I was chatting over email with a friend the other day (seems to be the way so many of my chats go nowadays) about how we’re so busy, we sometimes buy stuff–stuff that we really intend to use, stuff that we actually really need–and then, because our schedules are packed tighter than Madison Avenue on a Friday afternoon, we put our purchase down somewhere and then promptly forget about it. If I never cleaned my house (wouldn’t that be a dream come true? Oh, wait a sec, I suppose in that case I am already living the dream!), well, then I could leave all those bags of kitchen utensils, clothing, dog toys, CDs, etc., hanging around and never worry about them.
I’m a bit abashed to even tell you how many blouses, sweaters or pairs of shoes I have in my closet, many still with the tags on them, that I have never worn. In fact, I more or less have forgotten most of them. (This is totally different from that adorable blue wool mini skirt I purchased from the thrift store back in my 20s, barely too small on the day I bought it, but I loved “so much I’ll buy it anyway and save it for when I lose weight.” That sat in my closet, too, but I never forgot about it; I just couldn’t bear to part with it no matter how many times I moved. And–lo and behold–during one of my “slim” periods more than a decade later, I finally fit into the thing, and got a great year’s wear out of it. The next cycle of weight gain, I finally gave it away, though these days I wish I hadn’t. . . I’d still love to wear it if it ever fit me again). Similarly, I have piles of kitchen tools, cute little pans and molds, magazines, even paperbacks (yes, those do still exist among the Kindle-less), that are still patiently waiting for my attention.
Sometimes, recipes fall into this category, too. I mean, here we are all holiday-themed with Diwali just past and US Thanksgiving around the corner, and I completely forgot about this gem of a recipe that I had shared over a year ago on the XgfX blog! Sadly, the blog appears to be out of commission these days, but this recipe should be good forever. I thought I’d bring it over here to share with those of you who may have missed it, or those of you who saw it when first posted and, like me, had it slip from your memory.
The pudding is a creamy, luscious, pillowy base of pumpkin, oats and nuts (or seeds), blended to silky smooth perfection, lightly spiced and dotted with tart cranberries throughout. Straight from the oven, it makes a wonderful warm mousse-like dessert (especially great baked in a soufflé dish and topped with whipped cream); when cold, it thickens and (in my opinion) provides an equally appealing breakfast. And with this combination of ingredients, you won’t have to feel guilty eating it that way, either.
Unlike that blue woolen mini skirt, this one is a keeper. Well, until it’s baked, at least–at which point you no longer want to keep it, just eat it. 😉
I’m linking this up to Slightly Indulgent Tuesday and this week’s Wellness Weekend.
Baked Pumpkin-Cranberry Oatmeal Pudding
1/2 cup (75 g) lightly toasted hazelnuts (filberts), with skin
1/2 cup (75 g) lightly toasted walnut pieces
2/3 cup (100 g) old-fashioned rolled oats (not instant or quick-cook)
1 cup (240 ml) packed pumpkin purée
2 tsp (10 ml) pure vanilla extract
2 Tbsp-1/4 cup (30-60 ml) xylitol or Lakanto (monk fruit sweetener)
1 Tbsp (15 ml) cinnamon
1/2 tsp (2.5 ml) ground ginger
1 tsp (5 ml) Chinese 5-Spice powder (or use 1/8 tsp/.5 ml cloves and about 1 tsp more cinnamon, to taste)
1/8 tsp (.5 ml) fine sea salt
1-1/4 cups (300 ml) unsweetened plain or vanilla almond, rice, cashew or hemp milk
1 cup (240 ml) cranberries, fresh or frozen (do not thaw if frozen)
Preheat oven to 350F (180C). Grease a 4-6 cup (1-1.5 L) casserole dish and set aside.
Place all ingredients except for cranberries in the bowl of a high-speed blender and blend until smooth (you will need to scrape down the sides as you go). If you don’t have a high-speed blender, you can still make the pudding, this way: place nuts, oats, and milk in a blender and blend until perfectly smooth. Add remaining ingredients except for cranberries and blend until smooth (you may have to blend this part in smaller batches).
Pour the mixture into the casserole dish, then gently fold in the cranberries (scatter a few extra berries over the top as garnish if you like, as they won’t sink).
Bake in preheated oven for 40-50 minutes, rotating the casserole dish about halfway through, until the edges begin to puff and crack and the top appears dry (it will still seem unbaked in the middle—this is how it should be). Allow to cool about 10 minutes before scooping out and serving; may be served warm, at room temperature, or cold. Top with coconut whipped cream, if desired. Makes 4-6 servings. Store, covered, for up to 5 days in the refrigerator, or freeze.
Suitable for: ACD Stage 2 and beyond; sugar-free, gluten-free, dairy-free, egg free, soy-free, vegan.
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Oh, Ricki, I love everything about this recipe!
Sounds like we have similar closet – and kitchen cupboard – issues! LOL
Ha ha! Except I bet yours has been purged quite a bit lately–maybe I should move? 😉
Because I’m right there with you being part of the Madison Avenue analogy, I’m going to cut and paste the comment I left on FB. LOL Oh, Ricki, I love this post! There are still clothes that I miss and am so sorry that I parted with. 😉 As far as the pudding, it looks yummy, but I’m thinking I’d like to sub something for the cranberries, although they do make for a beautiful presentation. 🙂
Shirley
Shirley, you could of course use raisins or any other berry, even chocolate chips (swoon). 🙂
Okay, here’s a shocker … I hadn’t even considered chocolate chips. Clearly, I am off my game these days. 😉 Swoon indeed!
