I always get stressed out when Fall rolls around. I LOVE Fall baking and cooking but often feel like I run out of time every year to get it done!
Part of it is that the weather doesn’t properly cool down until mid to late September and until that happens, it just doesn’t feel quite right to be baking with apples, cinnamon, pears and pumpkin.
The other part is that I like to make all things apple in September and all things pumpkin in October, but because most of September is wasted with WARM weather (I kid…kind of, I’ll kick myself for saying that when I’m buried in a foot of snow this winter for sure!), I always feel like I miss out on baking with apples.
So this year, I decided September and October (and even November, though I feel like November and apple pies go together so well that I never even hesitate) will be for apples AND pumpkins.
I promptly revised my “baked pumpkin oatmeal” that I had slotted to make in October to “baked pumpkin and APPLE oatmeal” and boy am I glad I made this new pact with myself because this came out INCREDIBLE.
I honestly don’t know why I never thought about doing it this way before…I absolutely love pumpkin and apple together so it only makes sense to bake without BOTH all throughout fall.
This dish packs a good amount of nutrition – whole grains and soluble fiber from the oatmeal, healthy fat from the pecans and fruit from the pumpkin and apple! I like to top mine off with a little plain greek yogurt to round out the dish (and of course a little drizzle more of maple syrup!).
Can’t say anything bad about a dish that provides plenty of nutrition and taste of autumn with each bite!
Ingredients
- 2 cups rolled oats
- 1/2 cup pecan pieces, chopped
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon (I LOVE cinnamon so I always add a lot, feel free to adjust based on your taste, you can also use pumpkin or apple pie spice)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup maple syrup
- 2 cups milk
- 1 large egg
- 2 tablespoons earth balance or butter, softened
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups pumpkin puree
- 2 small apples (such as macintosh or jonamac), finely diced
- Optional toppings: plain greek yogurt, maple syrup, chopped pecans, diced apples
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375’F
- Grease a baking dish (I recommend a 2 or 3 qt. baking dish, using a smaller dish will mean increasing baking time so that it cooks in the center)
- Combine oats, pecans, baking powder, cinnamon and salt in a medium mixing bowl
- Combine maple syrup, milk, egg, butter and vanilla in a separate mixing bowl
- Add wet to dry mixture, folding gently to combine
- Fold in pumpkin puree followed by apples making sure both are well incorporated
- Pour into greased baking dish using a spatula to spread the mixture evenly throughout the dish
- Bake for 35-45 minutes until golden brown (because every oven is different, I recommend plunging a knife or cake tester into the center of the dish to test if it's done, if it comes out clean or just a bit wet, it’s done).
This looks absolutely delicious! I love the idea of combining apple and pumpkin. How many servings does it make?
I got about 8 4×2″ squares out of it so depending on how many squares you eat per serving you could get around 4-8 servings! 🙂
Thanks Cait!
I made this lovely baked oatmeal this morning for my family! It was absolutely delicious and I am already craving it for the next time I make it!!!
Ahhh yay! Thanks you so much for the note – that makes me so happy to hear! We were seriously so in love over here – we ate the entire thing in about 2 days! 🙂