When fall sets in, there’s nothing quite as comforting as warming up with a bowl of oats.
This recipe brings autumnal flavors of cranberry and pumpkin into an incredibly delicious and wholesome breakfast! It will make you wish it was fall every day of the year. But who are we kidding- it doesn’t have to be fall to enjoy a bowl of creamy Cranberry Pumpkin Steel Cut Oats, does it?
Let’s get started and our oats will be ready in just 25 minutes. Shall we?
Cranberries aren’t just beautiful to look at, these tart beauties are also rich in antioxidants such as anthocyanins and vitamins C and E. Paired with carotenoid-rich pumpkin (translation: turns into vitamin A in the body), your cells (and taste buds) will be thanking you!
The cranberries are cooked with orange juice and maple syrup. The orange juice adds an extra dose of vitamin C along with a subtle sweetness to balance out the tartness of the cranberries. Maple syrup steps in to round it all out.
To a saucepan, we add the oats and pumpkin to a boiling mixture of water and almond milk. The combination yields creamy oats with a rich orange hue.
Coconut sugar is added for sweetness along with cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, and ginger for warming fall flavor. And flaxseed meal (optional) can be added for an extra boost of healthy fats and protein. Top with Coconut Whipped Cream and pecans (optional) for an extra special meal!
These oats are everything we hope for in fall. They’re:
Warm
Comforting
Simple
Tart & sweet
Spiced
& Perfect for fall!
Into oats? Check out our Sweet Potato Pie Oatmeal, Pumpkin Pie Oats, Brown Sugar Pear Steel-Cut Oats, Creamy Pumpkin Oats with Blueberries and Toasted Almonds, and our guide to The Perfect Bowl of Oats. So many oats, so little time!
If you try this recipe, let us know! Leave a comment, rate it, and don’t forget to tag a photo #minimalistbaker on Instagram. Cheers, friends!
Cranberry Pumpkin Steel Cut Oats
Ingredients
CRANBERRIES
- 2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries
- 2 Tbsp orange juice (or sub water)
- 2 Tbsp maple syrup (more to taste, or sweeten more with stevia)
OATS
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup unsweetened plain almond milk (or just sub another cup of water)
- 1 cup steel cut oats (gluten free for GF eaters)
- 1/3 cup pumpkin purée (not pie mix)
- 2 Tbsp coconut sugar (or other sweetener of choice // plus more to taste)
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 3/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice (plus more to taste)
- 1 pinch ground ginger
- 1 Tbsp flaxseed meal (optional)
FOR SERVING optional
- Coconut Whipped Cream (or coconut cream)
- Toasted pecans
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (204C) and add cranberries to a small baking dish, along with orange and maple syrup. Toss to combine and set aside while the oven preheats.
- To a medium saucepan, add water and almond milk and bring to a boil. Once boiling, add oats and pumpkin purée and stir. Lower heat to a simmer, cover, and let cook for about 15-20 minutes, depending on how soft you prefer your oats (I like mine with a little bite so tend to cook them less).
- Add cranberries to the oven and bake for about 15-20 minutes total, or until burst and tender. Once cooked, stir with a spoon and taste to see if it needs any more sweetness (I added a bit of stevia extract).
- Once the oats have finished cooking, remove from heat and add coconut sugar, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, ground ginger, and flaxseed meal (optional). Stir to combine, adding a little more almond milk if too thick. Taste and adjust flavor as needed, adding more coconut sugar (or stevia) for sweetness, or spices for warmth.
- To serve, divide oats and cranberries between two serving bowls. Enjoy as is or add a spoonful of coconut cream (or coconut whipped cream) and toasted pecans. Best when fresh, though leftovers keep in the refrigerator for a few days. Reheat on the stovetop (or the microwave), adding more almond milk or water as they tend to dry out once refrigerated.
Jackie Marshall says
That is without a doubt the simplest and most delicious cranberry sauce recipe ever. I won’t bother with anything else. THANKS! (I mean, the whole thing is good, but yeah the cranberries…mmm…
Yay! So glad you enjoy this recipe, Jackie!
Megan says
Super delicious! Loved the mix of various flavors. I used Lakanto monkfruit “brown sugar” and “maple syrup” and it came out great. Adding pecans to the top was an extra win.
Woohoo! So glad you enjoyed, Megan. Thanks so much for the review!
Jan says
I think I forgot to rate this wonderful concoction! 10 STARS!
Jan says
LOVELOVELOVE the punkin addition! Made without spices/sugar to be able to add to soups later. Ate 2/3 C plain (I am small and old!) along with half a serving of your freakin’ insanely tasty cuke/greens/pineapple smoothie. I eat boozy baked cranberry sauce -similar to yours but with bourbon- with my steel cut oats.