Ha ha! I guess I just *always* have chocolate on the brain. 😉
That looks delicious. I wonder if I could do it with buckwheat instead of oats. Hm……
Hmmm, I’m not sure how that would work. I would think that buckwheat might be too strong a flavor, but if you like it, worth a try! I would go with something like millet first, if you can eat it.
Yet another case of “great minds think alike,” or at least similarly! It’s definitely oatmeal season. This looks like the perfect thing to serve for a post-holiday breakfast.
Thanks so much, Hannah! And I’m always delighted to know we are on the same wavelength–! 😀 Hope you have a great Thanksgiving with your family, pudding or no pudding. xo
I remember this one! You have a similar blueberry oatmeal pudding which is great if I remember rightly.. Annoyingly cranberries are pretty hard to get hold of over here in the UK, except for at this time of year when you can get them frozen. Canned pumpkin is even more difficult. This does look fabulous if only I could make it. I’ll keep my eyes peeled when grocery shopping!
You’re right–it’s a blueberry baked oatmeal pudding, very similar! 🙂 I have often used homemade pumpkin puree, if that helps. And frozen cranberries–of course!
Oh thank you SO much for posting this, I am sorry the other blog is no longer active but I would have never known about this had you not took the time to re-post it. It will be wonderful I just know it will, so sorry about you no longer having that fun cute little mini, but at least you did get to wear for a while and had some good times and good memories were made while you had it, hopefully it is being loved and enjoyed by someone else now? Big hugs of gratitude for this lovely recipe, I appreciate more than I can tell you, really. Thank you.
Thanks so much, Kathy. And yes, that mini was well-appreciated. 😉
Yum! I love the idea of using Chinese 5-spice here!!
I’m kind of addicted to it. . . just love it in almost anything. 🙂
Sometimes, I am almost grateful for having constrained space in our current home, because I can see myself expanding into whatever space I have and if I had a big house it would be very full indeed!
I love this recipe – absolutely gorgeous 🙂
Thanks so much, Kari! And given how things have expanded with each move for us, I’d say you’re right about that! I think I need to downsize. . . BIG (small??) time! 😉
I was cringing a little as I read this (black velvet dress at a great price, shoes I should have returned, super cool skirt from the resale shop … sigh). Now that we live in a small space, I’m much more restrained about making purchases, but not entirely restrained. 🙂
The recipe sounds great — I love when delicious and healthy intersect!
I have some hoarder tendencies (not that I would accuse you of this but I love hearing about your stuff hanging about because it does comfort me about my full to bursting house with a bag of purchases barely touched in the bedroom – sigh!). And I feel the same way about recipes that disappear off the web – I have gone to a few bookmarked recipes only to be disappointed to find they have disappeared – so I applaud your thoughtfulness of keeping this recipe available! And it sounds like an excellent one for a northern winter
Thank you, Johanna! And while I don’t really think I’m a true “hoarder,” I would have to agree that it does sound as if there are latent tendencies. . . gotta watch out for that. 😉 This pudding is delicious, though–and yes, great for winter!
Well this cinches it: I hereby declare oatmeal to be the new “it” dessert ingredient. I would have never thought of making a baked pudding quite like this, but I love the way it looks! Creamy, but with a thick skin (the best part of pudding) and of course so very wholesome. Gotta love a dessert that can also pass for breakfast.
This is in the oven right now! Perfect way to start a vacation for American Thanksgiving. Smells fantastic!
I’m so glad! Do let me know what you think (I actually prefer it cold, the next day!). Hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving! 🙂
This looks delicious! I was actually just thinking about how bored I’m becoming with eating oatmeal, this sounds like a fantastic way to jazz it up. Your closet sounds like my mothers, the amount of clothes she owns but has never worn astounds me, most things seem to be kept for “just in case” but “just in case” never seems to come, ha ha .
Here I am again to pester you. This looks fabulous. Once again: any chance this recipe would work without the nuts? Could I increase the amount of oats? Add a grain in place of the nuts? Any suggestions you have would be so appreciated.
Hi Michael,
Not pestering at all!! I’m so glad you’ve found so many recipes you’d like to try! 🙂
I would say a general rule of thumb for this kind of thing is to look at what percentage of the ingredients are actually nuts. In this case, it seems like a large amount. That means it would be tough to substitute without changing the flavor, texture, or both. That said, you could still make this by adding just a bit more oats (maybe 1/3 cup dry) and/or substituting seeds for nuts (sorry, can’t remember if you’re off seeds also). I think raw pumpkinseeds would work well in this case. However, the pudding would probably be nice without the nuts, too–just a bit lighter and more like baked oatmeal on its own. Nothing wrong with that, though! 😉 Again, I haven’t tried it this way, but it’s worth a try. Would love to hear how it works out if you do try it. 🙂
Hi Ricki. I followed your suggestion and omitted the nuts and added an additional 1/3 c. of oats. It turned out beautifully. Nice and light and not overly sweet at all. I think the nuts would add a lovely textural component and I hope that I can add them in again at some point. For now, it’s wonderful to have this recipe as we approach the holiday season. Cheers to you!
Yay! So glad to hear that, Michael! And this is a great comment for anyone else who finds this recipe and also wants to avoid nuts. Thanks so much! 🙂
pretty sure I have everything to make these – happening soon! 🙂
This was sublime! I used half rice syrup, half stevia drops for sweetness & loved the 5 spice in it, may even add a little more next time. This will be a regular now, and just as good microwaved at work for a snack – thank you for such a useful healthy recipe that’s delicious.
So glad you liked it that much, Charlie! And delighted to find another 5-Spice fan! 😀