I am a fan of oats in many variations–steel cut oats, rolled oats, Scotch oats–I like them all. I also like oatmeal bread, cracked oat cereal, oatmeal cookies, and even big bowls of hot, gooey oatmeal mush.
I have often bought oat groats, the oat kernel before it has been cut or pressed. They are easily broken down with a small hand operated grinder or, for my very own “steel cut” oats, in my blender with a few pulses. For a really outstanding hot cereal, I like to use a half and half mixture of cracked oats and cracked wheat. Delicious!
Recently I came across a recipe for slow cooker steel cut oats with blueberries and peaches. The cereal and fruit is cooked overnight for 8 hours in the slow cooker on low. I thought it would be fun to try it, but had some reservations about whether or not it would really work well. If it didn’t, then I’d have to chalk it all up to a learning experience, BUT if it did work, then there’d be a lovely breakfast waiting for me when I woke up the next morning.
In short, there was a lovely breakfast waiting for me when I woke up the next morning.
For one of those ‘who IS this stranger that I married over 30 years ago’ moments, my husband went nuts over this oatmeal. Really? I mean, REALLY? I’m seriously not believing the man that he is becoming. I could weep…I thought this day would never come. We actually had a conversation this morning about steel cut oats cooked with fruit and about which type of sugar we preferred with our oatmeal and about how we liked the little bit of a ‘pop’ the oats made when we chewed them.
John has truly become the man of my dreams, my partner in weird and all things nerd.
I found this recipe on Danica’s Daily and have only adapted it very slightly. It is so easy. Sweeten the finished cereal in whatever way brings a smile to your face. We have used coconut sugar, brown sugar, agave syrup, and maple syrup or sugar (bought the maple sugar on a trip to Maine and have been hoarding it for several years). I also like to add a pat of butter and some milk to my bowl of cereal.
Slow Cooker Steel Cut Oats with Blueberries and Peaches
Ingredients
- 3 cups steel cut oats (do not use regular oatmeal because it does not hold up well for slow cooking)
- 8 cups water
- 1 pound frozen peaches, unsweetened
- 2 cups frozen blueberries
- 1 tablespoon real vanilla
- 1 1/2 - 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
Instructions
- Spray slow cooker with cooking spray or use a crockpot liner. If you could see the pot I have to scrub right now, you'd completely understand the wisdom in this instruction. I forgot to spray the crockpot last night. I am very sorry about that.
- Combine all of the ingredients in the crockpot. The cinnamon and fruit will probably rise to the top, don't worry about it. They will cook up just fine.
- Cook overnight on low for 8 hours.
- Serve with sweetener of choice, a little butter, and some milk. My personal favorites for sweetening are: brown sugar, coconut sugar, agave nectar, or maple syrup or maple sugar.
Notes
I have always wanted to try steel cute oats!! This looks fantastic. I love the pictures! 🙂
Thanks Ramona! I like the steel cut oats so much more than I like oatmeal. I’m not sure why, but it takes better. This is such a nice breakfast to wake up to in the morning. We refrigerate the leftovers and warm up a bowlful in microwave.
I love that your risk paid off! That’s a happy day when that happens. I think you’ve got the touch with food!! You totally adapt AND make up your own recipes for crying out loud. I also love that you add butter to your oatmeal. A kindred!! (p.s. I loved hearing from you1 I got three emails saying I had comments and was sure they were spam! LOL! I never get three legitimate comments at once. Ever!! Thanks! I responded to you on my site . . . we need to talk about this allergy . . . )
I know what you mean about replies! So exciting when it really happens.
1? I think that should’ve been a “!” hee hee
I read doctor’s handwriting all the time, so a little glitch like that “1” didn’t even register as an error! LOL
Haha! That “1” was probably tame compared to what you see on patient files, yes? I worked as a medical transcriptionist for a few years, and I just have to say that if doctors write like they speak, well, then, it would be darn near impossible to read! hee hee
Carol–I used to be a medical transcriptionist, too, for a group of urologists. I thought I’d never learn the lingo. My hat is off to any and all medical transcriptionists; it is a hard, hard job. But yes, doctors’ writing is equal to the way they dictate. Great analogy. When I was a transcriptionist, there was a doc who used to eat popcorn and red liquorice while he dictated. Nightmare.
Oh man . . . eating while transcribing?? It’s bad enough when they enunciate! Right?? It IS a hard job being a medical transcriptionist but I have to ask, is it even harder being a nurse and seeing all the blood and guts in person? I think I’d rather type about it than live it. You’re the perfect person to ask since you’ve done both. 🙂
I am not bothered by blood and guts at all. To tell you the truth, the stuff on the outside of people’s bodies is far more disturbing than what is normally on the inside of their bodies. There is an alarming number of people who have poor hygiene. Please…anyone reading this…please, please, please shower, wash your hair, and clean ALL of your external nooks, crannies, and crevices prior to a visit to the doctor and definitely before surgery!
I am SO going to try this Friday night for our Saturday breakfast! I hope my grocery store has the steel cut oats or I will be bummed. 🙂
Marla Rae–I found the steel cut oats in the baking isle of my grocery store. I used Bob’s Red Mill brand, but I am sure that there are other brands out there, too. You might find steel cut oats on the cereal isle or maybe even in the health food section of your grocery store.
does it have to be sea salt?
Nope, use any kind of plain salt you have on hand. The original recipe didn’t even call for salt, but I like it better with salt because salt enhances sweetness.
How many does this feed? Can it be doubled? I’m thinking of taking this to a family reunion coming up in a few weeks and this would be great to put on the night before our big family breakfast on Sunday. Does it expand alot in the crock pot?
Thanks for answering my questions!
Hi Marleen. Good questions. This makes about 16 cups or 4 quarts. The number of servings would be based on how big the servings are. The recipe would probably feed sixteen momma bear appetites, and probably 8-10 pappa bear appetites. If you want to double the recipe, it would require two slow cookers simply because of volume.
I will make another batch of this tonight and let you know exact information. I was just getting hungry to make this again, so the timing is perfect for your questions. By the way, my husband LOVES this and he is NOT an oatmeal kind of person!
Thank you! I just found the steel cut oats at our local amish store, so I’m very happy now :)! I’m sure it will be a hit and I’ll probably just do 1 crockpot full if it makes that many servings since we will have alot of other foods there as well. I usually do a few overnight breakfast casseroles also. I was just looking for something else yummy and this will fit the bill! Thanks!
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I tried this last week and it turned out great. I used ‘ traditional’ steel cut oats. My husband loved it… so much better than instant. I am going to make it again today, but I only have the ‘Quick 3 minute’ steel cut oats. Does anyone know if that will work okay on this recipe? If I don’t hear back, I will try this on High four about 3-4 hours. I’ll let you know how it comes out.
Hi Gloria. That’s a good question, but I haven’t ever tried Quick 3 minute steel cut oats with the slow cooker method. My best guess is that they will not hold up well to long-term cooking. They are cut into smaller pieces than regular steel-cut oats, so structurally they will be less stable and more likely to become mushy. Taste-wise, there won’t be any difference from the way they normally taste.
Where is says 1 tablespoon Vanilla do you mean Real Vanilla Extract or some other form?
I also have some vanilla flavored syrup sweetened by splenda typically intended for coffee but works well as a sweetener in other things.
My plan is to adapt a recipe to cook steel cut oats in an instapot under pressure, adding in the frozen peaches and blueberries.
Real vanilla extract.