During my first year of graduate school, I started making oatmeal for breakfast when the weather turned cooler. There was something that felt so cozy and satisfying about enjoying a hot breakfast after returning from a run in the brisk autumn air… Especially when it took barely any effort to make!
I’d pour quick-cooking oats and water into a bowl, along with a little sweetener, and pop that in the microwave. Less than two minutes later when the timer rang, I’d stir in a generous amount of cinnamon (I love it as much as chocolate!), and sometimes I added in some fresh fruit or raisins.
The latter was my favorite… It made my breakfast taste like oatmeal raisin cookies!
When the next term began, I had to sign up for classes that started between 7:30 and 8 am nearly ever day of the week, which barely gave me enough time to exercise and shower before running out the door. As a result, I traded my bowls of oatmeal for a banana and a tupperware of dry cereal or an English muffin with peanut butter.
I needed something portable that I could easily take to campus, and back then, I just couldn’t figure out a way to do that with my “oatmeal cookie” breakfast bowl!
Finally, too many years later, I came up with a solution… This Healthy Oatmeal Raisin Breakfast Quick Bread! With its tender texture and lots of cozy spices, it still tastes like oatmeal raisin cookies (hooray!), and it’s really easy to cut a slice or two as a healthy-yet-portable breakfast. This quick bread is also perfect for make-ahead breakfast meal prepping, if your schedule is as busy as mine was during that second term!
Let’s go over how to make this healthy breakfast quick bread!
You’ll start by stirring together instant oats (this kind!), Greek yogurt, some milk, and vanilla extract. Instant oats are also called quick-cooking or one-minute oats, and they’re thinner and smaller than old-fashioned oats. You can find them in canisters right next to the regular rolled oats at the grocery store.
Nerd alert! It’s really important to soak your oats in that mixture of Greek yogurt, milk, and vanilla. This step softens the oats ahead of time to give your healthy breakfast bread a more tender texture. It’s the same trick I use in all of my bran muffin recipes, too!
While the oat mixture sits, you’ll prepare the rest of the ingredients. In the second bowl, you’ll whisk together white whole wheat flour (like this!), cinnamon (this is my favorite kind!), nutmeg (like this!), baking powder, baking soda, and salt. The combination of those two spices adds a deep richness and comfort food flavor to this healthy breakfast quick bread—much more so that cinnamon alone would—so don’t skip the nutmeg!
Nerd alert #2! As for white whole wheat flour, such a thing actually exists—and it’s not a combination of white (aka all-purpose) flour and whole wheat flour! White whole wheat flour is made by finely grinding a special type of soft white wheat (hence the name!), whereas regular whole wheat flour comes from a heartier variety of red wheat. This gives white whole wheat flour the same health benefits as regular whole wheat flour, but a lighter taste and texture, which lets the cookie-like flavors really shine in this healthy breakfast bread!
You’ll sweeten your breakfast loaf with one of my favorite ingredients: vanilla stevia. Stevia is a plant-based, no-calorie sweetener that contains nothing refined or artificial (aka it’s clean-eating friendly!), and it’s very concentrated. You just need 1 ½ teaspoons for this entire quick bread! This is the kind I use because I love its warm flavor and don’t notice any strange aftertaste. Although you can find it at many health-oriented grocery stores, I buy mine online here because that’s the best price I’ve found. (And you’ll use it in all of these recipes of mine, too!)
Still with me?? Only one last thing to talk about… The raisins! Unless you bought your raisins yesterday, there’s a very good chance they’ve been sitting in your pantry for a while… And the longer raisins sit, the stiffer and drier they get. Yes—dried fruit often continues to dry out at your house!
So before you mix them into your batter, hydrate your raisins! This is super easy to do. Add them to a microwave-safe bowl, pour in water until the raisins are fully submerged, tightly cover the top with plastic wrap, and pop that in the microwave for 1 minute. Let the raisins sit for at least 10 minutes while you prepare the rest of the ingredients. Just before adding them to your mixing bowl, drain them—and voila! Really juicy, exceptionally sweet, absolutely irresistible raisins!
There’s a reason the raisins are my favorite part of this healthy breakfast loaf… 😉
How tempting does this healthy oatmeal raisin breakfast quick bread look?? And when you make your own, remember to snap a picture and share it on Instagram using #amyshealthybaking and tagging @amyshealthybaking IN the photo itself! (That guarantees I’ll see your picture! 😊) I’d love to see your healthy breakfast quick bread!
| Healthy Oatmeal Raisin Breakfast Quick Bread | | Print |
- ¾ cup (75g) instant oats (gluten-free if necessary and measured like this)
- ½ cup (120g) plain nonfat Greek yogurt
- 1 cup + 2 tbsp (270mL) nonfat milk, divided
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups (240g) white whole wheat flour or gluten-free* flour (measured like this)
- 2 ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp ground nutmeg
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- ¾ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tbsp (7g) unsalted butter or coconut oil, melted and cooled slightly
- 2 large egg whites, room temperature
- 1 ½ tsp vanilla stevia
- ⅓ cup (53g) raisins (hydrated first—see Notes!)
