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On the first cold morning of October my mother made a cake for breakfast, and when it came out of the oven she put it back in. If that sounds wrong, you have never had lazy daisy oatmeal cake. It is a soft brown sugar cake made with oats soaked in boiling water first, so the crumb comes out damp and tender. On its own that is a good cake. It is not the point.
The point is the topping. While the cake is still hot, a mixture of melted butter, brown sugar, a little evaporated milk, coconut and pecans is spread over the top, and the pan goes back under the broiler until the sugar bubbles and the coconut goes dark gold and crisp at the edges. It comes out with a chewy caramel top full of toasted coconut on a cake as soft as a pillow. We ate it warm, in squares, with our hands, before school.
Why lazy? Because there is nothing to frost and nothing to layer. Why daisy? Nobody in my family ever knew, and every community cookbook in the Midwest has it under that name without explaining it.
Why this lazy daisy oatmeal cake works
- Oats soaked in boiling water. Twenty minutes in hot water turns the oats soft and starchy, and they hold that moisture in the crumb for days.
- Brown sugar and cinnamon in the batter. They give the cake a warm, dark color and a flavor that belongs with the caramel topping.
- The topping on a hot cake. The heat of the cake starts melting the sugar before the broiler does, so the topping clings to the surface and never slides off.
- Two or three minutes under the broiler. The sugar boils, the coconut toasts, the edges go crisp, and the cake needs no frosting.
Ingredients
Makes one 9 by 13 inch cake, about 16 squares. The measurements are in US cups with grams in brackets.
For the cake
- 1 1/4 cups boiling water (300ml)
- 1 cup quick-cooking oats (90g)
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter (113g), softened
- 1 cup packed light brown sugar (200g)
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar (100g)
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour (165g)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
For the broiled topping
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter (85g), melted
- 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar (150g)
- 1/4 cup evaporated milk (60ml)
- 1 cup sweetened shredded coconut (85g)
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans (55g)
Quick-cooking oats, not instant and not old-fashioned rolled oats. Instant oats turn to paste and rolled oats stay chewy. Use a metal 9 by 13 inch pan; glass can crack under the broiler.
How to make lazy daisy oatmeal cake
- Put the oats in a bowl, pour the boiling water over them, stir once, cover the bowl with a plate and let them stand for 20 minutes. Meanwhile heat the oven to 350°F (175°C) and grease a metal 9 by 13 inch pan.
- In a large bowl, beat the softened butter with the brown sugar and granulated sugar for about 3 minutes, until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then the vanilla.
- Whisk the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt together. Stir the soaked oats, which will look like thick porridge, into the butter mixture, then add the dry ingredients and fold just until no streaks of flour remain. The batter is looser than a butter cake batter. That is right.
- Spread the batter in the pan and bake at 350°F for 30 to 35 minutes, until the top springs back and a toothpick pushed into the center comes out clean. About 35 minutes in most ovens.
- While the cake bakes, stir the topping together: the melted butter, brown sugar, evaporated milk, coconut and pecans, until everything is coated.
- As soon as the cake comes out, switch the oven to broil and set a rack so the top of the cake will sit about 6 inches below the element. Drop the topping in spoonfuls over the hot cake and spread it gently with the back of the spoon, right to the edges of the pan.
- Put the pan under the broiler for 2 to 3 minutes, with the oven door cracked and your eyes on it the whole time, until the topping is bubbling all over and the coconut is dark gold and crisp at the edges. Turn the pan once if one side browns faster. Walk away and it is black.
- Cool the cake in the pan for about 20 minutes, until the topping has set into a chewy crust. Cut it into squares and eat it warm.
Tips that make the difference
- Time the 20 minute soak. Oats that are still firm leave chewy specks in the crumb.
- Keep the 6 inch distance from the broiler element. Closer and the coconut burns before the sugar bubbles.
- Have the topping mixed and the spoon in hand before the cake comes out. The topping goes on hot, and the cake does not wait.
- If the topping looks dry in spots after broiling, it is fine. It softens as the butter settles during the 20 minutes of cooling.
