Vegan Pumpkin Baked Oatmeal

Yum this turned out really good! I liked how easy it was to make - very beginner cooking friendly! I had a bunch of frozen pumpkin puree that I dethawed and didn't know what to do with it so I made this recipe doubled. Doubled makes a LOT, like 12 servings, so only double for more than one person eating it. I preheated oven to 365F (185c) and put 1 1/3 cups of canned pumpkin puree, 2 cups oat milk, and 1/2 cup maple syrup in a medium sized pot and brought to a boil on medium heat, mixing occasionally. In the meantime, I mixed the 3 1/2 cups + 2 Tbsp old fashioned oats, 2 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp salt, 4 tsp chia seeds, and ground ginger, nutmeg, and cinnamon in a medium sized plastic mixing bowl. I measured the ginger, nutmeg, and cinnamon with my heart (shook in generously). Then I added and mixed in 1/2 cup dried cranberries. When hot, I poured the liquid into the dry mix and stirred with a big spoon, then poured it into a glass 9x13 baking dish. I smoothed it out with a spoon and sprinkled on some coconut sugar. I baked mine for 35 min, turned off the oven and let it sit in there for 10 min, then removed from oven and set the pan on a cooling rack to cool. I serve it warm, either straight out of the oven or microwaved. I love that they are soft yet chewy and they taste like cinnamon or pumpkin spice oatmeal bars. You can't taste the pumpkin so this is good for pumpkin haters and picky eaters! I bet it'd be kid-friendly too. You can cut it and eat squares of it by hand if you wanted to.

All and all it was pretty good. Personally, I wish the pumpkin and spice flavors were stronger but, otherwise it's pretty enjoyable. It's an easy recipe to follow. Additionally, it serves as a great pre-prepared breakfast to have throughout the week or feed many people at once.