Time: 1 Hour, 20 minutes for prep and 40 for baking

Servings: 8

Ingredients:

• 3 Cups Red Mill Rolled Oats
• 3/4 Cup Brown Sugar
• 2 Tsps. Ground Cinnamon
• 2 Tsps. Baking Powder
• 1 Tsp. Salt + a pinch
• 5 Cups Milk
• 3 Eggs
• ¾ Cup melted butter
• 3 Tsps. Vanilla
• 1 15 Oz. can pure pumpkin puree
• 2 Tbls. Espresso powder
• 2 Tbs. Maple Syrup
• 2 Tsp. Pumpkin Pie Spice

 

I developed the parent of this recipe, plain baked oatmeal, during my husband’s first year of residency at the hospital. As a young doctor, he would often leave the house at 3:45 AM with nothing but a granola bar and a mug of coffee. It would often be 8-10 hours before he got his first food break—not great for someone whose job requires a heavy and sustained level of alertness and mental acuity.  But getting up early enough to eat a substantial breakfast would cut into the precious few hours that he had to sleep. I needed a solution that he could eat on the road, would require zero preparation and had a substantial number of calories to stick with him until late in the afternoon.

I love this dish because you make it on Sunday evening and just leave it cooling on your oven top overnight. It will be perfectly happy covered in tinfoil on your kitchen counter the entire week and tastes just as delicious at room temperature as it does warm.

After a couple of years of making the plain version I saw the below recipe for pumpkin spice base on Food Network’s The Kitchen. The pairing was made in heaven and provided the perfect flavoring to spice up breakfast for the fall season. I hope the dish brings as much cheer to your cold fall mornings as it has to mine.

 

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Combine the pumpkin puree, espresso powder, maple syrup, pumpkin pie spice, 1 tsp. of the vanilla, ½ cup of the brown sugar and a pinch of salt into a metal bowl. Set aside. This is your pumpkin spice base. It will keep for up to a week in the fridge and you can use it to bring fall cheer to all kinds of dishes: lattes, hot chocolate, yogurt dip, whip cream…the choice is yours.

Combine the dry ingredients: rolled oats, remaining ¼ cup of brown sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, and remaining 1 tsp of salt in a metal bowl.

Combine remaining wet ingredients:  eggs, milk, melted butter and remaining tsp. of vanilla in a separate bowl. Stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Add pumpkin spice base, continuously stirring as you go. I love my oatmeal super pumpkin-y and moist, so I use the whole batch. If you prefer yours on the mild side, try adding ½ to start and taste testing the first few batches. Remember, the pumpkin base will add moisture to the batter. If you add less, you may need to adjust the eggs, butter and milk to achieve the desired moisture.

Spray a deep, 9 by 13-inch glass baking dish with non-stick baking spray and add the batter. You can also cook the oatmeal in individual muffin tins, though you will need to adjust the baking time as these will bake faster. I would also suggest using the Crisco and flour method for muffin tins. This oatmeal sticks to the pan better than it does to your ribs so make sure you are greasing appropriately! Cover the dish with tin foil.

Bake, covered for 40 minutes. The middle will still be very soft when you pull it out. I like this as the oatmeal maintains moisture throughout the week. Cool and enjoy. This oatmeal will last for a week on your counter or in your fridge and tastes amazing reheated, refrigerated or at room temperature.

 

Happy fall baking!