- Preheat the oven to 350°F, and coat a 9x5” loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray.
- In a medium bowl, stir together the oats, Greek yogurt 6 tablespoons of milk, and vanilla extract. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a third bowl, whisk together the butter, egg whites, and vanilla stevia. Stir in the oat mixture, mixing until no large lumps remain. Alternate between adding the flour mixture and remaining ¾ cup of milk, beginning and ending with the flour mixture, and stirring just until incorporated. (For best results, add the flour mixture in 4 equal parts.) Gently fold in the raisins.
- Spread the batter into the prepared pan. Bake at 350°F for 40-50 minutes or until the top feels firm to the touch and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
For the gluten-free flour, use the following: 1 cups (120g) millet flour, ½ cup (60g) tapioca flour, ½ cup (60g) brown rice flour, and 1 ½ teaspoons xanthan gum. Most store-bought gluten-free flour blends (like this one!) will work as well, if measured like this.
Whole wheat pastry flour, regular whole wheat flour, or all-purpose flour may be substituted in place of the whole wheat flour.
Remember to measure your oats and flour correctly, using this method or a kitchen scale. (← That’s the one I own and love!) Too much of either will make your quick bread turn out dry. This is especially true of the oats because they act like sponges and soak up lots of moisture from the batter.
The quick bread requires 2 full egg whites. The whites contain the majority of the protein in eggs, and that protein is required to ensure the loaf maintains its shape and texture while cooling. Without both egg whites, the loaf will collapse while cooling and turn out much denser.
I do not recommend substituting for the vanilla stevia, if at all possible. (It’s one of my favorite ingredients, and you’ll use it in all of these recipes of mine, too!) I buy mine online here because that's the best price I've found. However, if you really prefer to omit the vanilla stevia from the cake, substitute ¾ cup + 2 tablespoons (120g) granulated sugar, brown sugar, or coconut sugar and reduce the milk to ¾ cup + 1 tablespoon (195mL). You may also substitute ½ cup + 2 tablespoons (150mL) pure maple syrup, honey, or agave and reduce the milk to ½ cup (120mL) instead. The baking time may vary with either of those substitutions as well.
Any milk may be substituted in place of the nonfat milk.
To hydrate the raisins, add them to a microwave-safe bowl, and pour water on top until they’re completely covered. Seal plastic wrap over the top, and microwave the bowl on high for 1 minute. Let the raisins sit while mixing together the batter (at least 10 minutes). Drain the raisins right before mixing them into the batter. This little trick hydrates them so they’re really soft and juicy!
Do not use an electric mixer to mix up the batter. This will result in a dense or tough cake. Use a whisk where instructed, and use a fork for everything else.
{gluten-free, clean eating, low fat, lower sugar}
View Nutrition Information + Weight Watchers Points
You may also like Amy’s other recipes…
♡ Healthy Carrot Cake Breakfast Quick Bread
♡ Healthy Blueberry Lemon Breakfast Bread
♡ Healthy Cinnamon Raisin Scones
♡ Healthy Oatmeal Raisin Breakfast Cookies
♡ Healthy Morning Glory Bran Muffins
Can’t beat a breakfast that looks and tastes like dessert! This bread looks so delicious! 🙂
Thank you so much, Marsha! 🙂
This bread was very moist, rose beautifully and had a great texture; however, I found it quite bland. All the cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla did not come through. I did not use raisins, but substituted low-sugar cranberries; I do not think that would have a major impact. That being said, I spread a little butter and jam on it and it was very good as a breakfast bread, just not a dessert bread.
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe, Darleen! That’s exactly what this recipe is supposed to be — a breakfast bread, not a dessert! 😉 I’ve found that not all spice brands are created equally, especially when it comes to cinnamon. Did you use the same type of cinnamon that I linked to? (My links are in pink — not everyone realizes that!) If you used the most common red-capped bottles available on spice aisle in the US (just trying not to name major brands, but hopefully you get my drift!), then that’s probably why the spice flavor didn’t come through as strongly. You can easily increase the spices if you decide to bake this again! Also, did you use the same vanilla stevia that I did, or did you use one of the substitutes that I included in the Notes section instead? I’m just trying to figure out if the sweetness level also contributed to the bland flavor you experienced as well! 🙂
It’s really a very simple recipe and it’s very necessary to try right away. Thank you for sharing that unique and delicious recipe.
My pleasure, Mona! I’d love to hear what you think if you try this quick bread! 🙂
Hello! quick question, the recipe says 1/3 cups raisins, but says 530g in brackets, which is it?
Thanks so much for catching that, Matilda! My fingers were flying a bit too fast on my keyboard and added that extra 0… All fixed! 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you think of this breakfast quick bread!
It seems very good indeed. Can not wait to try the recipe.
I’m excited to hear what you think of this breakfast quick bread! 🙂