When my little family lived in North Carolina, one thing I ALWAYS looked forward to in our visits “home” to Milwaukee was a morning (or five) at Colectivo Coffee Roasters. I love everything about Colectivo: the coffee, the atmosphere, the friendly staff, the coffee, the baked goods, the music, the coffee, the COFFEE, the COFFEE.
Then we moved back to Wisconsin and rented a little duplex. We loved our location because of the walkable proximity to a number of great spots, not the least of which was our neighborhood Colectivo Cafe.
The Magic of Copycat Colectivo Baked Oatmeal
I try to live by a pretty strict budget, but when my daughter was born last May, I confess that there may have been more than one morning a week I would load up the kids in the stroller and walk us over to Colectivo for my caffeine needs and a treat for my toddler. Usually I could get by with something small and inexpensive for him to munch on during our “special coffee dates,” until the day my husband gave him a taste of his baked oatmeal.
BIG MISTAKE.
Have you tried Colectivo baked oatmeal? HOLY YUM. The rich, sweet, nutty, fruity warm-your-belly goodness is almost too much to handle. Served with seasonal fruit and a serving of milk on the side, once you’ve had Colectivo’s baked oatmeal, you’re absolutely hooked. And, much to my dismay, this was the case with my two year old.
From that first taste forward, any mention of going for a walk resulted in a hopeful plea, “MOMMY! CAN WE GET SPECIAL OATMEAL TODAY!??!”
And as much as I would love to indulge my sweet son every time he asked for his bowl of oatmeal, we really don’t have the budget for us to go out for coffee and oatmeal every morning (or even really once a week), nor should I be that caffeinated. PLUS, if you’ve had a two-year-old boy, you know they can eat about as much as a high school football team. One bowl of oatmeal was rarely enough for him. So I began to scour the internet for a recipe that would hold a candle to the Colectivo delectability. I tried dozens. They were never quite right. Too mushy, not sweet enough, too crumbly, too fruity, etc…it seemed no one had mastered the recipe.
Then, a few months ago, our pastor was preaching a sermon on something (I’m ashamed to say I haven’t a CLUE what the message was about that day) and he mentioned having mastered the art of copying Colectivo’s baked oatmeal recipe, at HOME. I was thrilled. He was kind enough to share his recipe, and with a few tweaks of my own, I have finally tricked my son into thinking we are getting *THE* “special oatmeal” at home, every weekend!!
Besides the obvious trickery, the best part? You prepare the entire recipe the night before, add eggs in the morning, and in 40 minutes you have an entire pan of the stuff to eat on all weekend long.
ENJOY THIS COPYCAT COLECTIVO BAKED OATMEAL RECIPE
Ingredients:
- 3 cups old fashioned oats
- 1/2 cup melted butter
- 1/2 cup brown sugar (more for serving to desired sweetness – Colectivo sweetness is closer to 1 cup, but I can’t in good health tell you to add that much to your oatmeal without tasting it with less sugar)
- 1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon1 1/2 cups milk (buttermilk produces the creamiest result, but any milk will do!)
- 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
- 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1 apple, peeled, cored and diced
- 1 ripe banana, mashed
- extra additions: craisins, pecans, blueberries, peaches, the kitchen sink
- 2 beaten eggs
Instructions:
Mix all ingredients together except for the eggs. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Remove from fridge and mix in the two beaten eggs. Pour into a 8×8 oven-proof dish. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 40 min, or until slightly browned on top and center is no longer gooey (like a cookie).
***And of course, I still TREASURE my coffee dates with my little buddy. You can’t put a price on the conversation that comes out when he’s holding his own little coffee cup filled with “special coffee” (water) and munching on his favorite treat. We just can’t do it EVERY day.***
Thank you SO much for posting this! I have tried to re-create this on my own to no avail, so I’m eager to make this. I love Colectivo’s baked oatmeal but it is pricy and I’ll be so much happier if I can make it at home.
Hi! I can’t find the link to the recipe… I’d love to try making this!
THIS RECIPE TASTES EXACTLY LIKE COLECTIVO’S! THANK YOU! I can’t afford to buy their baked oatmeal as often as I do– now I have a solution!
Thank you for sharing this! My family loves Colectivo’s oatmeal. I asked one of the workers for the recipe but she didn’t know it. I tried this recipe this morning and my kids loved it! Adding a little steamed milk made it perfect. We’re going to be making this quite often – oatmeal is in our weekly breakfast rotation.
Hi, I was so happy to find this. However, has the link been removed? Did Colectivo ask you to remove it? I’m so disappointed after reading your intro that there is no recipe.
Kristi! Thanks so much for letting us know! Apparently with the newly updated website, the old recipe plugin went away. But we’ve got it updated for you! Happy oatmeal baking!
Heather! I would LOVE to make this but I think the link to the recipe has broken or the recipe itself has disappeared!
Lucy! Thanks so much for letting us know! Apparently with the newly updated website, the old recipe plugin went away. But we’ve got it updated for you! Happy oatmeal baking!
Amazing thank you so much!! I see it now ???? cannot wait to make this ????
Thank you soo much for posting this recipe! My husband and I loved visiting our 2 sons at Marquette cause we loved to eat our fav oatmeal at Collectivo (at that time it was a different name). Now visiting a son in Chicago we got to enjoy it at the Collectivo there. Now I don’t have to leave my house (for the exception of buying the ingredients)to enjoy it!???? Shared the recipe with my new Milwaukee daughter-in-law.
Thank you for posting the recipe! I had to leave Milwaukee for a job opportunity 2 years ago and this is one of the many things I miss about Milwaukee.
Thank you so much for this recipe! It’s also my favorite from colectivo… Your son has amazing taste! Lol
Would you by any chance happen to know the nutrition for a large serving? I couldn’t even find the normal baked oatmeal on Colectivo’s website. I’m just trying to track my calories, which is difficult to do with something like this.
Thanks!