Recipe: Yummy Pumpkin Baked Oats (Sweet but Healthy)

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:

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. Turn the oven down to 150c.
  4. Add to a blender 220g of rolled oats, one teaspoon of baking powder, a pinch of salt and one banana.
  5. 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.
  6. Stir everything together, then add four tablespoons of agave syrup and six teaspoons of apple sauce.
  7. Finally, add 200ml of almond milk and 100g of the cooked pumpkin to the blender.
  8. Blend everything together, until smooth.
  9. Pour the oats mixture into bowls, before placing on a baking tray.
  10. 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.
  11. 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.
  12. 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.
  13. 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

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