Cranberry Pumpkin Oatmeal |Cooking With Amanda

Raise your hand if you're guilty of eating oatmeal almost every morning.

My hand definitely just shot up high in the air.

I'm the first to admit - when it comes to breakfast, I like easy. Actually, I like easy when it comes to practically everything. But a 6am on a busy weekday morning? No way am I going to stand in the kitchen for longer than absolutely necessary.

That's probably the reason why we're in a bit of a plain oatmeal rut. My toddler loves it, it keeps me full and gives me energy and I can basically make it while still sleeping. Sort of.

But since it does get kind of boring, I decided I need to make more of an effort. So I've been on a quest to find still-quick-and-simple-but-more-interesting-than-virtually-nothing oatmeal additions that make our breakfasts exciting again.

Since pumpkin breakfasts are pretty much a staple in our home on weekends during fall (as I can prove with my super-popular pumpkin waffles or this amazing pumpkin stuffed french toast), adding pumpkin puree to our oatmeal has quickly become a new favorite.

It's really just my basic oatmeal recipe, with a few extras thrown in. And thrown on top, because there is nothing better than a mountain of delicious toppings on a bed of warm oats!

Here are a few suggestions to take your cranberry pumpkin oatmeal to the next level:

Make it a little less easy and use homemade pumpkin puree. I mean, nothing against the convenient canned stuff. But I love steaming a small pumpkin fresh from the farm and blending it to use in all my favorite pumpkin recipes. This is super handy if you have a baby starting solids, by the way!

If you don't have pumpkin pie spice mix, just use whatever fall-inspired spices you do have. Cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves… Or make your own pumpkin pie spice!

For the milk, use whatever you have on hand or what you like best! I used organic whole milk.

If you don't like cranberries, use raisins. Or use nothing at all, your call. And instead of pecans, walnuts work really well, too. I leave out the nuts and extra cranberries for my toddler though.

Please note that the recipe is written to serve 2! I chose this so it would be super easy and convenient to half it if you're making it just for yourself, or to multiply it for a larger family.

If you want to spice up your routine oatmeal for fall, I definitely recommend you give this delicious almost-like-pumpkin-pie version a try! Bonus points because you'll be feeding your family vegetables at breakfast already :)

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Cranberry Pumpkin Oatmeal Recipe

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Ingredients

2 cups milk
1 cup oatmeal
2 tablespoons dried cranberries
1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
pinch of salt
4 tablespoons pumpkin puree

To Serve (optional):

pecans
dried cranberries
pure maple syrup

Directions

Bring the milk to a boil over medium-high heat. Stir in the oats, dried cranberries, maple syrup, pumpkin pie spice and salt and reduce the heat to medium-low.
Keep stirring the oatmeal for the next 4-5 minutes, or until it has thickened enough to your liking. Stir in the pumpkin puree and heat through.
Serve immediately with pecans, extra cranberries and maple syrup if you like.