How Giada De Laurentiis Really Feels About TikTok's Baked Oats Trend
As of this writing, TikTokers have dedicated 489.3 million views to the wonders of #bakedoats (via TikTok). And, to be fair, when baked oats look suspiciously like cake, we can't blame them (via TikTok). Even Southern Living can't find a single baked oats recipe on TikTok that it doesn't want to copy. The publication has got a soft spot for chocolate banana-baked oats with cocoa powder and is trying desperately to convince itself that it's "healthy-ish." Real Simple's on board, too, calling the best TikTok baked oats recipes "incredibly airy, smooth, and cloud-like." Insider writer Rachel Hosie swears that she's been eating baked oats for breakfast for years (of the banana bread, triple chocolate raspberry brownie batter, spiced apple varieties) and that they've helped her gain muscle.
Now even Giada De Laurentiis has turned her chef's eye to them. Laurentiis opted to mix her oats with maple syrup, eggs, milk, vanilla, cinnamon, raspberries, chocolate, and peanut butter chips before sticking them in the oven (via Instagram). This is how she fared.
Giada De Laurentiis weighs in on baked oats
Were you hoping that Giada de Laurentiis would react to TikTok like Gordon Ramsay loves to? Sorry to disappoint. De Laurentiis celebrated TikTok's baked oats obsession, assuring her Instagram followers that "it was worth the hype." Because, as the genius behind Everyday Italian points out, "Getting to eat cake for breakfast in any capacity is a win." The chef's Instagram followers might be more experienced at making baked oats than she is. After posting her attempt at the TikTok trend, posters began suggesting recipe alterations, including using bananas and Medjool dates "for sweetness," and adding applesauce to the mix.
Anyways, we hate to do this to you, Giada, but Chrissy Teigen has known about the goodness of baked oats for far longer than you. She included yellow cake baked oatmeal in her 2016 cookbook, Cravings. "This . . . tastes exactly how it sounds. Like heaven," Teigen described her recipe (via Self).