Baked Pumpkin Oatmeal Recipe
Last pumpkin recipe until next October – I swear! In reality, I made and shot this recipe last winter, but I felt that my readers wouldn’t find a baked pumpkin oatmeal as appealing in January as they would in October. The truth is, I eat pumpkin all year long. I love pumpkin pancakes, oatmeal, muffins, bread, smoothies and smoothie bowls, cake (coming to my classes next month!), cookies, soup, and “truffles.” Although I much prefer to bring home a sugar pie pumpkin from the market and roast it for homemade pumpkin puree, it’s easy to find organic pumpkin in BPA-free containers all year.
Pumpkin itself is kind of bland, but the traditional spices that accompany pumpkin are what make everything taste so good. Cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves are classic, warming, sweet spices, but cardamom and allspice are also great. And pumpkin doesn’t have to be sweet. I love it in chili or risotto or ravioli.
But let’s leave pumpkin aside for a moment so we can talk about oats and which oats are safe to eat given their contamination with glyphosate. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, please read the Environmental Working Group’s report on this toxic, antibiotic that is the active ingredient in Roundup which is sprayed on many crops in this country (and China, Mexico, and Australia, among others.) The majority of crops sprayed (or now also in the seed itself) include corn, soy, wheat and oats. What is shocking to most people about this report is that several organic brands of oats, such as Bob’s Red Mill, contained trace amounts of glyphosate, although not nearly at the egregious and criminal levels in a product like Quaker Oats. And I don’t care that I will never get a sponsorship offer from Quaker Oats, because I wouldn’t take one for all the money they could give me.
This post started off all cheery because baked pumpkin oatmeal is wonderful and fun to make and share. But I want you all to do your research and understand how harmful glyphosate is to your health, especially to the diversity and health of the bacteria in your gut microbiome which affects every system in your body, especially your brain. You can call companies and ask if their products have been tested for glyphosate and what the results were. These results show that Whole Foods 365 ORGANIC Rolled Oats contained no detected amounts of glyphosate. If you need a gluten-free source, I would opt for One Degree Organics Sprouted Rolled Oats.
While I’m on the subject, I would stay away from all non-organic wheat and when possible, opt for wheat products imported from countries that ban the use of glyphosate, such as Italy. I never jumped on the gluten-free bandwagon, because I didn’t think it was possible for everyone to be sensitive to gluten. But from the obsessive amount of research, science, and data I have read, I have come to the conclusion that it’s not just the gluten, but the glyphosate that is contributing to out gut microbiome imbalance and the crazy increase in autoimmune issues that plague our population right now (and it’s only getting worse.)
I don’t mean to be a downer, but I care about you and your loved ones. Enjoy this pumpkin oatmeal recipe. It’s delicious and has the potential to be a wonderful, healthful breakfast or snack. My family and I love it warm or cold. There are lots of ways you can adapt it (like most recipes.) Tag me if you make it because it is one of my greatest pleasures to see your creations on social media. Seriously — makes my day every time! @pamelasalzman #pamelasalzman
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- 1 teaspoon aluminum-free baking powder
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon (or substitute 1 TBS. pumpkin pie spice for all the spices.)
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves or allspice
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- 2 cups ORGANIC old-fashioned rolled oats (look for gluten-free oats to make this a gluten-free recipe) - Do NOT use steel cut oats
- ½ cup walnuts, almonds or pecans, chopped, divided (omit if you're nut-free)
- ¾ cup pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
- ¼ cup 100% pure maple syrup
- 2 cups whole milk, unsweetened hemp milk or almond milk
- 1 large egg (omit if you're egg free, but the oatmeal won't hold together as well)
- 1 ½
Tablespoons unsalted butter, unrefined coconut oil or Miyoko's Creamery (my favorite vegan butter), melted and cooled slightly, plus more for greasingbaking dish - 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Butter an 8-inch square or 9-inch round baking dish.
- Combine the baking powder, spices and sea salt in a large bowl. Stir in the oats and ¼ cup nuts.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together pumpkin puree, maple syrup, milk, egg, melted butter, and vanilla. (You can also combine these ingredients in a blender.)
- Pour wet mixture into the the oats and combine well. Transfer to the prepared baking dish and spread evenly. Sprinkle the remaining ¼ cup nuts over the top.
- Bake for 35 minutes or until the oat mixture is set and wet ingredients are absorbed.
31 Comments
I’m so confused by some of the negative comments! I make this all the time, and it’s always delicious. I love to make it on a Sunday and reheat slices throughout the week! A quick, healthy breakfast — love it!
Thanks for your feedback! I’ve had so many positive comments about this recipe on social media and I’ve made it so many times with success!
