Spooky season is upon us! What better way to celebrate than with something delicious and pumpkin-flavoured.
Baked oats are currently everyone’s favourite way to enjoy porridge. It’s unsurprising when you give them a taste; they’re so sweet and cake-like. These are a far cry from your usual breakfast oats. I’ve never been the biggest fan of porridge, so I was excited to discover how much I enjoy eating oats when baked. Rolled oats are so healthy and super filling, so they’re a great addition to your diet. If you’re not keen on porridge either, but looking to get more oats into your diet – this recipe is for you.
I couldn’t find any ready-made pumpkin puree in the shops, so had to commit myself and buy a proper pumpkin. If you can get your mitts on pumpkin puree, I recommend. However, pumpkin purists shouldn’t find the prep too arduous. Plus, it leaves you with plenty of pumpkin for a pie, soup or stew too! When dreaming up the decorations, I hoped to find vegan Halloween sprinkles. Shops in the UK are still very limited when it comes to vegan sprinkles, and I couldn’t find what I was looking for. I decided to make mini pumpkins from fondant icing instead. You can find a Dr Oetker ready to roll pack of icing in the Tesco baking aisle, if you fancy getting creative.
Makes two bowls.
Ingredients:
For the oats –
- 220g rolled oats
- 1 banana
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp ginger
- 2 tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 6 tsp apple sauce
- 4 tbsp agave syrup
- 100g roasted pumpkin (or ready-made pumpkin puree)
- 200ml almond milk
- A pinch of salt
For the toppings –
- A drizzle of agave syrup
- Vegan sprinkles (extra fondant pumpkins are optional)
- Half a banana
- Vegan chocolate
Method:
- If you’re lucky enough to find ready-made pumpkin puree then you can skip this first step. If not, preheat the oven to 200c. Slice your pumpkin in half and place on a baking tray. Cook the pumpkin in the oven for 45 minutes. The flesh needs to be nice and soft so it will peel away from the skin.
- Remove the pumpkin from the oven and set it to one side to cool. You will not need much pumpkin for this recipe, so I highly recommend refrigerating or freezing most of it for a pie or soup recipe.
- Turn the oven down to 150c.
- Add to a blender 220g of rolled oats, one teaspoon of baking powder, a pinch of salt and one banana.
- Season with half a teaspoon each of cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger. Add two teaspoons of turmeric – this will give the oats a lovely golden colour, plus it’s packed with nutrients.
- Stir everything together, then add four tablespoons of agave syrup and six teaspoons of apple sauce.
- Finally, add 200ml of almond milk and 100g of the cooked pumpkin to the blender.
- Blend everything together, until smooth.
- Pour the oats mixture into bowls, before placing on a baking tray.
- Cook the oats in the oven at 150c for 20 minutes. The top should crispen, but you should still be able to feel a gooey-ness underneath the top layer.
- Decorate however you like! For ours, I chose to lightly drizzle agave syrup first. Then, I sprinkled orange stars, alongside fondant pumpkins I made using ready-made icing from the baking aisle.
- To make the ghosts, I sliced a banana in half, and then gently down the middle to create something flatter. Gently slice out little triangles from the bottom of the banana slices to make each look like a sheet. Melt a little chocolate in the microwave and use the end of a chopstick to ‘dot’ eyes onto the ghosts.
- For the final touch, add a chunk of your favourite vegan chocolate while the oats are still fresh out of the oven. The heat slowly melts the chocolate into a gooey, delicious mess.
I hope you enjoy this recipe! Let me know if you give it a go.
Alice xoxo
