Our slow cooker (crock pot) Apple Steel Cut Oatmeal cooks overnight while you sleep. Dried cherries and almond milk make it a healthy way to start your day.
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On the weekends, I love making breakfast for my family. After a long, hectic week of frantic mornings trying to make the bus, there’s something some utterly satisfying about everyone slowing down and eating a nice breakfast together. Last winter, I made a dozen Slow Cooker (crock pot) recipes for overnight Apple Steel Cut Oatmeal – and they were all gross.
Hey, folks, I just tell it like it is. Anyways, after wasting a lot of ingredients and way too much of my time trying way too many recipes, I finally decided to go at it on my own. Well, my husband helped. We decided that we knew our family’s palette better than anyone else, so we would come up with our own recipe.
On our first attempt, we used almond milk, water and dried cranberries. Unfortunately, it ended up tasting like a very bitter, flavorless pile of goo. Something happened to the cranberries overnight and they just got nasty. We ate it because we hate wasting food, but the kids had one bite and spit it out. The following weekend, we switched gears and used a combination of almond milk and whole milk, but ditched the cranberries altogether. We also added in more apples. This one was better, but it was still missing something.
On our third attempt at making Slow Cooker Apple Steel Cut Oatmeal, we nailed it. We kept the liquid ingredients the same, but we added in even more apples and some dried cherries. We also amped up the cinnamon and nutmeg. When we woke up in the morning, the house smelled divine. I couldn’t wait to get my slippers on and run down to the kitchen.
After being guinea pigs for weeks on end, the kids were more than a bit skeptical to try it again. So I offered them a compromise. If they tried Slow Cooker Apple Steel Cut Oatmeal one more time, I would let them add whatever toppings they wanted to the top of it. They liked this idea of having full creative culinary control over their breakfast and picked out dried cherries, walnuts, and white chocolate chips.
This version was a hit. The combination of vanilla almond milk and whole milk was lovely. There were just enough apples to flavor the oatmeal without overwhelming it and the dried cherries plumped up beautifully overnight. The addition of brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg sealed the deal. Although I didn’t use the toppings that the kids picked out, I did sprinkle some additional brown sugar on top. Then I placed it under the broiler for a few seconds to create a nice crunchy top. I highly recommend doing this.
SLOW COOKER (CROCK POT) APPLE STEEL CUT OATMEAL
Ingredients:
- 1 cup steel cut oats
- 1 1/2 cups unsweetened vanilla almond milk
- 1 1/2 cups whole milk
- 3 tablespoons butter, salted
- 3 cups of chopped apples
- 1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/3 cup dried cherries
- 2.5 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Toppings: Dried cherries, walnuts and white chocolate chips (if desired)
Directions:
Step 1: Rub butter all around the Slow Cooker. Put any remaining butter into the bottom of the bowl.
Step 2: Place all ingredients into the crock pot and stir to combine.
Step 3: Cook 4 hours on high and then allow your crock pot to automatically turn on to warm mode. Leave in warm mode overnight.
Step 4: In the morning, your oatmeal should still be warm. If not, simple heat it up in the microwave, or place under the broiler like I did. Add toppings, if desired, and enjoy!
Fill your belly with good food,
Denine
Love using your slow cooker? Check out some of our other crock pot recipes:
- Slow Cooker Chili
- Slow Cooker Broccoli Potato Cheese Soup
- Slow Cooker Creamy Tortellini Soup
- Slow Cooker Barbecued Pulled Pork with Tangy Coleslaw
