Pumpkin Steel Cut Oats Recipe with Homemade Granola

Ever since I read an article with one of my favorite actors, Ryan Reynolds, I absolutely LOVE steel cut oats!  I’d actually never had them before reading the article but once I had them I was hooked.  Steel cut oats are meaty, chewy beyond delicious, and you better believe my friends over at Bob’s Red Mill make the very best.  Don’t believe me?  Just ask Bob himself who will let you know that Bob’s Red Mill steel cut oats is award winning and considered some of the best oatmeal in the world.  Steel cut oats are slightly different than regular rolled oats so cooking them is a bit different.

If you’re from the south, then you absolutely understand the love and passion that goes into making grits, well the same thing applies to steel cut oats.  They take about 30 minutes or so to cook from start to finish and if you want them to cook a bit faster then I recommend you soak them at night.  That’s what I did when making this Pumpkin Steel Cut Oats Recipe with Coconut Milk and Homemade Granola.  I cover the oats until there is about 2 inches of water over the top and simply let it sit at room temperature overnight.  Come morning time I drain them and rinse them and then begin the cooking process.

When it comes to cooking oatmeal it’s wise to constantly stir throughout the process so nothing sticks to the pot, and if my old culinary instructor were around you would have to use a wooden spoon and stir in the same direction.  Now I’m not that strict but one thing I notice when stirring over a stove is that I have one hand on my hip and the other is stirring.  If you’re laughing it is 100% guaranteed that you do the same thing, you just don’t realize it.  Next time you are stirring something while standing over the stove check yourself to see if you are :-).

Since it’s October and pumpkin just about goes into everything, I figured I would fold a bit of it into these cooked steel cut oats.  I heated up some canned organic pumpkin with a hint of nutmeg and cinnamon to help add some nice flavor into it.  I love just about everything pumpkin so I used an entire can when making this Pumpkin Steel Cut Oats Recipe with Coconut Milk and Homemade Granola.  I also made quite a bit of cooked steel cut oatmeal so it by no means was overpowering.  While I love pumpkin, I’m also not one of those maniacs who sits outside their favorite coffee shops in July waiting for pumpkin lattes.

I wanted to make this recipe vegan so instead of finishing off the cooked steel cut oats with butter or cream, I folded in some coconut milk and oh boy did it make it super creamy and delicious.  After that is when I put in the pumpkin, and adjusted the flavor with some maple syrup, honey and cinnamon to get to that perfect balance.  I mean dude honestly I felt like I was eating pumpkin pie it’s seriously that good, except there was no whip cream or sugar!

I thought it would be really cool to make some homemade granola and sprinkle it on top to give it a nice crunch.  I’ve actually only made homemade granola a handful of times and every single time that I do I always wonder why I don’t make it more often.  I used a combo of Bob’s Red Mill rolled oats and coconut flakes along with some pepitas, pecans, dried cherries, coconut oil, vanilla, maple syrup and honey.  You just combine all of those things, spread it out on a sheet tray and bake it for 15 minutes and you’re done.  If you’ve never made homemade granola you should honestly do it, it’s really fun and incredibly rewarding when you find out just how good it is.

One last secret for you… Pumpkin goes RIDICULOUSLY WELL with amaretti cookies!  So in light of that I crumbled some up and added some to the top of the pumpkin steel cut oats along with some orange zest.  Oranges go great with pumpkin as well.