Vegan Fall Favourites: Apple Pie Oats

Last Saturday was cold and rainy, and I was craving something warm and comforting for breakfast.

So I decided to make another one of my favourite Fall recipes: apple pie oatmeal!
I made a large enough batch that I could have some leftovers for the upcoming work week.

I started with my (simple) ingredients:

Two apples, two cups of large flake oats, six dates, cloves, allspice and cinnamon.
First, I chopped the apples and dates and put them in a pot with four cups of water, bringing them to a slow boil and cooking them until the apples had softened.

Then I added the rest of my ingredients:

I used a teaspoon of cinnamon, and about a half of a teaspoon of each cloves and allspice.
Then I reduced heat and stirred regularly until the oats were cooked.

(My one regret is that I used sweet apples instead of a more tart variety- I think it would have fit in more with the "apple pie" theme.)

Once the oats were cooked, I topped them with some maple syrup and sunflower seeds.

One of the things I love about this recipe is that it is so simple --are you sensing a theme?
When Autumn starts and the cold weather sets in, or when it's just a cold rainy Saturday, I love meals that I can whip up quickly and enjoy wrapped up on the couch. It's also a favourite because it doesn't require refined sugars or processed ingredients. I like to keep things simple and enjoy my food guilt-free.