Effortless Overnight Steelcut Oatmeal

  • Currently 4/5
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  

If you are not a morning person, this is a great way to wake-up to a no-fuss breakfast.  Set the table and lay out everything  the night before, and when you wake up it will be as if magical elves have snuck into your kitchen and transformed it into a B&B. 

The only way to make this recipe even easier is to sneak off to work first and leave your spouse to clean up the crockpot!

For such a luxurious result, the actual recipe is quite frugal.  Bulk oats are fairly inexpensive year-round, and you can dress them up with whatever fresh fruits are plentiful and in season (raspberries, strawberries, peaches, blueberries, diced apples, pears).  Alternatively, you can use frozen fruit or even canned pumpkin (nice with pecans).  The dried fruits can also be bought from bulk bins (prunes, raisins, craisins) - even dried fruit that is a bit on the dry side is savory after spending the evening basking in the slow cooker.

See the notes for a summer-time Overnight Oats no-cook option along the same theme.
Ingredients
1 cup bulk organic steel cut oats
4 cups water (filtered if needed)
dried fruit (e.g. raisins/prunes/figs/currants/dried cranberries)
1 Tablsepoon Chia seeds / unground flax seeds (optional)
chopped orange peel (optional)
1 cup fresh fruit in season OR frozen mixed berries
1 can pumpkin or 1 finely diced sweet potato (instead of fruit)
Nuts (almonds/walnuts/pecans)
Ground flax/hemp seeds/ Wheat germ (optional)
Splash Edensoy Vanilla / Almond/Hazelnut/Hemp Milk / Skim Milk
1/4 teaspoon ground clove
1 cinammon stick and/or 1/2 teaspoon ground cinammon
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1 teaspoon fresh ginger, peeled and finely diced (optional)
 
Directions
1. Put the oats in the crock pot with 4 cups water. Add some chopped dried fruit, orange peel, and sticks of cinnamon  to taste.  Add chia or unground flax seeds as well f you like a thicker consistency.
2. Let it cook overnight and you will have delicious oatmeal and cinnamon scent wafting through your kitchen when you stumble out in the morning. 
3. When you first get up in the morning, add frozen or fresh fruit  OR for a twist add canned pumpkin and pecans.  Let simmer for another 5 minutes (fresh) to 20 minutes (frozen) or so until heated.
4. For a protein boost, add a splash of skim/soy milk and/or nuts to taste.  

Sprinkle with ground flax / hemp seed / wheat germ for a nice cruncy topping with a omega-3 boost.

 
Notes:
Full recipe - 4-6, 1/2 recipie - Serves 2 -3.

To reheat, simply add a little hot water or milk to thin out the porridge and then place in the microwave.

I keep a parmesean cheese shaker with a mixture of hemp seeds, ground cinamon, ground flax seeds, chia seeds, and wheat germ to sprinkle on my oatmeal in the morning to give it a little extra zip of nutrition and taste.

See my Summer Overnight Oatmeal recipie for a no-cook version of my favorite breakfast.
---
Update Dec-09: Got a mini-crockpot which is perfect for this recipe.  Halved the recipe just for me.  Perfect to make on cold days in preperation for a winter's morning run: have a few spoonfuls plain and add the fruit/pumpkin before heading out, and come back from my run to a nice hot breakfast waiting for us.
---
Update Nov 2010: Mixing steel cut oats with quinoa ups the protein content and heartiness of this dish for wintertime. 
Categories:
Meal   BreakfastCooking Method   Slow Cooker
Features   High-Fiber, Vegan, Vegetarian




paterbabe

Member since Jul 2009

More recipes like this one...