Friday, October 25, 2013

Baked Pumpkin Oatmeal

Posted by Erin Wilburn / 4 comments » / breakfast, pumpkin

As it turns out, my infant who happily munched broccoli, gobbled up asparagus, chowed down on Winter Squash Quinoa Chicken Stew, and would pretty much at least try anything has slowly morphed into a toddler that will eat almost nothing.  Ok, so not QUITE almost nothing.  He does have a list of approved foods, things like: strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, peaches, pears, bananas, kiwi, bananas, & raisins.  Sense a theme here?  Fruit fruit fruit.  There are a handful of non-fruit things he’ll eat, such as pizza, full fat greek yogurt, muffins, crackers, granola bars, cheerios, bacon, lunchmeat & cheese (but only about 30-40% of the time I offer it), and spaghetti (sometimes).  I very much did not want to raise a picky eater, but here I am.  Because he will eat muffins, I wanted to offer him a breakfast option similar to muffins, but perhaps a bit healthier.  Also, I was curious to see if he inherited his momma’s love of pumpkin.

This baked pumpkin oatmeal recipe originally called for it to be made in muffin tins.  I ended up baking mine in a mini loaf pan and I’m glad I did.  I still had a portable breakfast (when wrapped in foil), but I could slice off exactly the portion I wanted.  I worried with muffins I might end up eating 2, when 1 1/2 would satisfy me.  I certainly loved this breakfast treat!  It was similar to a muffin, as I expected, but heartier.  This really kept me full all morning long.  And as I would heat it up in the break room each morning at work, I often got compliments of “That smells amazing!”

Now, you’re probably wondering how my little picky eater liked it.  Well… in true Elliott fashion, one day he ate about 1/2 of what I gave him (which meant he liked it), the following two days he refused to eat any of it, and the fourth day he ate 3 bites.  Sheesh.  All I know is, I’m definitely making this again in the future, whether he eats any of it or not!

Print

Baked Pumpkin Oatmeal

Yield: 12 muffins, or 4 mini loaves

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 cup pumpkin puree
1/4 cup sugar
2 cups skim milk
2 eggs, lightly beaten
3 cups rolled oats
1 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
Pinch sea salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a muffin tin or mini loaf pan with cooking spray; set aside.

In a 2-cup measuring cup, soak the cranberries in about 1 cup hot water. Let sit while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.

In the bowl of your standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or in a large bowl, if you are doing this manually), combine the melted butter, pumpkin puree, sugar, skim milk, and eggs, mixing on medium speed until smooth.

With the mixer running on low speed, slowly add the rolled oats, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and ground cloves, mixing well. Drain the cranberries, and add them to the mixture. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold in the chopped walnuts until thoroughly incorporated.

Evenly dividing the batter, spoon the mixture into your prepared pan and bake until lightly golden and the “muffins” are springy, about 30 minutes.

adapted from The Curvy Carrot