Fall is finally here!

It is my favorite time of year in Northern California! The mornings are cool, crisp, and sometimes foggy. The afternoons are still warm and clinging to the last bits of summer's heat. The leaves are beginning to turn colors, and the houses in our neighborhood are decorated with pumpkins in anticipation of Halloween. It's time for jeans, and boots, and light weight sweaters. It's time for soups, and apples, and the flavors of pumpkin pie spices.

This weekend I tried out a new baked oatmeal recipe. There are three reasons I love this recipe, (1) you make it the night before and bake it in the morning, (2) the house smells spicy and delicious when it is baking, and (3) it has a crispy sugary caramely topping like creme brûlée! Plus it's heart healthy oats! Can't go wrong with that!

INGREDIENTS:

2 eggs

1/4 cup raw honey

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp vanilla

1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

1/4 cup coconut oil

1/2 can pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)

1 small apple, grated

1 1/4 cups coconut milk

3 cups old-fashioned oats

brown sugar

DIRECTIONS:

1) Grease a square baking pan. I like to use my Anchor Hocking 9 x 9 covered glass casserole dish.

2) In a large bowl, mix together all ingredients in order except the brown sugar until thoroughly combined.

3) Poor mixture in your baking dish. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

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4) In the morning, pull it out of the fridge and preheat oven to 375 degrees. 

5) Bake for 25 -30 minutes or until light golden brown. Remove from oven, sprinkle brown sugar evenly over top of the oatmeal and place back in the oven under the broiler. Broil for one minute, or until sugar melts and begins to caramelize.

6) We like it served warm with a drizzle of more coconut milk. And it reheats in the microwave beautifully!