Slow Cooker Apple Cinnamon Steel Cut Oatmeal with Whipped Maple Cream.
Hugs in a bowl! Hugs in a short little bowl.
That’s what’s on the menu today. A cinnamon apple-y hug in a bowl. I don’t hate it!
It’s also kind of like dessert in a bowl, depending on how you look at it. This is one of the most comforting breakfasts I’ve made in a long time (that doesn’t include bacon, of course) and we can’t.stop.eating.it.
But wait! How was your weekend? What kind of horsing around did you do? What did you get in to? And most importantly, did you consume apple cider, pumpkin beer or cheese soup because OCTOBER.
It’s just like the best month ever. I can’t help it.
So. I have rambled on here approximately 874 times about my love for the quaker instant oatmeal packets when I was a kid. Yeah yeah, I know. Broken record. Seriously, I probably ate them for ten plus years straight, often enjoying them for an after school snack or dinner. And, biggest secret that isn’t even a secret? After I had a Max, I had a few weeks of loving on them because 1. I was hungrier than I’d ever been in my life and 2. I was craving all sorts of nostalgic flavors from my youth.
I know I know, I just told you this.
And that’s kind of why I made these. And Max is more of the reason too! I usually save this sort of thing for the baby page, but all of a sudden Max has become SO insanely excited about all food. He’s been eating finger foods since he was six months old, but in the last few weeks he has started getting ridiculously excited about any and all foods – to the point where if you’re eating something and you don’t give him a bite, he gets MAD.
We find it hilarious, as most obnoxious first time parents would. But all gushing about our first born aside, I made these oats because breakfast is my favorite meal to share with Max. We usually have scrambled eggs and toast and blueberries or something.
But with the chillier weather (um, hello, we saw SNOW FLAKES yesterday!!), I’ve been craving something warm. And since I don’t have the unlimited amount of time to make a wild and crazy breakfast (oh trust me, I still THINK I have the unlimited time until I get in the moment), something overnight sounded incredibly appealing.
And also like it would free up my hands for a few minutes in the morn.
Plus, I adore steel cut oats in all of their chewy glory. So much texture!! If you’re a texture freak like me, I know they’ve gotta be your thing too. Right?! They are kind of maybe definitely the only oats worth eating that aren’t in cookie form.
Therefore, into the slow cooker went many current obsessions: apple chunks, coconut milk, tons of cinnamon, coconut oil, coconut butter. In fact, I think that these accidentally turned out vegan?? Oops oops. Happy accidents, all the way.
But no fear, if you don’t have all those ingredients, you can totally use regular milk, regular butter, all the things that might be hanging out in your fridge. It’s cool. Do your thang.
I allowed my oats to sit in the slow cooker on low for exactly eight hours. I stirred only once, because the reality is that if you are making these overnight, are you really going to wake up and stir once or twice to prevent some crispy edges? I doubt it. If you decide to make these during the day and then reheat in batches (completely doable and still delish), stir a handful of times if you’re around.
If you aren’t around or want to let them cook overnight, you might end up with some oats sticking to the sides. I did, but I don’t mind a little texture. This also heavily depends on the intensity of your slow cooker and if it acts like a bad ass and it’s low setting gets super hot, I’d recommend cooking during the day. Some cookers are wacky and have minds of their own.
Oh oh oh and we NEED to talk about what is drizzle on top here. It’s maple syrup, boiled until bubbly and then WHIPPED. Homemade maple cream, if you will. We love the maple cream from american spoon so so so much and buy a jar every summer. It gets drizzled on pancakes and waffles and in general, most breakfast foods. Obviously, I had to try making my own annnnd… basically now my life is over.
If you find me head-first in a jar of maple cream, you know what happened.
Since we always talk about toppings for life, I doused my bowl in toasted almonds, hemp seeds, more apples, crunchy shredded coconut AND coconut chips and that whipped maple situation.
It is certainly a situation I can’t get enough of.
Oh and P.S. these do NOT taste like coconut (even with the milk, butter and oil), they are just wonderfully creamy and smooth and your ideal October breakfast. Don’t stop, get it get it.
Slow Cooker Apple Cinnamon Steel Cut Oatmeal with Whipped Maple Cream
Ingredients
- 1 cup steel cut oats
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 2 (14-ounce) cans light coconut milk
- 1 cup water
- 2 cups cubed apples
- 3 tablespoons coconut oil
- 2 tablespoons coconut butter
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 tablespoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 pinch of cardamom
- for topping: toasted almonds, hemp seeds, toasted coconut chips, shredded coconut, apple chunks, cinnamon sprinkle, whipped maple cream
maple cream
- 1 1/2 cups pure maple syrup
Instructions
- Spray your slow cooker with nonstick spray. Stir all ingredients together in the slow cooker and set on low for 6 to 8 hours. Stir once or twice if you can. If not, the mixture might stick to the edges a bit. Serve hot with extra milk drizzled on top and a variety of toppings!
