Crockpot Oats

I love love love steel-cut oats, and because they take about 30 minutes to cook on the stovetop, my preferred method is via crockpot. The crockpot method does take longer, but it requires much less intervention and allows for non-labor-intensive creativity.

I get 6-12 servings out of this, but you may get more or less depending on how much you like to eat and how much you add!

Ingredients

– 1 cup steel-cut oats

– 1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats

– 2 cups liquid of your choice (I use whey leftover from making Greek yogurt, but you could also use milk or water.)

– 3 eggs (for protein and texture/consistency purposes)

– 3-6 cups desired fruit

– spices and extracts to taste

Process

1. In the crockpot itself, whisk together eggs and liquid.

2. Mix in steel-cut oats.

3. Add fruit, spices, and extract. For example, to make banana bread oatmeal, I would add 3-4 cups chopped banana, lots of cinnamon and nutmeg, at least half a Tbsp of vanilla, and maybe even 1/4 – 1/2 cup chopped walnuts.

4. Cover crockpot and cook on high two hours or low 5-6 hours.

5. Check texture and consistency, and cook longer if necessary. At this point, I usually like to mix in that 1/2 cup old-fashioned oats to absorb the rest of the liquid and let it cook uncovered, on high, for about 5 more minutes.

This produces about six cups of oatmeal. If you don’t think you’ll use it all soon, put what you don’t need in the freezer. As for serving size, I usually have 1/2 to 1 cup at a time and mix it with yogurt, peanut butter, and who knows what else!

Flavor Variations

Banana Bread Oats

mix-ins: 6 bananas, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla, walnuts

garnishes: yogurt, shredded coconut, peanut butter

Carrot Cake Oats

mix-ins: 3 cups grated carrots, 1 cup crushed pineapple, 1 shredded apple, zest of 1 orange, 1 Tbsp grated fresh ginger, 1 cup cranberries, cinnamon, vanilla

garnishes: plain yogurt for “icing” on top, cinnamon

Gingerbread Spice Oats

mix-ins: 4 shredded apples, 1/2 bag fresh cranberries, 1 inch fresh grated ginger root, 1/2 tbsp powdered ginger, 1 tsp coarsely chopped cloves, 1 tbsp molasses, 1 tsp vanilla

garnishes: healthy cream cheese icing (equal parts part-skim ricotta and greek yogurt, maple cream, cinnamon, raisins), plain Greek yogurt, more powdered ginger, crumbled graham sticks

Pumpkin Pie Oats

mix-ins: 2 cups canned pumpkin, 1 mashed banana, 1 chopped banana, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger

garnishes: plain yogurt, graham sticks, more spices

Pumpkin Gingerbread Oats

mix-ins: 2 cups fresh (or canned) pumpkin puree, 8 ginger tea bags (I used Celestial Seasonings holiday gingerbread spice because it’s so pungent and steeped it ahead of time in whatever liquid I’m using, boiling of course), 4 chopped apples, crushed whole cloves, 1 tbsp molasses, cinnamon, ginger

garnishes: yogurt, crushed graham sticks, unsweetened coconut, pumpkin seeds, ginger, cinnamon

Almond-Infused Rosemary-Lemonade Oats

Note: I made these oats a little bit unconventionally based on what I had available, so the proportions are different from the standard template above.

grains/liquid proportions: 3/4 cup steel-cut oats, 1/2 cup old-fashioned oats (added at end), 1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (from one lemon), 2/3 cup rosemary tea (aka 4 sprigs worth of chopped rosemary steeped in boiling water), 1/3 cup unsweetened soymilk, 2 egg yolks, 1 whole egg

mix-ins: zest of 1 lemon, zest of 1 orange, 1/4 cup chopped toasted almonds, 2 tsp almond extract, 1 chopped apple, 2 cups chopped strawberries, 1/3 cup chopped dates, dash of salt, dash of freshly ground black pepper

garnishes: plain yogurt, unsweetened coconut, toasted almonds/almond butter