Baked Pumpkin Oatmeal

I love steel cut oatmeal but it always seems to take forever to make - much more than I'm willing to put into a work morning breakfast. I came across this blog - Delicious Dishings and I really found a lot of recipes! One of them was for Baked Pumpkin Oatmeal and it's been on my list to try out. I finally found myself with the time this past Sunday morning - but realized at the same time that I didn't have plain old pumpkin puree. I had a can of organic pumpkin pie filling which already has the spices and sugar added to it, so I had to alter the recipe a bit. I liked how it came out, but I also would rather try making the regular version and adding my own spices and sugars. I also liked the additional toppings of a drizzle of maple syrup and some plain nonfat greek yogurt.

Baked Pumpkin Oatmeal (makes at least 6 servings)
2 TB butter
1 1/2 cups steel-cut oats
1 cup pumpkin pie puree filling
2 TB brown sugar
dash of cinnamon
2 cups skim milk
2 1/2 cups warm water
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
greek yogurt and maple syrup as toppings

1. Using a large, wide pot melt the butter over medium-high heat. Once the butter is melted and foaming a bit, add the oats and stir to coat the oats in the melted butter. Stir occasionally, you're basically looking to toast the oats a bit.
2. Once the oats seem toasty, make a well in the center and add the pumpkin puree. Let it sit for a minute, then stir the pumpkin and oats together until well mixed.
3. Add the brown sugar, vanilla, salt and cinnamon, stirring again afterwards. Then add the liquids - the water and milk, gradually and stirring the whole time. At this point it's ready to go in the oven - with the cover on it.

4. Bake for about 35 minutes at 375 degrees. I took the pot out and stirred the oatmeal twice during the baking process. It may still look kind of thin when you take it out of the oven at the end of the time, but as it cools it will continue to thicken.

5. I let it cool for at least 20 minutes, without the cover on and then finally it was slightly cooled enough to think about eating. I ate mine with a dollop of plain greek yogurt and a drizzle of maple syrup (not the sugary fake kind - the real kind!). I enjoyed this - definitely a good winter morning breakfast. It made so much more than I was expecting - and I'm hoping it will be good leftover.

Note: I had so much that I decided to try out freezing mine to see if it would work. I first covered it with plastic wrap on the top so that it wouldn't get freezer burn. I have been eating leftover oatmeal all week - I brought a container to work with me and that's my breakfast when I get to work. I just heat it up, add a little milk to thin it back down, heat a little more and add a dollop of maple syrup! Perfect!