Pumpkin Apricot Oatmeal Pie
If you bake it in a pie pan, it’s a pie, right?
I am naming this a Pumpkin Apricot Oatmeal Pie to distinguish it from the mushy stuff you usually think of as oatmeal. Don’t get me wrong: I love a hot steamy bowl of oatmeal, but this definitely doesn’t have that soft mushy texture of stove top oatmeal. But then again, it’s not totally soft, moist and dense like a pumpkin pie either, and it has no crust. It’s not cakey either. I think most people would call it baked oatmeal, but really, it’s a cross between baked oatmeal and pumpkin pie. It is packed with dried fruit and has a slightly chewy texture to it. You could eat it for breakfast (because it’s totally healthy and packed full of fiber and protein and vitamins and other good things), or you could add ice cream and a little drizzle of caramel and call it dessert.
This lovely “pie” was inspired by my sweet friend Ann at The Fountain Avenue Kitchen, who made Pumpkin Baked Oatmeal the other day. She always soaks her oatmeal for several hours before she bakes it. I keep meaning to try that method, wondering if it would change the texture, but I never seem to think ahead enough to do it. Maybe next time?
Pumpkin Apricot Oatmeal Pie
- 1/4 cup golden raisins
- 2 Tablespoons rum (optional)
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- 1 1/2 cups old fashioned oats
- 3 Tablespoons maple syrup
- 2 Tablespoons Stevia in the Raw or brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- 1 teaspoon real vanilla extract
- 1 cup lowfat milk
- 2 Tablespoons Amaretto (optional)
- 1 egg + 1 egg white
- 1 ripe banana, smashed (or grated apple would be wonderful too … )
- 1 1/2 Tablespoons melted butter
- 1/4 cup dried apricots, chopped into bits
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- For the top: 1/3 cup pecans + a Tablespoon or two of raw turbinado sugar
Directions:
- Soak the raisins in the rum for at least 15 minutes to get them nice and plump. If you don’t want to include the alcohol, you can use water with a little vanilla and/or rum extract to plump the raisins.
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
- Mix all the other ingredients (except for the topping) in a mixing bowl until everything is well mixed. Add the rum-soaked raisins (with any residual rum).
- Spray a large pie pan with cooking spray and pour the pumpkin oatmeal mixture into it, spreading it evenly with a rubber spatula.
- Sprinkle the top of the pie with pecans and raw sugar. Bake at 375 for about 40 minutes or until the pie is set and golden brown on top.
To serve, you can cut in wedges and eat it warm, with no topping, or for a fancier dessert oatmeal pie, you can top it with light vanilla ice cream (or vanilla yogurt for an even healthier option!) and drizzle with a little warm caramel sauce. The warm oatmeal pie with the toasted pecans on top and cold ice cream melting into it is really a wonderful contrast, but most of the time I ate it just plain, no topping, because it’s quite nice just like that, with a cup of hot chai.
This recipe was shared at Fit & Fabulous Friday, Share it Saturday, Scrumptious Sunday, Weekend Potluck, Melt in your Mouth Monday, Totally Tasty Tuesday, Tuesday Talent Show, Thursday’s Treasures and Everyday Mom’s Meals.
Chocolate Mocha Amaretto Rum Balls
If you are looking for the perfect gift for someone special in your life … or you need something quick and elegant to bring to a (grownup) holiday party, this is it. That is, if they like rum, and chocolate, and amaretto and nuts.
I mean, who doesn’t like those things? Okay, I know there are people who don’t like chocolate and frankly I just think that’s weird. (But my mom is one of them and she is the best mom ever … love you mom! … even if you are weird … ) I know there are people who don’t like nuts, too. My kids fall in that category. But for those people that DO, they are going to LOVE these little balls of yumminess.
These little balls combine some of my very favorite flavors. And since they use dates instead of sugar, they are healthier for you: dates are rich in fiber, and they contain many health benefiting tannins. Tannins are known to have anti-infective, anti-inflammatory, and anti-hemorrhagic (prevent easy bleeding tendencies) properties. Plus dates are rich in vitamin A, iron, potassium, minerals and antioxidant flavonoids such as beta-carotene, lutein, and zeaxanthin*. Pair that with the health benefits of the dark chocolate and the healthy oils in the nuts and you (almost) have a lovely little health-ball! All right, there is still sugar and alcohol so it’s not quite health food, but my point is, you don’t have to feel TOO guilty when you eat these beauties.
