This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
This apple pie oatmeal for one combines creamy oats with one apple cooked in butter and brown sugar until it tastes like warm pie filling. It’s made from scratch and ready in 20 minutes.
Featured Comment
“Very good recipe. Didn’t change a thing.”
– Twila
Quick Look
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Equipment: 8-inch skillet, 1-quart saucepan
- Cook Method: Stovetop
- Servings: 1
- Difficulty: Easy
- Flavor Profile: Buttery brown sugar apples with warm cinnamon and a little nutmeg over mild oats.
One apple, cut into ½-inch pieces, cooks in a skillet with butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg until it’s soft and glazed, then gets stirred into the hot oats.
Why You’ll Love This Single Serving Apple Pie Oatmeal
Apple season in the North Carolina mountains means a bag of fresh-picked apples from one of the orchards near Hendersonville sitting on my counter, and this apple oatmeal is one of my favorite ways to use them. It’s made for one person. One apple is enough for a breakfast that tastes like apple pie, and you’ll have it in front of you in 20 minutes.
Most apple oatmeal recipes stir raw apple into the pot and let it soften with the oats. I cook the apple on its own in butter and brown sugar with cinnamon and nutmeg, so each piece turns tender and glazed, and the buttery brown sugar syrup from the skillet goes into the bowl with it. That one change is the difference between oatmeal with fruit in it and oatmeal that tastes like pie.
The oats simmer while the apple cooks, so both finish at the same time and nothing sits around getting cold.
Looking for more single serving oatmeal recipes? Try our Baked Oatmeal For One, Peanut Butter Oatmeal, or Overnight Oats For One, and find every apple recipe we’ve scaled down on our apple recipes for one page.
Ingredients
One apple and a few pantry staples are all it takes to make apple oatmeal for one. For ways to use any leftover ingredients, check out our Leftover Ingredients Recipe Finder.
Old-fashioned oats: These thick rolled flakes hold their shape in the pot and give the oatmeal a chewy bite that stands up to the soft apples. Measure them dry and level, straight from the container. Quick oats work in a pinch, but they cook in about half the time and turn out softer. Steel-cut oats need far longer to cook and won’t work with this timing. For a gluten free apple pie oatmeal, use certified gluten free oats. Use extra oats in apple crisp for one or small batch butter pecan granola
Milk and water: Cooking the oats in both gives you a bowl that’s rich without scorching the way all-milk oatmeal can over medium heat. Whole milk makes the creamiest bowl, and 2% works fine. Almond milk or oat milk can stand in for the dairy.
Salt: A small pinch keeps the oats from tasting flat and makes the brown sugar and apple taste sweeter.
Butter: The apples cook in butter, which browns their edges and gives the glaze its rich flavor. Let it melt fully over medium heat before the brown sugar goes in so the sugar dissolves instead of clumping.
Brown sugar: It melts into the butter and coats the apple pieces, and it’s the sweetness for the whole bowl since the oats themselves have none. Light or dark both work; dark brings a deeper molasses flavor.
Cinnamon and nutmeg: Together these are what make the apples taste like pie filling instead of apple cinnamon oatmeal. Nutmeg is strong, so stick with a small amount. If you have apple pie spice, use the same total amount in place of both.
Apple: You need 1 medium apple, peeled and cut into ½-inch dice, which gives you about ¾ cup. A firm, sweet-tart apple like Honeycrisp, Gala, or Pink Lady holds its shape in the skillet, and a green apple like Granny Smith gives a tarter bowl. Peeling keeps every piece tender, and ½-inch dice is what gets the apple soft in 12 to 15 minutes. Extra apples can be used in an a mini dutch apple pie or small batch apple fritters.
Recipe Variations
Here’s how to change the flavor or the serving size of this apple pie oatmeal recipe.
Apple Pie Overnight Oats
Cook the apple in the skillet as directed and let it cool. Stir ½ cup old-fashioned oats, ½ cup milk, and a pinch of salt together in a jar, fold in the cooked apple with all of its syrup, cover, and refrigerate overnight. Eat it cold or warm it in the microwave for 1 minute.
Caramel Apple Oatmeal
Drizzle 1 tablespoon of our Small Batch Caramel over the finished bowl. The heat of the oatmeal loosens the caramel so it runs down into the apples, and the brown sugar glaze already on the apples ties the two together.
Maple Apple Oatmeal
Use 1 tablespoon of pure maple syrup in place of the brown sugar when you cook the apple. Maple adds a little liquid the sugar doesn’t, so let the apples cook a minute or two longer at the end until the syrup thickens around them. The apple flavor comes through more this way, with a maple note that suits a tart apple.
Apple Raisin Oatmeal
Add 1 tablespoon of raisins to the skillet with the apple. They plump in the brown sugar syrup while the apple cooks, so you get soft, sweet raisins instead of the chewy ones you’d get stirring them in dry at the end.
Apple Pie Oatmeal For Two
Double every ingredient, cook the apples in a 10-inch skillet, and cook the oats in a 2-quart saucepan. The apples need the same 12 to 15 minutes; give the oats a minute or two longer.
How To Make Apple Pie Oatmeal
This apple pie breakfast bowl cooks in two pans at once, the apple in a skillet and the oats in a small saucepan, and both are ready in about 15 minutes. Full amounts are in the recipe card below.
- In a 1-quart saucepan, bring the milk, water, and salt to a boil over high heat.
- Stir in the oats, reduce the heat to medium, and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the oats are soft and most of the liquid is absorbed. Take the pan off the heat and cover it.