Out of that today, will whip it up for tomorrow. Once again – your cooking inspires me :)
Yay! Thanks so much, Jan!
Miranda says
This sounds so good! Would love to try in the crockpot for an easier/set and forget option. Do you have any recommendations?
Hi Miranda! We don’t have any experience with steel cut oats in a slow cooker, it would definitely work, but we think it would be best to look at your manufacturer’s instructions for the correct timing!
Heather B says
I didn’t have pumpkin so I used one of those little single serve cups of unsweetened applesauce. I also used truvia brown sugar blend instead of coconut sugar because that’s what I had on hand, and original almond milk. Everything else was the same. It’s SO GOOD. If you’re using original almond milk and/or the applesauce, I would decrease the coconut sugar/sweetener because it is really sweet but it’s not inedible. I made this in the instant pot using the banana bread oat instructions and I will absolutely be making this again. It’s like fall in a bowl. Thank you!
Woohoo! Love to hear this. Thanks so much for the lovely review and for sharing your modifications, Heather!
Julia says
I made this today and it was absolutely wonderful.
Yay! Thanks for sharing, Julia! xo
Megan says
Super delicious, easy to make. I made this to meal prep my breakfast for early mornings at clinicals. I would highly recommend to anyone! Thank you for sharing a delicious breakfast!
Lovely! Thanks for sharing, Megan!
Amy Bosnoian says
I’m a huge fan of cranberries and I love this recipe! So delicious and healthy. I add walnuts to mine for a little extra omega 3.
This will definitely be part of my regular breakfast rotation
Love the addition! Thanks so much for sharing, Amy!
Tia says
Hi Dana! Is there another berry you would recommend I could sub for the cranberries (blueberries perhaps)? I can’t seem to find any where I live at the moment. Thank you so much for your time and all your beautiful recipes! <3
Hi Tia, Bummer! We assume you also checked the frozen section? Blueberries might work, but we’d say raspberries would probably be better because they are more tart. Either way, you’ll probably want to decrease the sweetener to compensate. Let us know how it goes!
Aryane says
I replaced pumpkin puree with butternut squash puree (homemade) and it was delicious! Thank you for this awesome recipe :)
Great! Thanks for sharing, Aryane!
Heidi says
This wasn’t just a good recipe. It was amazing. There’s no doubt I’ll be making this part of my regular rotation.
Whoop! We’re so glad you enjoyed it, Heidi! Thanks for sharing!
Becca says
I made this but unfortuantly I didn’t have Pumpkin puree but it tasted lovely with some Greek yoghurt and a dash of runny honey over the Roasted cranberries. Thank you for opening my palate to cranberries, I’ve been meaning to eat them for the health benefits but had no idea what to do with them :) now I know! This will most likely be my morning Breakfast for the next year haha
We’re so glad you enjoyed it, Becca! Thanks so much for sharing!
Becca says
Hi Dana
Am I able to sub honey instead of Maple syrup for the cranberries?
Really looking forward to trying this as I’ve been told cranberrys are so good for you and funnily enough I just tried Steel cut oats this morning for the added health benefits (plus my usual rolled oats were starting to resemble paper mashey) yuk.
Thanks, Becca
Honey should work! Enjoy =)
Becca says
Thank you! I actually had some Maple syrup in the fridge, its been opened for a while but it looked and smelt fine so I used it, but added some honey as a topping when I ate it for Breakfast, was sooo good :)
So glad you enjoyed it!
B says
SOOO GOOOD!!! Beautiful colors and beautiful flavors!!!
Thank You once again!
Whoop! Thanks so much for the lovely review!
Gayle W Dearman says
Prior to having a friend make this for me, I only thought I had tasted the best oatmeal in the world. Now that I’ve been treated to this recipe, I know I’ve tasted the best oatmeal in the world and this is it! Thank you for sharing this delicious recipe. It’s my new go-to oatmeal.
Whoop! Thanks so much for the lovely review, Gayle. We are so glad you love this recipe! Next time, would you mind leaving a rating with your review? It’s super helpful for us and other readers. Thanks so much! Xo
Vijaya Patil says
Can I freeze this
We haven’t tried freezing this, but you might be able to freeze the parts separately. Let us know if you give it a try!
Abby says
loved it!!
Aimee says
Hi Dana, why are the spices added at the end instead of cooking the the oatmeal with them? I know that in Indian cooking spices are often cooked first and then added to the dish while cooking to bring out more flavor from them. Did you find it tasted better or is there a health benefit to adding them at the end?
You can definitely add them at the beginning!
Carol says
This recipe is exceptionally delicious! Thank you for another “keeper”. My family and I really appreciate your time and effort in sharing your culinary skills and simple cooking ideas.
