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Jump to RecipeThis whole wheat oatmeal cake is made with freshly milled flour, oats and lots of chocolate chips. It is moist, fluffy with hints of cinnamon and loaded of chocolate flavor. We love this recipe recipe as a breakfast snack or served as a coffee time dessert.
This is one recipe I actually asked my mother-in-law for after enjoying it during multiple coffee time occasions. Of course, I had to try it with fresh milled flour to see what results would be. And I am SO happy to say the results are delicious.
I can report that I shared some with my mother in law and she asked if I would consider selling it in my local micro bakery! The answer is absolutely yes. As someone who was gluten free for over 14 years and now enjoys baking with sourdough (and fresh milled flour), I think this recipe will be a hit with our local community.
This has been a recipe we have enjoyed for many coffee times with our family. We tend to make ours with half a sheet pan, plain and half with nuts like pecans or walnuts.
The fresh milled flour oatmeal bars taste like a giant chocolate-y oatmeal cookie. This is great to serve crowds and taste delicious as breakfast or dessert. Truly, you can enjoy at any time of day and I promise you will not be disappointed.
We love how these bars contain a few biblical foods like oats and grains (like soft white wheat!). Together, the combination of soft white wheat flour and oats make a light and fluffy cake – which is completely different from ‘dense’ oatmeal cookie bars.
And for my mommas out there (or if you know of a mom-to-be), I do think these would make the most delicious ‘lactation’ dessert. Similar to our sourdough lactation cookies, this recipe contains oats, chocolate and nuts (if preferred). I look forward to making these one day if I am postpartum again and enjoy making them for another mom in the postpartum / breastfeeding period of life.
I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as our family does!
Why you will love this whole wheat oatmeal cake
Kitchen Equipment
Only a few pieces of kitchen equipment are needed for this recipe. If you are making this recipe with freshly milled flour, a grain mill can be helpful. We have the Mockmill 100!
A large mixing bowl, a whisk, a bowl for the oats to ‘expand in’ and a 9×13 baking pan are helpful.
Ingredients for whole wheat oatmeal cake
There are a few key ingredients to this fresh milled flour oatmeal cake. This includes soft white wheat berries, oats, and chocolate. For a full list of ingredients, please refer to the recipe card at the bottom of the page.
- Fresh milled flour: it’s no secret around here. We love fresh milled flour. The flour we enjoy most for pancakes, brownies, and desserts is soft white wheat berries. They have a delightful nutty and sweet flavor profile.
- Oats: We like to use as quick oats within this recipe because we find it provides the most tender crumb. If you use old-fashioned oats, or something similar, you will find this recipe becomes more hearty and like a baked oatmeal rather than a light and fluffy cake.
- Chocolate: This recipe is full of chocolate. Our favorite chocolate within this recipe is semi sweet chocolate chips. However, you could use any type of chocolate your heart desires.
How to make freshly milled flour oatmeal cake
Step 1: Grind your grains.
Step 2: Rehydrate the oats (and allow to cool!).
Step 3: Cream together butter, sugars, eggs and vanilla extract.
Step 4: Mix wet and dry ingredients together.
Step 5: Stir in rehydrated (and cooled) oats.
Step 6: Sprinkle on chocolate chips and nuts on top.
Step 7: Bake and enjoy!
How to store whole wheat oatmeal cake
Oatmeal cake can be stored at room temperature for up to three days before placing it into the fridge. Though we truly never have leftovers (because we eat it ourselves or share it with our family / neighbors), you could store it in the fridge for up to a week.
If you store it in the freezer, wrap it in wax paper and store it up for up three months. Reheat slightly before enjoying!
Frequently Asked Questions
Whole Wheat Oatmeal Cake
Equipment
- 1 Large Mixing Bowl
- 2 Medium sized bowls
- 1 9×13 baking pan
Ingredients
- 8.6 ounces soft white wheat (freshly ground) Equivalent to 245 grams or 1-3/4 cup flour (when ground).
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt Forgo if using salted butter.
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 cup chocolate chips
- 1 cup oats We like quick oats for this recipe. See notes below for more.
- 1 – 3/4 cup hot water
- 1 stick butter We use unsalted butter.
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/4 cup nuts Optional – we like pecans or walnuts
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit.
- Mix boiling water and oatmeal together and set aside to cool. It is important to allow this to cool completely or you will have chocolate oatmeal cake – not chocolate chip oatmeal cake. Delicious – but not the same!
- In a large mixing bowl, cream together sugars, butter, eggs, and vanilla extract. Once combined, stir in the cooled oatmeal mixture.
- In a separate bowl, grind your grains and add dry ingredients (flour, salt, baking soda, chocolate chips and cinnamon) to this bowl.
- Fold in the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients – making sure the wet ingredients are completely cooled or the chocolate chips will melt.
- Grease a 9×13 glass pan and add the oatmeal cake to the pan. Top with additional chocolate chips (and nuts) if preferred.
- Bake for 40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when poked in the center of the cake. Enjoy warm or cold!
Notes
- #1 tip – Fully allow your oats to cool!
- Make sure to allow the oats to fully cool before adding them to the batter. If not, the chocolate chips will melt.
- While this is delicious, the cake will become a chocolate oatmeal cake, not an oatmeal chocolate chip cake – which is what you are looking for. Individual chocolate chips make the recipe – promise!
- Make sure to allow the oats to fully cool before adding them to the batter. If not, the chocolate chips will melt.
- Oats
- We like to use quick oats within the recipe as we find any other types of oats (including rolled oats), make this more of an oatmeal cookie texture rather than a light and fluffy cake.
- Do not use steel cut oats within this recipe. They require much more liquid and longer cooking periods.
- Freshly milled flour + substitute
- When making baked goods like brownies, muffins and pastries – we like to use soft white wheat berries.
- If you do not have freshly milled flour, you can use whole wheat flour or all purpose flour. The original recipe uses exclusively all purpose flour.
Nutrition
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This recipe is one of our favorites! We love how nutrient dense dessert can be – simply by switching commercial flour with fresh milled flour. The chocolate flavor comes through in every bite – like a warm, oatmeal chocolate chip cookie.