Baked Yogurt Is The Versatile Breakfast Treat You Can Make With Just 3 Ingredients

A cup of yogurt makes a nice, quick breakfast that's relatively healthy, if admittedly not too exciting. If you've got a few extra seconds, you can dress it up with lemon zest, or you can throw it in the blender with some fruit (make sure to use a high-fiber variety so your smoothie will be a complete and satisfying breakfast). Even with these embellishments, though, it's still basically just yogurt, and not everyone's a fan. If you mix it with a few tablespoons of cornstarch or flour and a couple of eggs and stick it in the oven, though, it will transform into a soft, spongy, puddingy-cakey dish called a yogurt bake that may appeal to anyone who enjoys oven pancakes or clafoutis.

Even though many recipes call for Greek yogurt, you can really make this dish with any kind of yogurt you have on hand. (Most so-called Greek yogurt brands really aren't all that Greek, anyway; they're just regular yogurt, strained.) Yes, it's okay to use sweetened, flavored yogurt if you prefer, or you can sweeten plain yogurt with jam, sugar, or honey. Feel free to add some vanilla or almond extract to your yogurt bake, and stir in some fresh or frozen fruits if you wish. Bake until it sets (this could take up to 40 minutes), then let it cool slightly before slicing and eating. It's just as good cold as it is warm, which makes it excellent for meal prepping since you can cook it on Sunday and enjoy a slice as you race out the door Monday morning.

Yogurt bake falls into that in-between realm between breakfast and dessert, although it leans far more heavily toward the former if you stick to its simplest three-ingredient form. Sweetened and dressed up with some berries and maybe a sprinkling of powdered sugar or a blob or two of whipped cream, it would make an excellent brunch dish, but if you add a few more ingredients, you can turn a yogurt bake into a yogurt cake that will make for a tasty meal-ender.

A yogurt cake will typically contain yogurt, eggs, and flour, similar to a yogurt bake. Instead of the very minimal amount of flour needed for baked yogurt, which is usually no more than a few tablespoons, a more solid cake will usually require a cup or more of flour. To get that cake-like consistency, it also needs a leavener, such as baking powder, along with a fat like butter or oil. Some type of sweetener, usually sugar, is pretty de rigueur, as well. Even though breakfast may be all about getting a healthy start to your day, dessert is meant to provide a sweet ending.