Hot winter breakfast

Pinterest rewarded my work-time browsing breaks with yet another wonderful recipe link to 10 hot cereal breakfasts. Yesterday morning, having awoken 30 minutes before my alarm was to go off, I decided it was the perfect time to try one of them. Having recently purchased steel cut oats for the very first time (adventurous, no?) - I opted to make baked pumpkin steel cut oatmeal. I found out two things: (1) I absolutely love the chewier texture of steel cut oats, reminds me a bit of wheat berries, combined with the creamy rich taste of the oats; (2) I absolutely love making a casserole dish full of oatmeal in one go that means multiple breakfasts are already made for subsequent mornings!

I followed the recipe almost exactly, except I didn't have quite enough canned pumpkin so I used applesauce for the rest of the pumpkin quantity. I also reduced the brown sugar, so that I could add a drizzle of maple syrup at the end without it being too sweet. I think fancy molasses (or even blackstrap molasses) might add another nice dimension to this recipe.

Baked Pumpkin Steel Cut Oatmeal
serves 4 to 6

• 2 Tbs butter, divided
• 1 1/2 c steel cut oats
• 1 c pumpkin or squash puree (or applesauce up to 1/4 c.)
• 1/4 c brown sugar (not packed)
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tspginger
• 1/2 tsp cloves
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 2 c milk  (I used 1 c. almond milk and 1 c. milk - I'm sure 2 c. almond milk and vegan margarine would work great in this recipe too)
• 2 1/2 c warm water
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 tsp salt

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. In a 3-quart Dutch oven, melt 1 Tbs of butter over medium-high heat. When the butter foams, stir in the oats and fry for about 3 minutes (keep stirring).
3. Push the oats to the sides of the pan, and add the second Tbs of butter to the center of the pan. Add pumpkin puree, sugar and spices, stirring for another 3 to 4 minutes.
4. Pour in the milk and whisk to combine. Whisk in the water, vanilla and salt. Put the lid on and transfer the dutch oven to the oven.
5. Bake for 35 minutes. Stir the oatmeal and test that the oats are al dente and tender (may still look fairly liquidy). The oatmeal will thicken much more as it cools.
6. Eat immediately with a drizzle of maple syrup and/or cream. Let the leftovers cool and then refrigerate for reheating later.


Photo perhaps to come - but check out the link if you want to see what it looks like