Baked Pumpkin Pie Pudding

Creamy pumpkin pie is my favourite dessert for Thanksgiving. Us Canadians are completely ok with adopting a second Thanksgiving in November, all in the name of shopping deals and American spirit. However I have put a bit of a pudding spin on this recipe. Sort of. It's kind of like a mousse. Or more like a bread pudding, hold the bread. You know what? Here is my request to YOU! YOU tell me what this is. I have called it a pudding, but I will change the name based on your feedback!

The dates really make this recipe. Sweet, baby sweet. I really have nothing else to preface this recipe with, except that dates are realllllly moving into take a nice little piece of my heart in all desserts. The caramel flavour they add to this recipe is really top notch. Oh the richness! How natural.

Small fact: I ate this whole recipe. Over five days, of course. Which, if you do the math correctly means I did have a second helping on one day. Just try not to eat the whole pan. I dare you...

Dates are soaked and then processes with the almond meal.

Spills are half the fun. Expect some, since the oats don't combine in a simple-easy way with the date/almond mixture.

Measure it out, whisk it all up! Creamy-dreamy pumpkin.

And out comes the pudding!

Baked Pumpkin Pie Pudding

Serves 6

1 cup dates

3/4 cup almond meal

1 cup rolled oats

1 cup pureed pumpkin

1/2 cup low fat greek yogurt

1 egg
2 tbsp maple syrup

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ginger

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 F. Spray an 8x8 pan with cooking spray and set aside.

2. Cover the dates with water and allow to soak for at least 1 hour.

3. In a food processor, combine dates and almond meal. Depending on how long you let the dates soak, you may need to add about 1 tbsp of water.

4. In a medium bowl combine the rolled oats and almond date mixture. Set aside.

5. In a large bowl, combine pumpkin, and yogurt. Beat in the egg, maple syrup and vanilla extract. Finally fold in the cinnamon and ginger.

6. Add the oat-date mixture to your pumpkin-yogurt mixture and mix until fairly evenly combined. This is a bit of a challenge since the date mixture is sticky. My technique was to mash the date mixture into the pumpkin, much like you would if you were adding bananas. 

7. Pour your pudding into your prepared pan. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the top has set. The finished product should be thicker than the pureed pumpkin, but will still have a mousse like texture. Allow to cook for at least 20 minutes before serving. This will allow the pudding to set. Serve alone, or with a bit of ice cream on top.