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Who doesn’t like to get out their CrockPot slow cooker during the winter to whip an easy recipe? Or anytime for that matter?
I’m a sucker for creamy oatmeal during the chilly winter months. Especially with warm, spicy cinnamon and fruit.
I’m quite absent-minded when it comes to things that take a long time to cook on the stove top. Rice, millet, oats, quinoa. Unless I have a something else cooking at the same time I often forget about it boiling away and before I know it I’m running to prevent a large mess than what’s already taken place. The boil-over happens regularly at my house.
Which is why I opt for baking my rice and using my slow cooker whenever I can. Clean up is simpler.
I actually put this together with Nate in mind. Anyone with little kids knows that the food has to be ready when they’re hungry. Or else. When it’s hot out of the slow cooker, I give it a whirl in the mini-food processor with a little coconut milk to think it out and spoon feed him. After it’s cooled in the refrigerator, the oats are thick enough to cut into small pieces he can pick up himself.
Have you been slow cooking lately?
A simple slow cooker recipe using nutritious steel-cut oats.
Ingredients
- 1 cup gluten-free steel cut oats
- 3 cups filtered water
- 1 organic apple, chopped
- 3 tablespoons coconut palm sugar
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt (optional)
- cinnamon and nutmeg
- coconut sugar
- coconut milk
- coconut nectar
- sliced almonds or chopped pecans
- honey
Instructions
- Combine the oats, water, apple, coconut palm sugar, coconut oil, and optional salt in the crock of a small 2 - 2 1/2 quart slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 2 1/2 - 3 1/2 hours, until the oats are tender.
- Serve as is or with additional coconut sugar, topped with nuts and warm coconut milk, or a drizzle of honey or coconut nectar.
Notes
A note about oats and slow cookers: The first time I tested this recipe, I cooked the oats all night long hoping to wake up to breakfast. The oats were so overcooked you couldn't even eat them. Just a hot, mushy mess. 3 1/2 hours was just right for my slow cooker. You may need more or less time depending on how hot your slow cooker runs.
Ainsley
posted on January 10, 2013 at 9:11 am
If these are for breakfast, do you just get up a couple hours early to start them? Or do you set it up the night before, and put it on a timer? Can it be reheated after the leftovers are put in the fridge?
My husband and I get up by 7am, so I’m always trying to find ways to have a hot breakfast in winter, that’s not complicated or cumbersome.
(can’t wait to try this recipe!)
[Reply]
Amy Reply:
January 10th, 2013 at 9:50 am
@Ainsley, You can reheat if you put leftovers in the fridge – you will need to add some water or milk as the oats get really thick when refrigerated. If you put them on a timer I think they’d cook much quicker because they’ve been soaked. Since my overnight experiment was a disaster, I reheat them. But, if it was a special occasion or I just wanted to wake up to hot oats, I’d have everything premeasured before I went to bed, set my alarm a few hours before I wanted them to be ready, and make them that way.
Let me know what you end up doing.
Hugs,
Amy
[Reply]
Susan
posted on January 10, 2013 at 12:19 pm
Amy……..is a slow cooker the same as a crock pot??? If different, can one substitute a crockpot for a slow cooker??
[Reply]
Amy Reply:
January 11th, 2013 at 4:39 pm
@Susan, Yes, slow cookers and CrockPots are the the same thing. Actually, CrockPot is the brand name for a line of slow cookers. Kind of like Kleenex is a brand name for tissue but so many people just call them Kleenex.
[Reply]
jamie
posted on January 10, 2013 at 4:37 pm
Are the oats soaked? If so does soaking decrease the cooking time?
[Reply]
Amy Reply:
January 11th, 2013 at 4:37 pm
@jamie, I didn’t soak my oats but if you do it should decrease the cooking time.
[Reply]
Pat @ Elegantly, Gluten-Free
posted on January 11, 2013 at 8:20 am
I’m going to try this right now. It sounds so good, and much easier than my usual method. I’m so bad about pots boiling over!
[Reply]
Amy Reply:
January 11th, 2013 at 4:37 pm
@Pat @ Elegantly, Gluten-Free, Glad I’m not alone, Pat!
[Reply]
Pat @ Elegantly, Gluten-Free Reply:
January 12th, 2013 at 11:47 am
@Amy, I cooked this yesterday and it was delicious (although I used dates instead of an apple because that’s what I had available). The leftover went into the frig, and today I had some more — it was just as good!
I really love the idea of cutting the cold oatmeal into little cubes for little ones to feed themselves. I’d so have loved doing that when mine were little!
[Reply]
Barb
posted on January 11, 2013 at 10:19 am
Can this work with the regular gluten free oats? I have both the quick and the slower variety in the pantry.
[Reply]
Amy Reply:
January 11th, 2013 at 4:37 pm
@Barb, I think quick cooking oats would turn to mush. The regular oats will likely cook quicker than steel cut oats, so watch them carefully. Let me know how they turn out.
[Reply]
Pink Peppercorn and Paprika
posted on January 13, 2013 at 9:28 pm
I just bought a big bag of gluten free oats today, can’t wait to try oatmeal with coconut oil! thanks for the great suggestion, i wouldn’t have thought of it
[Reply]
Amy Reply:
January 27th, 2013 at 11:17 am
@Pink Peppercorn and Paprika, Enjoy! I use coconut oil in most places that call for butter. It adds some richness to the dish.
[Reply]
Kendra
posted on January 22, 2013 at 9:36 pm
I have tried similar recipes and my oats have always turned to mush cooking all night. I found that I can make my oatmeal in the morning using a rice cooker. I throw everything in, turn it on, take a shower and come back to perfectly cooked oatmeal.
[Reply]
Molly
posted on March 9, 2013 at 12:35 am
I have a slow cooker with a timer, so I put mine in the night before, set it for 2.5 hours on low. When it’s done cooking, my cooker goes to “warm.” Turns out perfectly the next morning! Cooking steel cut oats alone makes a timer crockpot worth it!
[Reply]