- You can store this in the fridge for a few days and reheat with a bit of milk.
maple cream
- Place the maple syrup in a saucepan fitted with a candy thermometer. Fill a large bowl with ice water and place another saucepan on top of the ice. Heat the maple syrup over medium heat until boiling (do not stir, but do not walk away because you don’t want it to boil over! if it boils up, lower the heat.) and cook until it reaches 235 degrees F. Once at 235 degrees F, remove from the heat and pour the syrup into the saucepan that is sitting in the ice water bath. Let it cook for 5 to 10 minutes. Once slightly cooler, begin to stir the syrup with a wooden spoon until it’s creamy. This can take about 15 minutes, so instead, I poured my syrup into my stand mixer and beat it on low speed with the paddle attachment! Again, about 10ish minutes, until it’s light in color. Once it’s light and pourable, stop beating because it can thicken quickly.
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
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I appreciate you so much!
Don’t stop, get it get it.
79 Comments on “Slow Cooker Apple Cinnamon Steel Cut Oatmeal with Whipped Maple Cream.”
Yup. Snowed here too. The gym teacher in me is not too excited, I’d rather play dodgeball than snowplow if you know what I mean. What a great spin on breakfast, my wife (this is totally true) sends me to my mother’s house for breakfast every morning so she can just deal with the kids. I’m asking mom to make this. I know, pathetic! But having a bunch of young kids is tough and once in awhile you need a break.
Who didn’t love oatmeal packs as a kid?! I mean they were like the BEST breakfast ever :) This looks like a great alternative! Hello comfort food!! :)
Whipped maple syrup, say what? I think you just changed my life, this is by far the best tip I recently read. And this bowl looks delicious, I wish I could have one right now.
These look incredible. And super timely! I’ve been experimenting with steel cut oats, but haven’t really found a combination I like. I’m trying this. Immediately.
g.
This is such a yummy and fun oatmeal! And whipped maple cream?! YUS!
Such monday happiness!! Dude, I could totally do with a bowl – and let’s just both double the whipped cream
Yum, this looks delish!
xo, Liz
http://lipstickandconfetti.com
Don’t stop, get it get it. Hahaaa, love it! Jammin. Where do you live?? It flurried here in Boston too.
pittsburgh!
I could really have used this for breakfast this morning! yum! ♡♡
xoxoBella | http://xoxobella.com
This looks so jam packed with good stuff Jess! I love that it’s made in a slow cooker too – so much easier!
I know what I’m having for breakfast tomorrow! Steel cut oats are so the best – like you said, that TEXTURE. Yum! Love waking up to a piping hot breakfast on these cold mornings.
Oh my goodness, this really is just like a hug in a bowl! I’m in oatmeal love.
Oh my goodness! That maple cream sounds incredible!
Whaaaa, whaaaa, WHAtttt!? Maple Cream? Are you kidding? How have I live all these years without knowing? Thank you my dear… Now this oatmeal. I’ll take some free time in the morning and this slow cooker does it! So much goodness going on here and what’s not to love about waking up to a ready made breakfast? Delicious, Jessica. And Snow? My goodness!
This looks delicious and I have sooooo many apples in my cellar I could cook something with apples everyday, all winter. :) And we had snow, quite a lot of it, on the 14th of October. Amazing! Not happy about it but still amazing. :)
crazy, i can’t believe it’s snowing so early adina!
You had me at Maple Cream. The idea of breakfast being ready, once you wake up is amazing, almost as having room service delivered to your door. Cannot wait to try it this week!
Slow-cooker oatmeal is the best! I love it with apples and cinnamon…but you should totally try it with mashed bananas, cinnamon, clove, allspice, and nutmeg. Basically banana bread oatmeal. Basically the best.
so doing this next.
Everything coconutty and autumnal in this bowl makes me so hungry :D
This looks amazing! We’re definitely making this for Sunday morning breakfast next week!
Paige
http://thehappyflammily.com
I never even thought that you could make some delicious oatmeal in the slow cooker! This is a perfect breakfast option, just throw it in and it’s ready to go in the morning. Pinned and trying! Thanks for sharing :)
DYING over that maple cream!!!!
