Pumpkin Baked Oatmeal Bites

'Tis the season for warm and comforting recipes, especially those made with pumpkin! I've been making different forms of warm and comforting baked oatmeal for the past few months. Baked oatmeal is such an easy breakfast.  I mix everything together the night before, then the next morning I pour it in a pan and bake! This recipe for Pumpkin Baked Oatmeal Bites is one of my favorites because:

• It includes pumpkin!
• It only calls for a little bit of honey as a sweetener. No processed sugar added.
• It's made in muffin tins for nice baked oatmeal bites. Perfect portion control, great for kids to pick-up and eat, easy to freeze, and easy to transport for a breakfast on the run or a lunch box.
• It's egg-free, dairy-free, gluten-free and allergy-friendly for Little Guy.
• I usually have all of these ingredients in my house, so it's an easy breakfast solution.

I made two different forms of these Pumpkin Baked Oatmeal Bites. One using gluten-free oatmeal only, and the other using half gluten-free oatmeal and half quinoa. I think we all prefer the oatmeal bites, but add quinoa too if you'd like to try a different form of protein.

Here are the ingredients I used:

• 2 cups Old Fashioned Rolled Oats (I used Bob's Red Mill Gluten-free, but you can use any oats you like) OR you can use 1 cup oats and 1 cup quinoa
• 1/2 cup pumpkin
• 2 mashed bananas
• 1 cup milk (I used soymilk but any will work)
• 1 flax egg (1 Tbsp ground flaxseed meal mixed with 3 Tbsp water) - this replaces 1 egg
• 3 Tbsp honey (or more or less depending on how sweet you like your baked oatmeal!)
• 1 tsp cinnamon*
• 1 tsp baking powder
• Pinch salt

*It's easy to make this recipe even more pumpkin-liscous.  Just add other spices like pumpkin pie spice, nutmeg or even more cinnamon.  I was making this to please the palates of a 3 and 1 year old, so I used milder spices.

Directions:

• Mix everything together in a big bowl (I do this the night before to make it easy)
• Spray the muffin tins with oil (I use my trusty Misto Olive Oil Sprayer)
• Add oatmeal mix so it's just about even with the tops of the muffin tins
• Put in pre-heated 375 degree oven
• Bake for 25 - 30 minutes minutes, or until firm and a little brown around edges

Here are both the Pumpkin Baked Quinoa/Oat Bites and the Oat Bites only.  Both were tasty.  The quinoa bites just have a different texture and flavor than the oat bites.  I prefer the oat bites, but try them both and see what you think!

Everyone in our family enjoyed these including 1 year old Little Gal, 3 year old Little Guy and the
Hubs and me! I also love them because they're easy to freeze and pop in the microwave to reheat.



Are you a baked oatmeal fan? What's your favorite way to make/eat oatmeal?

Here's another one of my favorite ways to eat oatmeal: Vegan Overnight Oats

This smoothie would round out the pumpkin baked oatmeal bites nicely!: Green Ghostbuster Smoothie

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