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Pumpkin Baked Oatmeal from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania Dutch Style

Pumpkin Baked Oatmeal

This is Amish baked oatmeal in a fall coat. Rolled oats, pumpkin puree and warm spices set with egg and baking powder into something closer to bread pudding than porridge. Golden on top, custardy underneath, sliceable into neat squares. The brown sugar caramelizes at the edges. Make it Sunday, eat it warm all week.
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Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 38 minutes
Total Time 58 minutes
Servings: 6 Squares
Course: Breakfast
Cuisine: American
Calories: 335
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats not steel-cut or instant
  • 0.5 cup brown sugar packed, light or dark
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1.5 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 0.5 tsp ground ginger
  • 0.5 tsp ground nutmeg freshly grated if you have it
  • 0.25 tsp ground cloves
  • 0.75 tsp salt
  • 1 cup pumpkin puree plain, not pumpkin pie filling
  • 1.25 cups milk whole milk preferred
  • 2 large eggs room temperature
  • 4 tbsp butter melted and slightly cooled, plus more for the dish
  • 0.25 cup maple syrup real maple syrup
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract

Equipment

  • 1 8x8 inch baking dish glass or ceramic
  • 2 Mixing bowls one large, one medium
  • 1 Whisk
  • 1 Rubber spatula

Method
 

  1. Heat the oven to 350 F. Butter an 8x8 inch baking dish generously, including the corners.
  2. In a large bowl, stir together the rolled oats, brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves and salt. Break up any lumps of brown sugar with your fingers so the sweetness spreads evenly.
  3. In a second bowl, whisk the pumpkin puree, milk, eggs, melted butter, maple syrup and vanilla until completely smooth with no streaks of egg white remaining. The mixture should look like thin pumpkin pie filling.
  4. Pour the wet mixture over the dry and fold with a spatula just until no dry pockets of oats remain, about 12 to 15 strokes. Stop there. Overmixing releases starch from the oats and makes the baked result dense and gummy.
  5. Scrape the batter into the prepared dish and spread it level with the spatula. Tap the dish once on the counter to settle it.
  6. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until the top is deep golden and slightly domed, the edges have pulled away from the sides, and the center feels set when pressed gently with a fingertip. A knife inserted in the middle should come out clean of loose batter.
  7. Let the dish rest on a rack for 5 minutes. This lets the custard finish setting so the squares hold their shape.
  8. Cut into 6 squares and serve warm, straight from the dish.

Notes

  • Use plain pumpkin puree, never canned pumpkin pie filling, which is already sweetened and spiced.
  • Old-fashioned rolled oats only. Steel-cut oats stay hard and gritty in the oven, instant oats collapse into mush.
  • Stir the wet into the dry just until no dry patches remain. Aggressive mixing pulls starch out of the oats and turns the finished dish gummy.
  • Serve with cold milk or cream poured over each square, the Lancaster County way. Plain or vanilla yogurt, a drizzle of maple syrup, chopped toasted pecans and fresh fruit are all good on the table alongside. Hot coffee is not optional.
  • Assemble the night before, cover and refrigerate, then bake straight from the fridge adding 5 to 8 minutes to the time.
  • Keeps 5 days covered in the refrigerator. Reheat squares in a 325 F oven for 10 minutes or microwave 45 seconds.