- While the oats cook, melt the butter in an 8-inch skillet over medium heat. Stir in the brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg and cook for 30 seconds, until the sugar dissolves into the butter.
- Add the diced apple and stir until every piece is coated.
- Cook for 12 to 15 minutes, stirring often, until the apple is soft and the syrup has thickened around it.
- Stir the apple and all of its syrup into the oatmeal and serve.
Expert Tips
Keep the skillet at medium heat. Brown sugar scorches before a ½-inch apple piece softens if the heat climbs, and burnt sugar turns the glaze bitter. Medium gives the apple the full 12 to 15 minutes it needs.
Use an 8-inch skillet so the apple sits in one layer. In a bigger pan the syrup spreads thin and cooks off; in a smaller one the pieces pile up and steam instead of glazing.
Taste the apple before it goes into the oats. A tart apple like Granny Smith may want another teaspoon of brown sugar stirred into the skillet in the last minute.
Thin the oatmeal after the apple goes in. If you like a looser bowl, stir in a tablespoon or two of warm milk at the end; the oats keep thickening while they sit covered.
Troubleshooting
Here’s how to get this apple pie oatmeal exactly the texture you want.
Why are my apples still firm after 15 minutes?
Apples stay firm in the skillet when the pieces are cut larger than ½ inch or the heat is too low. Cover the skillet for 2 to 3 minutes so the apple steams through, then uncover it and cook until the syrup thickens again. A very firm apple like Granny Smith can also take a few extra minutes.
Why did my apples turn to mush?
Apples turn to mush when the variety is too soft for the skillet or they cook past the 12-to-15-minute window. McIntosh and Red Delicious break down fast; Honeycrisp, Gala, and Pink Lady hold their shape. Start checking at 12 minutes and pull the skillet as soon as a piece gives easily to a fork.
Why is my oatmeal gummy?
Oatmeal turns gummy when it cooks too long, cooks over heat that’s too high, or gets stirred constantly, which pulls starch out of the oats. Keep the heat at medium once the oats go in, stir only a few times in 5 minutes, and take the pan off the heat as soon as most of the liquid is absorbed. Quick oats also cook up gummier than old-fashioned oats.
What if there’s more apple than I want in the bowl?
If the finished bowl has more apple than you want, use a small apple next time or half of a large one. You can also cook the whole apple as written and save half of the glazed apple in the refrigerator for the next morning’s bowl.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, apple pie oatmeal can be made up to 4 days ahead. Cook the oats and the apples as written, stir them together, and store the bowl covered in the refrigerator. The oats thicken as they chill, so stir in a tablespoon or two of milk when you reheat it.
Reheat apple pie oatmeal in the microwave with a splash of milk, in 30-second bursts, stirring between each. The oats thicken in the refrigerator, and the milk loosens them back to the texture they had fresh.
No, applesauce can’t replace the fresh apple in this recipe, because the skillet step needs apple pieces to glaze. Stirring a few tablespoons of applesauce into the cooked oats adds apple flavor, but you lose the pie filling texture.
The oats can be cooked in the microwave for one, but the apples need the skillet. Microwave the oats, milk, water, and salt in a large bowl for 2 to 2½ minutes, stirring halfway, then stir in the skillet apples.
Ways To Use Leftover Ingredients
If you have any ingredients leftover from this recipe, check out our Leftover Ingredients Recipe Finder or you might like to consider using them in any of these single serving and small batch recipes:
If you’ve tried this spiced apple oatmeal recipe please let me know how you liked it by rating the recipe and telling me about it in the comment section below.
Apple Pie Oatmeal For One
Equipment
Ingredients
- ½ cup water
- ⅓ cup milk
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup old-fashioned oats
- 1 tablespoon salted butter
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 medium apple – peeled, cored, and cut into ½-inch dice
Instructions
- In a 1-quart saucepan, bring the water, milk, and salt to a boil over high heat.
- Stir in the oats, reduce the heat to medium, and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the oats are soft and most of the liquid is absorbed.
- Remove the pan from the heat and cover it; the oats will stay warm while the apple cooks.
- Melt the butter in an 8-inch skillet over medium heat.
- Stir in the brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg and cook for 30 seconds, until the sugar dissolves into the butter.
- Add the diced apple and stir until every piece is coated.
- Cook for 12 to 15 minutes, stirring often, until the apple is soft and the syrup has thickened around it.
- Stir the apple and all of its syrup into the oatmeal and serve warm.
Notes
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
This was so delicious! I eat old fashioned oats two or three times a week and I already know I like mine well cooked, so I added a little extra water and let it simmer for 10 mins while I fixed the apples. I also knew that a whole apple would be too much for this smallish bowl of oats (for me, anyway), so I used one large apple but doubled the butter and sugar, and saved half for tomorrow. So I get a second breakfast treat without the extra work! I will absolutely be making this again and again. Is it tomorrow yet? hahaha
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! And I love that you’ve already planned round two for tomorrow. That’s a win.
Absolutely delicious—saving this!
Thank you, I’m so happy you enjoyed it.
I just made it and it is delicious. Halloween was just a few days ago, so caramel is in the house and it was a delicious drizzle added on top.
Can this recipe be an Overnight Oats?
because were heading into summer here in Southern California.
Very good recipe. Didn’t change a thing.
Fall 🍁just rolled in Chilly Mornings. Huge fan of Oatmeal. This was delicious! Chunky bits of apples with yummy spiced warm oats. Perfect with my morning tea. I will make this version often. Thank you! 😊
I am excited to try. I have made chunky applesauce like my grandma made and frozen it. A great way to use my applesauce!
Very easy, & good for you
Great recipe.