Chocolate Mocha Amaretto Rum Balls
Makes about 35 rum balls
- 2 cups chocolate graham crackers, crushed into crumbs (about 1 1/2 sleeves of crackers)
- 1 cup finely ground nuts (I used mostly almonds and a few walnuts)
- 1/2 cup oats, ground fine in a food processor or handi chopper
- 1/2 cup dates, pitted and processed in a food processor until the dates form a paste
- 1/4 cup coconut rum
- 1/8 cup amaretto
- 1/8 cup coffee liqueur
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla
- 2 ounces dark chocolate, melted (I used half of a 4-oz. Ghirardelli 60% cocoa chocolate bar … if you want a less intense chocolate taste, use milk or semi-sweet chocolate.)
- For topping: finely chopped nuts, raw (turbinado) sugar, powdered sugar, or melted white chocolate
Directions:
- In a large bowl, stir together the cracker crumbs, oats and nuts.
- Stir in the liquors, dates and vanilla. The dates will be tough to mix in, but break them into small bits and eventually they will.
- Add the melted chocolate, and stir until thoroughly combined.
- Form the mixture into balls about 3/4 inch in diameter, and roll each ball in finely chopped nuts, raw sugar, powdered sugar, or drizzle them with melted white chocolate.
- If you did the chocolate drizzle, allow the chocolate to set, then store in an air-tight container or package in pretty tins for a lovely gift.
* Date nutrition facts are from Nutrition and You.
This recipe was shared at Midnight Maniac Meatless Mondays, Wonka Wednesdays, Tastetastic Thursdays, and the Secret Recipe Club Cookie Party.
Luscious Maple Amaretto Pumpkin Roll
The memory of the Amaretto Pumpkin Bread Pudding I made a while ago is still haunting me, so I just couldn’t help but carry those luscious flavors over into my pumpkin roll.
I have been wanting to make a pumpkin roll forever, it seems. I’ve been reading about how to do it, and enviously watching other food bloggers write about their lovely pumpkin rolls …
What was holding me back? I didn’t have the right pan. So last weekend I went and bought one. $8.99 at Target. Really? All this time I was just $9 from making pumpkin rolls and chocolate rolls and and and … well you can just imagine all the fun I will have with this thing now! I feel so liberated, like a whole new world has opened up before me …
It’s the little things in life, I tell you.
Light and Fluffy Maple Amaretto Pumpkin Roll
The cake part of this recipe is roughly adapted from Libby’s Pumpkin Roll. The filling is my own creation.
For the cake:
- powdered sugar (to sprinkle on towel)
- 3 large eggs
- 1/2 cup + 2 T. brown sugar
- 2 T. Amaretto
- 2/3 cup pumpkin puree
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (recipe here)
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 (8 ounce) package light cream cheese, softened
- 1/4 cup pumpkin
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 tablespoons powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- 1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- 1 cup maple amaretto whipped cream (recipe below … or if you prefer, use purchased whipped cream and add a little more pumpkin pie spice to the filling)
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
- Spray a 15 x 10-inch jelly-roll pan with cooking spray; line with wax paper, then spray the waxed paper liberally with cooking spray.
- Sprinkle a large clean towel with powdered sugar. It’s apparently important what kind of towel you use–find one that does not have many “fuzzies” on it. I used a flour sack-type kitchen towel.
- Beat eggs and sugar in large mixer bowl until thick. Beat in pumpkin.
- Add the flours, baking powder, baking soda, spice, amaretto and salt and stir till the batter is smooth.
- Spread evenly into prepared pan.
- BAKE for 13 to 15 minutes or until top of cake springs back when touched.
- Immediately loosen and turn cake onto the prepared towel. Carefully peel off waxed paper.
- While the cake is still hot, roll up the cake and towel together. I rolled it lengthwise, but I think the recipe said to roll it up the other way. Ooops! You would certainly get more of a swirl if you roll it the other way, but then the portions would be a lot larger. I think it’s kind of nice to have a smaller portion size.
