I am very excited about this particular Crockpot Oatmeal Recipe with Apples because it tastes wonderful and doesn't cook the life out of either the oatmeal or the lovely apple slices. I have spent a great deal of time trying these "Overnight" Crockpot Breakfast Recipes, and I have come to the conclusion that they're just not for me. If you feel the same way, you will love this version of the not-overnight crockpot oatmeal recipes.
You know, I don't object to the great ingredients in some of the recipes so much as the overcooking, sometimes to the burnt stage, of the poor ingredients. I for one don't take much pleasure in waking up to the smoke alarm sounding off at some random hour, but if what's in the crockpot is burning, I guess we can all expect to test out our smoke detectors.
I made our crockpot oatmeal recipe using steel-cut oats rather than old-fashioned, rolled oats, which are found in most oatmeal. I understand that rolled oats are steamed, rolled, resteamed and toasted. Steel-cut oats simply do not go through this extra processing. I really hope you'll give the steel-cut version a try because it has so much more flavor and texture to it...you actually have to chew it...it's lovely. However, I've eaten many a bowl of old-fashioned oatmeal, too so if you're more comfortable using that kind, by all means continue.
If you check out the picture above, you'll notice that those apple slices look as good coming out as they did going in, and the steel-cut oatmeal is just done to a turn. If you enjoy a little milk or cream with your oatmeal, that's great. A sprinkling of cinnamon, if you choose, and you're ready to experience some seriously-good oatmeal with apples.
So let's get going on our Crockpot Oatmeal Recipe, with apples of course.
Ingredients
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 apples, peeled, cored and sliced...I used Macintosh and they added sweetness and crunch to our finished product, just great. Yes, I did say that the apple still had crunch after cooking in a crockpot.
4 cups water
2 cups steel-cut oats or old-fashioned oatmeal
1 teaspoon salt
This is for all the coffee lovers in the group; this coffee definitely won't let you down.
Method
Mix the brown sugar with the cinnamon and pour over your apple slices. Mix well soall the apple pieces are coated.
Mix the oatmeal or oats with the water and salt.
Put apples in the bottom of your crockpot and pour the oatmeal mixture right on top of them. Don't stir. You can see from the photo that it doesn't look like much at this point, but wait.
Cover and cook on Low for about 2 hours.
Lift cover and stir...how does it look? Depending on your particular crockpot, it could be done at this time. If so, you're all set...just turn the pot off and enjoy.
Mine, however, took just about three hours and it was perfect. This is the type of recipe that can be adjusted to suit your own taste, too.
COMMENTS:
My oatmeal was perfectly cooked to suit my taste...the oatmeal still had substance to it and the apples were still crunchy...as opposed to being just part of a mushy mixture that you're "pretty sure" is supposed to be oatmeal with fruit.
It doesn't matter that it wasn't spooned out of the crockpot for breakfast...in fact it was just as well because the crockpot was washed and out of the way the day before.
I must admit that it was so tempting and good that I ate a bowl for supper on a Saturday night. The rest I put in a container for refrigeration, and there it was all ready to be quickly heated in the microwave the next day.
Apples go apple-iciously with oatmeal, but you need not stop there; I'm sure dried cranberries, apricots, raisins, etc. would be great, too since apples go with most everything.
Another addition might be walnuts or pecans. You could actually add them to the finished oatmeal and just stir them right in.
I hope you have as much success with YOUR personal type of oatmeal as I have with this Crockpot Oatmeal Recipe with Apples.
