Autumn Muesli

I don't know what it is about muesli lately, but I am all about it. I think it's because I've been setting my electric blanket too high at night, and when I wake up in the morning, all I want is cold muesli.

This muesli essentially just celebrates autumn. Okay, so maybe pumpkin didn't make it in (don't worry, that's coming!), BUT there are pepitas, which are pumpkin seeds, so...I guess that counts! I also used dried apples, raisins, golden raisins, dried cranberries, and pecan pieces. DIVINE.

My first bites were certainly pleasant, but I felt that something was missing. It was almost too light and bright and sunshiny. It needed more autumn. I took a risk and added a dash of cinnamon, and wow, it made all the difference!

Raspberry Plum Oatmeal

I love plums. I didn't realize it until fairly recently. They're such a pleasant size, easy to eat, not messy, and silky-soft on the inside. They are like a beautiful marriage between peaches and apples.

Unfortunately, I haven't had great luck with them in oatmeal. In my experience, they just don't give off much flavor. Pairing them with raspberries was quite successful, though! The raspberries provided the much-needed pow of flavor, and the cubes of soft plums could simply add a little variety to each spoonful.

Mexican Hot Chocolate Oatmeal

To all of you who turn your noses up every time I stir bananas into my recipes where they don't belong, you are in luck! With great self-control, I resisted the mashed banana. I did it for YOU.

Obviously, regular hot chocolate is brilliant. I never realized how much I loved hot chocolate until I moved to the East Coast and experienced the brilliance of L.A. Burdick's and City Bakery. These places serve up rich, thick, chocolate goodness that just coats your throat with luxury. What makes Mexican hot chocolate unique is the addition of cinnamon (and occasionally other spices). I included an optional pinch of cayenne, for I never turn down an opportunity for a little fire!

Gingerbread Steel-Cut Oatmeal

I've made Gingerbread Oatmeal before. You might remember it. It was one of my trials. One of my struggles. One of my white flags.

I gave up and just borrowed a recipe from Vegan Yack Attack.

This recipe is mine. Well, I can't take all the credit, of course. VYA's recipe did influence me a lot. However, I made sure to include some bananas in my version because I'm stubborn like that. I'm grateful I did because this was one spicy [insert colorful language here]. The banana helped mellow out all those cloves.

Pomegranate Apple Oatmeal

I'm in love. No, not with a boy (that will never happen, guys). No, not with oatmeal (I mean, I am in love with oatmeal, but that's not what I'm talking about right now.

I'm in love with New York City. This shares no relevance with this recipe, except maybe for the fact that I bought the groceries for, cooked, and photographed this recipe in New York City.

I never imagined myself in NYC. Denver, sure. Minneapolis, sure. Maybe even Chicago, if I felt particularly adventurous. Yet here I am, smack-dab in an authentic New York City experience—slumming it in a scummy Brooklyn neighborhood, surviving a 35-minute commute to work at 5:30 am, eating more bagels than necessary, fighting off the smells of Chinatown much too frequently for my liking, and spending way too much money at phenomenal eateries.

Spiced Apple and Peach Steel-Cut Oatmeal

Peach season has technically closed. Let's be honest—it closed a while ago. However, I'm miserable at goodbyes, so I'm still throwing them in my porridge mid-September. Bite me.

If, like me, you're still stuck in summer, this porridge will help you transition to autumn. It combines summer's peach with autumn's apple, and I spiced it with an earthy blend of cinnamon, allspice, and cloves.

Strawberry Pineapple Oatmeal

If you haven't already done so....please check out my new recipe index at your earliest convenience! Over the month of August, I spent hours (at least 30) plugging in all my recipes (all 200+ of them!) to a professional formatter. You've probably noticed that my blog displays recipes differently than they used to (and you can Pin and Tweet directly from the recipe), but the other intention was to have a more attractive recipe index. So click on "Recipe Index" above and "oooh" and "ahhhh" at all the prettiness!

Once you do that, come back and try this new recipe. It's less than five ingredients, which I think is always a plus. I really appreciate a recipe that stars fruit and only fruit...no expensive extracts or nuts necessary!

Tiger Stripes Oatmeal

Confession: it took me less than a week to polish off this jar of Dark Chocolate Dreams peanut butter. I have no regrets. I'm not ashamed.

I got to make all the recipes I was hoping to make, so that expensive jar served its purpose. It served its purpose well, in fact. For example, it really made this particular recipe a treat. Oranges in oatmeal tend to be somewhat lackluster on their own. I worried about this porridge being too "plain." If you look at the ingredients list, after all, the orange basically has to hold its own.

However, a little bit of Dark Chocolate Dreams was all it took to make this extraordinary.

Raspberry Fudge Oatmeal

I must say, I'm an avid supporter of these creamy, fudgy porridges. Seriously, what could be better than a bowl of whole grain oatmeal with no added sugar that tastes exactly like the batter of a chocolate dessert?! I love the decadent base of my Fudgy Banana and Peanut Butter Oatmeal; the Brownie Batter Oatmeal is to-die for; and now I have Raspberry Fudge to add to my list.

This oatmeal is perfect for those of you who want the creamy fudginess of my chocolate recipes, but without the banana. As much as I worship bananas in my oatmeal, I totally understand those of you who are averse. I myself went through an anti-banana phase. If you like raspberries, here is your solution.

Berry and Fig Oatmeal

For all of my fig lovers out there (and there appears to be a large herd of you), this recipe comes as both a gift and an apology. Although this may rock your world and taste divine, I must share with you that this will be my final fig recipe until next year.

Take a deep breath. You will survive this.

I've enjoyed working with figs and getting to know them, but fig season is escaping us. Actually, I can't tell you exactly what months fig season runs, but something tells me figs have a short season. It just seems like one of those fruits.