Old Fashioned Oatmeal Cake
Now this is a nostalgic treat! Old Fashioned Oatmeal Cake is a classic recipe: cinnamon-spiced oatmeal cake topped with a crunchy coconut and pecan topping. It’s irresistible with a scoop of vanilla ice cream!
Do you remember this cake? This Old Fashioned Oatmeal Cake with Coconut and Pecans is in DOZENS of my church cookbooks!
A few other cakes I’ve dubbed “most likely to be printed in cookbooks” include Wacky Cake, Pistachio Cake with Pudding, and Sock It To Me Cake.
While there are some variations on this oatmeal cake (more on that below), this recipe seems to be the most common, both for the cake and for the topping.
The cake itself is moist and tender, flavored with cinnamon and nutmeg. The oats disappear right into the cake.
The topping is other-worldly: it has coconuts and pecans, suspended in a sweet brown sugar glaze. The nuts get toasted in the oven, and when this cake is served warm with a little ice cream on top, it’s next-level delicious.
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My one tip for making oatmeal cake
Keep an eye on the broiler!
The topping gets broiled after the cake bakes. It toasts the nuts and creates this dreamy topping. BUT it can burn under the broiler quickly. Keep an eye on it. And definitely don’t walk away to do something else! 🙂
You’ll need to use a metal pan for this recipe, so put away those ceramic casserole dishes that could crack under the broiler.
Ingredients
Be sure to check the recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and instructions!
- This recipe calls for quick oats (also known as “minute oats” or “one minute oats”). Don’t use old fashioned oats here.
- Pecans and coconut goes on top, in a brown sugar glaze. You can substitute walnuts for pecans, if you like. Don’t like coconut? You can double the pecans instead.
- You can use either sweetened or unsweetened coconut. I used unsweetened and found it to be just right.
How to make old fashioned oatmeal cake
This is a pretty classic cake recipe, with one more unusual step: soaking the oats.
We’ll place the oats, boiling water, and the butter in a bowl and let them sit for 20 minutes.
This softens the oats so that they disappear into the cake. The butter will also melt.
While the oats are soaking, whisk the eggs with the brown sugar/white sugar. Then, whisk in the oatmeal mixture, and finally the dry ingredients.
Then the cake is ready for baking! Pour into a greased 13×9-inch pan and bake for 30–35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
While the cake is baking, prepare the topping: pecans, coconut, brown sugar, heavy cream, melted butter, and vanilla extract.
Spread that over the cooked cake (I use an offset spatula for this) and then broil for 2–3 minutes. The coconut should look toasted and the topping will be very bubbly.
Depending on the size of your broiler, you may need to move the pan around the oven a bit to get an even toasting.
Variations
One thing I love about church cookbooks is being able to compare recipes. If you remember a slightly different variation, one of these might be it:
- My friend Jill’s family makes oatmeal cake with a sour cream topping that is baked along with the cake. Here’s a link to her Grandma’s recipe.
- Evaporated milk topping option: 1 stick butter, 1 cup brown sugar, ⅔ cup evaporated milk, 1 cup chopped nuts, 1 cup coconut: combine and bring to a boil, cook 1 minute. Spread on warm cake after removing from the pan. (Don’t broil.)
- A chocolate version! Add 1 tablespoon cocoa plus 1 cup chocolate chips to the cake recipe. Top with a handful of chocolate chips and ¾ cup nuts on top. Bake at 350°F for 40 minutes.
When serving the cake, I highly recommend serving it warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or whipped cream!
📖 Recipe
Old Fashioned Oatmeal Cake
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 1 cup quick oats (“minute” oats)
- 1¼ cups boiling water
- 1 stick butter (½ cup)
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1⅓ cups flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1½ teaspoons cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
For the topping:
- ¼ cup heavy cream (you can use evaporated milk instead)
- ¾ cup brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons melted butter
- 1 cup shredded coconut (sweetened or unsweetened)
- ½ cup chopped nuts (such as pecans or walnuts)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
For the cake:
- Add the oats and stick of butter to the boiling water. Let sit for 20 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 375°F. Grease a 13×9-inch metal pan (we will be broiling the cake at the end, so the pan needs to be heat-safe under the broiler).
- In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, 1 cup brown sugar, and granulated sugar.
- In another bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
- Whisk the oat mixture into the egg/sugar mixture.
- Fold in the flour mixture.
- Pour into the greased pan. Bake for 30–35 minutes, or until the a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
For the topping:
- While the cake is baking, stir together the heavy cream, ¾ cup brown sugar, melted butter, coconut, nuts, and vanilla.
- Spread the coconut mixture over the baked cake. I found that an offset spatula made this easier.
- Broil on high for 2–3 minutes, or until the coconut is toasted and the topping is bubbling. Watch it closely so it doesn't burn!!
- Let sit until cool, or mostly cool. Cut into slices and serve with ice cream or whipped cream.
