, I simply blend medjool dates with milk, vanilla and a pinch of salt. If you prefer, you can use any dairy-free milk to make it vegan.

How To Make Baked Samoa Oatmeal

This baked Samoa oatmeal is really quite easy. You make the base oatmeal layer, bake it, then top it with the luscious date caramel and coconut and bake it for just a bit longer before drizzling with chocolate. Let's break it down.

Make the oatmeal base. Combine oats, flaxseed, salt, eggs, milk and vanilla. Pour it into a greased dish. Easy peasy.
Bake the oatmeal base for 10 minutes. This lets it set so it's easier to spread the caramel layer over the top.
Make the date caramel. While the oatmeal bakes, make the caramel layer by blending dates, milk, vanilla, and salt in a food processor until smooth, adding liquid as needed. It may take a good 5 minutes to get really smooth. Then stir in the coconut.
Spread the caramel on top of the baked oatmeal. Bake it a little longer!
Remove the oatmeal from the oven and drizzle with melted chocolate.
Enjoy right away, or let it cool before cutting and storing for later.

Pro Tips For The Best Baked Samoa Oatmeal

If your dates feel dry, cover them in boiling water and soak for 10-15 minutes so that they soften up. Discard the liquid before blending.
The date caramel may take a while to get smooth. Just keep blending, scraping down the sides and adding more liquid as needed.
To melt the chocolate for the top, chop chocolate into small, uniform pieces. Place in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave in 30-second intervals, stirring in between, until almost melted. Continue stirring until smooth, as the heat will continue to melt the chocolate as you stir. Over-heating can cause the chocolate to clump. If this happens, you may be able to save it by stirring in a touch of coconut oil.

Ingredient Substitutions

I use medjool dates for the date caramel, but any dates will work, just make sure they are pitted.
To make this baked Samoa oatmeal vegan, use flax eggs instead of regular eggs, use your favorite nondairy milk, and use a dairy-free dark chocolate.
For a completely 'no added sugar' version, make sure you're using unsweetened coconut and use bittersweet chocolate or a no added sugar chocolate, such as Lily's.
If you don't want to mess with making the date caramel, you can totally use regular caramel sauce. Of course, then it will contain added sugar and not be quite so healthy.

Storing and Reheating Baked Oatmeal

Once your baked oatmeal has cooled, cut it into squares and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator up to 5 days.
Once chilled, you can place individual portions in the freezer.
To reheat refrigerated oatmeal, microwave for 1 minutes. For frozen oatmeal, microwave 2 minutes.

More Baked Oatmeal Recipes You'll Love

Fun fact: I baked this Samoa Oatmeal the night before Little M was born. So that's what I ate for breakfast at 5 in the morning before we left for the hospital!

If you love this recipe, please give it a star rating in the comments!

Healthy Baked Samoa Oatmeal

Print Recipe

Author: Kaleigh
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Yield: 4-6 servings 1x
Category: breakfast
Method: baked
Cuisine: American

Ingredients

Scale

For the date caramel:

1 cup pitted dates (about 12 medjool dates)
½ cup milk of choice
1 tsp vanilla extract
¼ tsp sea salt

For the oatmeal:

2 cups rolled oats
2 tbsp ground flaxseed
¼ tsp sea salt
2 large eggs
1 ½ cups milk of choice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 recipe date caramel (above)
½ cup shredded unsweetened coconut
½ cup dark chocolate chips

Instructions

Heat oven to 375°F. Spray a 9" baking dish with oil.
In a large bowl, combine oats, flaxseed and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, milk and vanilla. Pour into oat mixture and stir to combine. Pour into prepared baking dish.
Bake oatmeal 10 minutes.
While oatmeal is baking, make the date caramel. Combine dates, milk, vanilla and salt in a food processor and blend until smooth, stopping to scrape down the sides and adding liquid as needed. It will take a few minutes to become smooth.
Stir the coconut into the caramel mixture.
Remove oatmeal from the oven and spread date caramel over the top. Return to the oven for 10-15 more minutes, until oatmeal is set and coconut is golden. Remove from the oven.
Heat chocolate chips in a microwave safe dish at 30 second intervals in the microwave, stirring in between, until completely melted. Drizzle melted chocolate over oatmeal.
Serve or let cool completely before storing.

Notes

For dairy-free, use your favorite dairy-free milk and dairy-free chocolate chips.
For vegan, use flax or chia egg and follow dairy-free substitutions.
For a completely 'no added sugar' version, make sure you're using unsweetened coconut and use bittersweet chocolate or a no added sugar chocolate.
Once your baked oatmeal has cooled, cut it into squares and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator up to 5 days.
Once chilled, you can place individual portions in the freezer.
To reheat refrigerated oatmeal, microwave for 1 minutes. For frozen oatmeal, microwave 2 minutes.
If your dates feel dry, cover them in boiling water and soak for 10-15 minutes so that they soften up. Discard the liquid before blending.