Ingredients
- 2 cups of old-fashioned rolled oats
- 1/2 cup of chopped almonds or pecans
- 1/2 cup of jumbo mixed raisins (optional)
- 2/3 cup of packed brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon of baking powder
- 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
- 1 good pinch of apple pie spice
- 1 1/4 cups of milk
- 3/4 cup of canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)
- 2 eggs
- 2 tablespoons of butter, melted
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla bean paste (or vanilla extract)
Preparation
Step 1
Pre-heat your oven to 350F and grab a non-stick skillet.
Toasting the raw nuts & oatmeal gives them more depth of flavor.
I started by toasting the oatmeal and almonds in a dry non-stick skillet for about 5 minutes, or until they had a toasted, nutty smell. In a large mixing bowl, combine the oatmeal, nuts, raisins, brown sugar, baking powder and spices. Stir to combine, then make a well in the center of the dry ingredients.
Sun-Maid Mixed Jumbo Raisins are all that & a bag of chips.
In a smaller bowl, combine the milk, pumpkin, eggs, melted butter and vanilla. Beat until well blended and pour into the dry ingredients. Stir to combine.
Lightly spray an 8″x8″ square baking pan (I used a large glass loaf pan); pour in the oatmeal mixture. I set my baking dish into a 13″x9″ pan lined with foil, just in case it bubbled over while baking but it didn’t. Bake at 350F for 30-45 minutes (shallow pan = 30 minutes; loaf pan = 45 minutes).
Straight out of the oven, with Anne's Maple Cream lying in wait.
Serve warm with Anne’s maple cream:
2 cups of heavy cream
1/2 cup of pure maple syrup
Combine the cream & maple syrup in a saucepan; heat over low until warm.
I have to be honest. I toyed with the idea of making a cream cheese glaze for this so it tasted more like pumpkin bread with cream cheese frosting, but I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. If I had, I would have combined 4 ounces of softened cream cheese with 1 1/2 cups of powdered sugar and beat it until there were no more lumps. Then I would have added a splash of vanilla extract and enough heavy cream or milk to thin it until it was pourable. I would have then drizzled a spoonful (or two) of the cream cheese glaze over the top of each serving. Just because I didn’t do it doesn’t mean you can’t. It would totally rock. I mean, everything is better with cream cheese frosting, am I right?