I did not have pecans nor orange juice, so I substituted walnuts and omitted the juice all together. I cooked with fresh cranberries – I usually use dried in my recipes. Moving forward I will be using “fresh” instead of “prepared” cranberries as these are so much better!
Simply savory! 5 stars well deserved!
Thanks so much for your kind words and lovely review, Carol! xo
Angie says
This was quite good. I used soy milk instead of almond milk. I love the spices and flavor in the oatmeal. The cranberries were tart but that complemented the oatmeal. I did not want it overly sweet. I used Trader Joe’s maple syrup which I find isn’t as thick as the usual maple syrup that I purchase. I also added avocado slices on the side. I usually follow a new recipe as is the first time that I am trying it. Then I make changes to make it my own. Next time I will add stevia to the cranberries. I am going to do that to my leftover ones. This made more oatmeal than I would eat in 2 sittings. I cooked the oats for 17 minutes. I was running out of liquid and it was sticking to the bottom of the pot.
Thanks for sharing, Angie!
Tom says
The ratio of oats to liquid is 1 to 2 in your receipe, but my oat package has oats to liquid as 1 to 4. Is your receipe ratio correct? It seems like too many oats for the liquid
Give it a shot and try it out! We find that 2:1 is about right, and we add more as needed if it appears dry. We also often soak our oats (like in this recipe), which makes them cook even faster and require a 2:1 water to oat ratio.
Mhari says
I also noticed the difference in ratios when I first made this, I have always done 1:4. I used the 1:2 ratio the last time and it was pretty dry and stuck to the pan so I will be trying it again today using a 1:4 ratio. I noticed in the comments about soaking the oats but I didn’t see it mentioned in the recipe. Definitely will try soaking them next time! It is a super tasty recipe so I want to get it right. We eat steel cut oats about once a week so we like to experiment with different flavor combos!
yvette van den Ijssel says
Hi Dana, I hope you don’t mind asking you something different this way. I am a very small foodblogger from the netherlands. I would love to know which Recipe plugin you guys use where you can change the amount of servings and also change from metric to us.? I would love to add this to mine. Thank thank you soo much. All the best; Yvette
Hi Yvette! We use WP recipe maker, which includes an option to change servings and add metric / standard measurements!
yvette van den IJssel says
Hi Dana. It’s extremely nice of you to answer my question, and I really like to ask you one more thing. If it’s too much to answer I do understand. I am looking for a recipe-menu-shopping management system which should include:
– Recipe template with adaptable servings, and metric-us conversion
– easy to compile a menu, and from that a shoppinglist
– scanning-adding recipes from different sources into the system, without typing it all again.
It would be so extremely helpful if you can advise me which software is a good one.
Thank you so very very much. Yvette
Yvette
Hi Yvette, sorry, but we don’t know on that one!
mary says
What perfect flavors – sounds such a lovely comforting way to start the day :)
DH says
Oh my gosh, this is so good!!!!!!!!!!! Wow! So creamy and a little sweet. I didn’t have any cranberries so I just heated up some frozen raspberries and threw chia seeds in with them as they cooled. I topped my bowl with some sliced banana, pecans and the raspberry sauce! I will definitely be making this again and again. Thanks for all you do, Dana!
Wonderful! Thanks for sharing!
Lora Foreman Krall says
This was a fabulous recipe! I chose to make the cranberry sauce on the stove and instead of orange juice I used rose hip/hibiscus tea (both higher in Vit C than oranges.) And sweetened with the maple syrup! I also added pumpkin seeds with pecans for my husband. (Pumpkin seeds are great food for men’s health) Super good! Fantastic winter breakfast!
Thank you for the inspiration!
Wonderful! Thanks for sharing, Lora! Next time would you mind adding a rating to your review? It’s super helpful to us and other readers! xo
Lora Foreman Krall says
Sorry, I missed that when I was filling it out! Total 5 star! Making it again for breakfast today!
Thanks for all your hard work!
Mark says
Question… can I make this and combine the cranberries and oatmeal and then bake for a potluck? Sounds like it would work well.
Should work! Let us know if you give it a try.
Rob says
I found this recipe as a way to use up a bag of frozen cranberries. I made I exactly as directed. It was unique and delicious! Thanks for sharing!
We’re so glad you enjoyed the recipe, Rob. Thank you for the lovely review!
Ashley says
Can’t wait to try this!
Thanks, pal! xo
Marcella says
This looks amazing! I don’t have steel cut oats – could I used rolled? Would that change the boiling time or the liquid proportions?
Hi Marcella! Same amount of liquid but cook for slightly less time! Rolled oats cook faster than steel cut.