Made it this morning by prepping the ingredients the night before and just mixing the wet into the dry this morning, and with 30 minutes baking time it came out perfectly. It’s just the right amount of sweetness and would be a good family recipe for the morning after thanksgiving- good call!
Great! Feel free to mix everything together the night before as well. 🙂
Hi Pamela! Could I bake this in muffin tins instead of 1 dish?
Of course! Just keep in mind it will cook faster in a muffin tin. Time for 20-25 minutes.
This is so delicious. I like my oatmeal on the dryer side so I upped the oat quantity to 2 1/2 cups. I also added raisins.
Do you store it in the refrigerator or at room temp? And how long does it typically keep?
I like to store leftovers in the refrigerator and lasts about 4-5 days.
I just made this recipe and got disappointing results like Meg — uncooked oats, odd flavors and really long baking time. I absolutely used rolled oats. I think the problem is that recipe says to put the oat mixture in the baking dish, then pour the pumpkin mixture on top — as if the oat mixture is a bottom crust. Now that I’m looking at the pictures, though, the pumpkin mixture is supposed to be mixed into the oat mixture, then put in the baking dish. That makes a lot sense because all the flavors are distributed, the oats absorb the liquid, and speed up baking. I can imagine that being very tasty. Not sure I can finish eating this bummer batch but I’ll know better for next time.
I am sorry, Anne. You’re right. The photos show the dry mix and wet mix being combined before adding to the pie plate. The weird thing is that I make all my baked oatmeals, including this one, by pouring the wet over the dry in the pie plate and they always turn out great. The wet mix goes to the bottom so all the oats are soaked and never dry. I have adjusted the recipe to make sure it is uber clear. For your batch that didn’t turn out the way it should have, you can reheat it with a little milk or plant milk to soften the oats that remained dry.
Have you tried with a chia egg? I’m totally out of eggs but would love to make this in the morning.
Sure!
Hi Pamela! Do you know if I could put this all together this evening, leave it covered in the fridge covered overnight and bake it tomorrow morning?
100% YES!
I only even knew I could do this from following you for years 😀 I did it and it was a complete success! Topped it with some almond butter and some blueberries I sautéed in coconut oil and cinnamon. Thanks so much Pamela! You are a life changer with these recipes. Truly!
Awww, such a sweet comment, thank you!
I have never left a negative review but I feel I have to so people do not waste their time or ingredients on this recipe. It was inedible! The oats didn’t cook, the flavor was awful and it took way longer for the liquids to cook. DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME OR INGREDIENTS MAKING THIS.
Whoa! This obviously did not turn out the way it should, and I feel bad about that. But, with all due respect, baked oatmeal is nothing new and there are probably 1-2 million baked oatmeal recipes out there with the exact same proportions of rolled oats to liquid. I have personally made this formula of baked oatmeal 100+ times so I am 100% confident in this recipe. My gut tells me you used steel cut oats and not old fashioned rolled oats. Let me know if there are any other substitutions you made or would like to make and I can tell you how to adjust the recipe if you decide to give this another go.
Could this be made ahead of time and re-heated? Or is it best right out of the oven?
Absolutely! In fact, I often eat this cold out of the fridge. I don’t have a microwave, so when I do want to reheat it, I put some almond milk in a small saucepan with a wedge of the oatmeal on top and gently warm it through. But you could also heat it through in a toaster oven on 350.
Thank you so much for this post!!!! I appreciate all of your research on this matter. Do you know if the other One Degree Oats are safe as well? The steel cut and the organic rolled oats? I didn’t see them on the list.
Thank you again!!!
A friend of mine told me the One Degree Organic oats were safe, so I assume that means all the organic oat products. I did not call them myself, but I encourage everyone to contact these companies so they know this matter is important to us. Send a quick email or make a phone call. 🙂
Thank you for the EWG info! A few questions: If I omitted the milk & egg, could this work as a granola recipe? Also, have you tried date sugar in baking? If so, thoughts?
It’s an interesting thought, but I don’t think so. I don’t know that there’s enough to hold it together and also be sweet enough. I have tried date sugar a few times and it’s drier and less sweet than normal sugar.
Throwing my Quaker out today! Yuck. Thank you for doing the legwork for us Pamela in terms of research. So appreciate it. And will for sure try this yummy recipe.
There are better options out there even if one cannot buy organic oats. Enjoy!
Hi Pamela! This looks delish! Any chance you know if the rolled oats from Trader joe’s are ok?
Check out the article on EWG.org. The best oats are 365 from Wholefoods. The worst was from Quaker Oats!
Yes, that’s what I wrote in my blogpost! 🙂
Sorry, I don’t know. I would call them up and ask if they’ve been tested or where they are sourced from.