Steel Cut Oats in The Crock Pot

I love steel cut oats, but when I make oatmeal, I don’t want to have to stand around for 30 minutes cooking a bowl of hot cereal. So I make my steel cut oats overnight in the crock pot.

One thing I learned the very first time cooking the steel cut oats in the slow cooker, was that the basic 1 to 4 recipe of oats to water was not going to work. There was not nearly enough water and after the oats absorbed all of it, they got hard. I use at least a 1 to 5 ratio of oats to water, and sometimes more. I started getting everything ready long before I turn the crock pot on for the night. I measure the oats and water and put them in the slow cooker and come back and turn it on low for 6 hours. Since the crock pot stays on the warm setting until I turn it off manually, this works out great for us. I tried it on the 8 hour setting, but that seemed to be too much time for us and the oats would start to dry out and get hard.

I love to add all sorts of things to my oatmeal. I will share with you a few of my favorite topping combinations.

• Sliced or Diced Almonds
• Cranberries
• Diced Apples
• Brown Sugar

• Walnuts
• Raisins
• Diced Apples or Pears
• Cinnamon Sugar

• Almonds
• Diced Dates
• Brown Sugar

• Bananas
• Honey
• Walnuts

• Fresh Strawberries, Blueberries or Raspberries
• Honey
• Almonds or Walnuts

• A scoop of any flavor of yogurt

• I also like to sprinkle in a bit of Wheat Germ too.

The think I love the most about cooking the steel cut oats in the crockpot overnight, is how easy it makes my mornings. I have a hot breakfast waiting for me before I even get out of bed, and all I have to do is dice up some fruit, and toss everything else in. The kids tell me what flavors they want, and in a matter of a few seconds, a quick and healthy breakfast is done.