Variations
- Walnuts. Use 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (55g) in the topping in place of the pecans, the way most northern versions were written.
- No coconut. Leave it out and use 1 cup chopped pecans (115g) for a topping that is all nuts and caramel.
- Raisins in the cake. Fold 3/4 cup raisins (110g) into the batter with the dry ingredients.
- Square pan. Halve every amount and bake in an 8-inch square metal pan for 30 minutes, then broil the same way.
Storage and make-ahead
Cover the pan with foil once the cake is cool. It keeps at room temperature for 4 days, and the crumb stays moist because of the oats. The topping softens slightly by the second day, which many people prefer.
Squares freeze well for up to 3 months, wrapped individually. Warm them for 10 minutes in a 300°F oven, which brings the topping back to crisp.
For a potluck, bake and broil it the day before and carry it in the pan. It cuts more cleanly cold, and it travels better than any frosted cake.
Frequently asked questions
Why is it called lazy daisy oatmeal cake?
Lazy because there is no frosting to make and no layers to stack; the topping is finished under the broiler in minutes. The daisy part has never been explained. The name appears in community cookbooks from the 1940s and everybody simply kept it.
Can I use old-fashioned rolled oats or instant oats?
Quick-cooking oats are best. Rolled oats stay chewy in the crumb even after soaking, and instant oats break down into paste and make the cake gummy.
Do I have to use the broiler?
It is what makes this cake. Without the broiler the topping is a sweet, soft coconut spread. Two or three minutes under the element boils the sugar and toasts the coconut, and you get the chewy caramel crust.
Can I make it in a glass baking dish?
Do not put glass under the broiler; the sudden heat can crack it. Use a metal pan, or bake in glass, spread the topping on, and return it to a 400°F oven for 8 to 10 minutes instead, until bubbling.
Soak the oats, bake the cake, spread the topping on hot, and stand at the oven door for three minutes. Nothing to frost, nothing to layer, and nobody has ever explained the daisy.
Lazy Daisy Oatmeal Cake (The Cake That Goes Back Under the Broiler)
Old-fashioned lazy daisy oatmeal cake: quick oats soaked in boiling water, a soft brown sugar and cinnamon cake in a 9 by 13 inch pan, then a topping of butter, brown sugar, evaporated milk, coconut and pecans spread on the hot cake and broiled until it bubbles. Cups and grams, oven time and broiler time.
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups boiling water
- 1 cup quick-cooking oats
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter (113g), softened
- 1 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter (85g), melted
- 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1/4 cup evaporated milk
- 1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans
Instructions
- Put the oats in a bowl, pour the boiling water over them, stir once, cover the bowl with a plate and let them stand for 20 minutes. Meanwhile heat the oven to 350°F (175°C) and grease a metal 9 by 13 inch pan.
- In a large bowl, beat the softened butter with the brown sugar and granulated sugar for about 3 minutes, until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then the vanilla.
- Whisk the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt together. Stir the soaked oats, which will look like thick porridge, into the butter mixture, then add the dry ingredients and fold just until no streaks of flour remain. The batter is looser than a butter cake batter. That is right.
- Spread the batter in the pan and bake at 350°F for 30 to 35 minutes, until the top springs back and a toothpick pushed into the center comes out clean. About 35 minutes in most ovens.
- While the cake bakes, stir the topping together: the melted butter, brown sugar, evaporated milk, coconut and pecans, until everything is coated.
- As soon as the cake comes out, switch the oven to broil and set a rack so the top of the cake will sit about 6 inches below the element. Drop the topping in spoonfuls over the hot cake and spread it gently with the back of the spoon, right to the edges of the pan.
- Put the pan under the broiler for 2 to 3 minutes, with the oven door cracked and your eyes on it the whole time, until the topping is bubbling all over and the coconut is dark gold and crisp at the edges. Turn the pan once if one side browns faster. Walk away and it is black.
- Cool the cake in the pan for about 20 minutes, until the topping has set into a chewy crust. Cut it into squares and eat it warm.
