Baked Almond Butter and Apricot Oatmeal

This easy and warming oatmeal, richly flavored with almond butter, apricots, and ginger, is not only gluten-free, but oil-free as well. The origins of this recipe come from my month-long peanut butter and jelly blog posts in honor of Vegan Month of Food — a yearly blogging event where vegans from all over the world commit to sharing at least 20 vegan-centric recipes, articles, information, and commentary during the month of September. Recipe and photo by Ann Oliverio, from Crave, Eat, Heal: Plant-Based Whole Food Recipes to Satisfy Every Appetite* reprinted with permission © 2015 Front Table Books.

Serves: 4
Prep time: 8 to 12 hours soaking
Cook time: 20 minutes

• 1 cup uncooked gluten-free steel-cut oats
• 2 cups water
• 1/2 cup dried apricots, chopped into small pieces
• 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, grated or minced
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon dried ginger
• Pinch salt
• 1/3 cup smooth or chunky natural almond butter
• Zest of 1/2 orange
• 1/2 cup non-dairy milk
• 1/4 cup fresh orange juice
• Slivered almonds for garnish, optional

Combine the steel-cut oats and 2 cups water in a medium-sized saucepan and let sit for several hours or overnight.

Place 4 ramekins on a small baking pan and preheat oven to 350º F.  You can also use an 8- by 8-inch baking dish.

Bring the oats/water to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer and cook until oats are tender, about 10 minutes.

Add more water if the mixture becomes too dry.  Stir in the ginger, apricots, cinnamon, almond butter, salt, and orange zest.

When the almond butter is fully incorporated, remove the oats from the heat and stir in the milk and orange juice.

Divide the oat mixture between the 4 ramekins or scrape into the baking dish and bake for 10 minutes. Sprinkle oatmeal with slivered almonds, if using.

Variation
For extra fruitiness, top the oatmeal with spoonfuls of your favorite fruit-sweetened jam or jelly, or sprinkle on fresh berries.

• Here are more vegan breakfast recipes.

from Vegan & Vegetarian Recipes: VegKitchen.com http://ift.tt/1zSPvEa