Ten pm here and I want a bowl of that oatmeal right now! I’ve seen other crock pot oatmeal recipes, but I usually stop reading when they say cook for 3-4 hours. I need a real overnight oatmeal and I love steel cut oats. This is going into the oatmeal rotation with overnight refrigerator oats and baked oatmeal! Yum!
i totally get that, i’ve wanted to make some recipes before too but i’m like 3 to 4 hours? do i get up in the middle of the night?! this one probably depends on how hot your crockpot gets, but the steel cut definitely help!
¡Fantástica receta! Fácil de elaborar, con buenas fotografías y un resultado delicioso, me encantan. gracias por compartirlas con todos/as.
/ http://www.mascasaonline.com
I made this overnight and woke up to the house smelly scrumptious!! It tastes like apple pie. OMG….it’s just a big bowl of cozy is what it is.
yesssss! so glad you like it.
LOVE pre-made breakfasts and can’t get enough of coconut or oats – can’t wait to try this! Any suggestions for substitutes on the maple cream? Got quite a bad burn from caramels last year so the hubby generally requests no boiling sugar in the house. :)
you can buy some! my favorite is american spoon (https://www.spoon.com/michigan-maple-cream.html) but i bet you can find some locally.
breakfast is the PERFECT time to whip out the slow cooker! I never seem to find the time to eat anything proper for brekkie (like, I ate a block a cheddar this morning) so this is exactly the kind of recipe I need in my life lol.
This looks yummy but I don’t own a slow cooker. Can I bake this in a dutch oven on low heat???
Yes! Yes! Love! Love! Conceptually brilliant, with one catch . . . .why so much oil/butter? Not needed!! I eat lotsa oatmeal, incuding steel cut, and never add fat. Maybe it tastes nice, but it sure tastes real nice without it too! Apples and cinnamon and maple is plenty of flavour. Big believer in butter, but this is better without it (by which I mean your coconut butter and oil). Mind you, a sprinkling of toasted large flake coconut would be pretty awesome. And, you’re an absiolute genius for taking sludgey, sloppy, goopy cereal and making it look beautiful!! Nicely done. . . ..
I want to put that maple cream on EVERYTHING! Yum.
I feel like you always convince me to try things I would’t ordinarily eat for breakfast. Yeah, I just bought my first thing of steel cut oats.
Oh my! I’ve become obsessed with my slow cooker lately and this is JUST what I need! Plus I have 10 lbs of apples to use up from an overzealous trip to Apple Hill in Placerville, CA. Literally 10 lbs of apples. Eek!
This looks so good! Would literally put that maple cream on everything!
Sounds really delicious,but alas I don’t have a slow cooker..Could it be cooked in oven ,if so what kind of temperature do you suggest..thanks!
I love oatmeal but I basically use it as a vehicle for tons of brown sugar. I may have to try this though. I used to like the Quaker packs of maple brown sugar oatmeal when I was a kid but they don’t taste the same since I’ve become a grown up. Sigh. Maybe this recipe will help.
My kind of breakfast, all I need is a stack of bacon on the side :)
Wow, Thank you for your recipe. It looks so delicious and healthy.
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Made this last night and dug into it this morning. YUM! I skipped the maple cream (I really wanted to use it but by the time I got around to eating the oatmeal I was starving and didn’t have the patience to make it!) but poured on some maple syrup instead. Quick question: does the maple cream keep? Or does the texture keep changing (i.e. hardening?) Thanks for the great recipe!
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Can I make this with old fashioned oats? Thanks in advance!
hi sam! you can, but you may need to change your liquid ration (it’s usually 2 liquid to 1 old fashioned oat – and it probably doesn’t need to cook as long. it might get mushy if it’s a full 6-8 hours!
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I’ve not got a slow cooker, so I’d like to make these on the stove top. Would the liquid to oats ratio stay the same? I’m assuming around half an hour cooking should do it? Ta.
This was delicious, but just a bit too sweet for my taste. I will half the brown sugar next time. Great recipe!
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This oatmeal did not turn out for me. It lacked flavor and was very runny. The oats didn’t have a bite to them and the apples disintegrated. I would make again because I have all in the pantry except the milk. This time I will make it during the day so I can keep my eye on the cooking process.
Hi There!
I just wanted to say thank you so much for this great recipe – I highlighted all of the reasons why an Instant Pot (a kitchen appliance that includes a slow cooking function) is a must-have for young recent graduates in the kitchen, and this recipe was the perfect example! You can read the post here, if you’d like! http://themillennialmenu.com/blog/the-one-appliance
Thanks for your great food!