3 Ingredient Crunchy Oat Topping

At a glance

What stands out: This crunchy oat topping is like a simple granola. Enjoy for breakfast, or use it as a topping for fruit, yogurt, ice cream, and so much more.

How long it takes: 15 minutes
Equipment you’ll need: mixing bowl, rimmed baking pan
Servings: 8 (2 tablespoons each)

Simple Crunchy Topping

This crunchy oat topping reminds us of granola. It’s straightforward to mix with only oats, butter and brown sugar. The topping is baked on a sheet pan, just like you would with granola, until it’s lightly browned and crispy.

The topping is nut-free, it’s made with only three ingredients, and you can make it in less than 15 minutes. Seems like a win-win-win to us! It’s versatile, too. You can use it as a topping on lots of different treats.

How To Serve Crunchy Oat Topping

You’ll find yourself putting these crunchy oats on all sorts of things. Add the sweet crunchy oats to a yogurt parfait, or even plain yogurt (serve it at a yogurt parfait bar!). You can make a faux fruit crisp by topping fruit (either fresh or canned) with crunchy oat topping. It’s not quite the same as our apple crisp but it’s a quickie dessert that’s satisfying.

One of our favorite ways to use this crunchy sweet topping is on ice cream. We highly recommend it! We also like to use it as a topping for this rich yogurt tart! Try it on pudding, too, like this from-scratch vanilla pudding.

You can enjoy the crunchy oats for breakfast too, like a simple granola. You can throw in a few add-ins, like toasted nuts, coconut, or sunflower seeds.

• Yield: 8
• Prep: 5 minutes
• Cook: 10 minutes
• Total: 15 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 cup rolled oats (either old-fashioned or quick oats)
• ¼ cup packed brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons butter, melted

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Mix the three ingredients together until well combined. Spread the mixture out on a rimmed baking pan (not all jammed together but with some space).
3. Bake for about 10 minutes, stirring halfway through cooking time or until dry and lightly browned. Stir lightly to separate and let cool completely before storing.

Notes

Storage: Cool the topping completely before storing it in an airtight container. It will keep at room temperature for a week or more. If you want to store it longer, we'd refrigerate it, where it will keep for a couple of weeks.

Make a bigger batch: This makes a fairly small batch but the recipe can easily be multiplied for bigger batches. If you multiply, make sure you can still spread it in a fairly thin layer on your baking sheet.

Possible add-ins: You can pretty much add what you want to this mixture. Add a ½ teaspoon of cinnamon. Stir in chopped nuts or seeds. After you bake the mixture, you can add dried fruit, like raisins or cranberries.

Serving ideas: This is like a simple granola. You can use it to top fruit (fresh or canned), yogurt, ice cream, pudding, oatmeal, or whatever you like. Make straightforward yogurt parfaits or a faux fruit crisp.