- Let the cake cool completely, all wrapped up in its own little blanket.
- While the cake is cooling, prepare the filling. Beat all the filling ingredients except the maple amaretto whipped cream with a mixer in a medium bowl until smooth and fluffy. Fold in the whipped cream.
- Set out a piece of plastic wrap cut big enough to wrap the roll in.
- Carefully unroll cake, remove the towel and set the cake on the plastic wrap.
- Spread the cream cheese filling over cake.
- Reroll the cake the same way it was rolled up in the towel. The cake will “remember” the way it was rolled while it was cooling.
- Wrap your beautiful roll in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least one hour–or freeze.
I’m freezing my pumpkin roll so I can take it to Thanksgiving Dinner. I’ve heard then you just take it out of the freezer about an hour before you want to serve it. From what I have read, it is also easier to slice while it’s still frozen–I found it a little hard to saw through when it was frozen solid, so I think you should let it thaw part-way, then cut it.
I’m trying a piece today for breakfast … you know, just to make sure it’s not poison. ;) You might notice I couldn’t quite wait till it thawed out.
Maple Amaretto Whipped Cream
- 1 cup of whipping cream
- 1/8 c. maple syrup
- 1/8 t. pumpkin pie seasoning
- 2 t. amaretto
Amaretto Pumpkin Bread Pudding
with Maple Amaretto Whipped Cream
I love bread pudding, partly because my mother used to make it for us when we were kids but also because it is transformational.
It transforms old crusty unwanted bread into a warm, elegant, soft and comforting dessert or breakfast.
So appropriate for fall when the world is in a state of transformation. Summer is retreating and winter is on her way. The trees are transforming from their summer selves into their winter state of sleep. My son says the display of color on the trees is their way of saying goodnight. I like that thought.
It all parallels the transformations occurring in our lives. My daughter is transforming from a girl to a young lady, my son is beginning his transformation from teenage life to adult-hood, and me? I am in the process of discovering myself. I got divorced a couple years ago, and it was very painful, but it didn’t take me long to realize that it was the right thing for all of us. I mourned the death of that relationship, then I rejoiced as I re-discovered pieces of myself I had locked away. And I began my transformation. Sometimes I feel like I just want to settle into a relationship again. I get frustrated that I can’t seem to find someone to love, but I noticed that with each new man I date, I learn something new about myself. I feel a bit like a butterfly trying out my new wings.
Pumpkin Amaretto Bread Pudding
Amaretto: An Italian amber-colored liqueur with an almondlike flavor, although it is actually flavored with apricot kernels; it was originally made in Saronno and called Amaretto di Saronno. (A little info I got from my friend at Delicacies by Dan)
Inspired by: Eat Drink and Be Merry’s Pumpkin Pecan Bread Pudding
Ingredients:
- Crusty or old Bread, cubed and toasted (about 4 cups of bread cubes)
- 1 c. fat free half and half
- 1/2 c. buttermilk
- 1/8 c. amaretto
- 1 t. pumpkin pie seasoning
- 1/4 c. brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 c. pumpkin (canned or cooked)
- 1 t. vanilla
- 1/4 c. toasted pecans
- 1/8 c. maple syrup
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut the bread into 1-inch cubes and place on a baking sheet to toast lightly, about 5 minutes or so.
- Spray a small casserole dish with cooking spray and place the toasted bread cubes in the casserole dish.
- Whisk the wet ingredients (half and half through vanilla) in a bowl until fully mixed.
- Pour the pumpkin mixture over the bread in the casserole and fold gently to coat the bread. Let sit for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Sprinkle the top of the pudding with toasted pecans and drizzle with the maple syrup.
- Bake 50 to 60 minutes or until the pudding is set. It should spring back when you press lightly into the top. Let cool for 10 minutes.
- Serve warm. Drizzle with maple syrup and top with homemade whipped cream (see below)
Maple Amaretto Whipped Cream
- 1/2 pint of whipping cream
- 1/8 c. maple syrup
- 1/8 t. pumpkin pie seasoning
- 2 t. amaretto
