Overnight Steel-Cut Oats with Almond Butter & Honey
Amanda vs. the almond butter. Who will win?
Ying calls for a 4 cup glass jug, but we didn't have one so we used a small metal bowl instead.
Isn't making oatmeal just hilarious?
You use both water and milk in this recipe, making it extra creamy.
The hulls are floating!
A pinch of salt.
Amanda's really jazzed about her new slow cooker.
Amanda carefully pours water halfway up the side of the bowl. Now we just turn it on and go to bed!
Surprise! (We cheated and made a batch the night before for the sake of timing.) Out goes this batch, to be cooked later...
...
...and in go the cooked oats.
Ying points out that a dark, flavorful honey works best.
Amanda must have managed to subdue the almond butter, because it goes in without a struggle.
Amanda gives it some elbow grease.
And Merrill sneaks a taste.
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Author Notes: Slow-cooker as bain-marie! This is an effortless, hot family breakfast that lets us sit down together before charging forth on weekdays. We change up the flavourings, but tend to break out the almond butter & honey at least once a week. - ying
Food52 Review: We'll admit that before this week, we were somewhat bemused by the recent slow cooker revival. Ying's porridge helped change our minds. We love her idea of using a slow cooker as a bain marie, and what better way to be greeted on a chilly morning than with a steaming batch of steel cut oats, ready for a dollop of rich, toasty almond butter and a swirl of honey. (If you don't have almond butter, any nut butter will do.) We'll take this over Wheaties any day. - A&M - A&M
Serves 2-3
- 2 cups water
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1/2 cup steel-cut oatmeal
- 1 pinch salt
- 1/4 cup almond butter
- 2-3 tablespoons flavourful honey
- In a 4-cup glass measuring jug, stir together the water, milk, steel-cut oatmeal and salt. Place in a large slow-cooker, add enough cold water to come halfway up the side of the jug (less is fine, because there's so little evaporation with a slow-cooker), switch on "low" and go to bed.
- In the morning, stir in the almond butter and honey. There will be a tablespoon's worth of grain clumped together at the bottom of the glass jug; it is fully cooked, though, and needs only to be mixed in. Serve. You'll have a halo of warmth around you for the rest of the morning.
- Your Best Porridge Contest Winner!
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3 months ago Sarah Williams 1
If we used one of the small crockpots, would need to put it in a measuring bowl, or can it just be put straight in the crock?
3 months ago jocelyng
In my experience, it's much easier to clean a measuring cup than the crock pot. The overnight cooking makes a gummy ring.
3 months ago Mickey0627
The oatmeal tends to burn around the edges and the bottom if it's put directly in the crockpot.
3 months ago Minda Wei
I have a 1.5 quart one with a removable bowl, and putting it directly in works fine for me. It does get a little crusty around the sides, but I wouldn't call it burnt.
4 months ago Mickey0627
This was GREAT! I used 3/4 cups oats. Not soupy, but not too thick either. Just perfect!
4 months ago Meglion
Oh my ever-loving goodness, this was delicious. It stayed warm until I was ready to eat it, and it's creamy, yes, but the oats have a little "pop" to them, almost like chia seeds after they've been soaking a long time. It is as warm and comforting a breakfast - and the best version of oatmeal - I've ever eaten.
4 months ago Robert Longenbaugh
For the non-crockpot option, do you fix the oats in the 4c jug and then put that into a pot with boiling water, just like you did with the crock pot? Or do you add the oats only to 2c boiling water and then let it sit overnight and add the milk in the morning? I made this in my crock pot last night and it came out perfectly, but it's not enough for my family of 5. I'm looking to see the best way to double it without having to get out another crock pot.
5 months ago ameulensteen
These were so delicious and super easy. Incredibly creamy consistency for steel cut oats--almost like a silky pudding. Plus, what's not to love about a receipt that says "and go to bed"?
8 months ago TheLearningCook
This might be a stupid question but does this reheat ok if I don't eat it all the first day?
9 months ago thepisceanchef
Someone mentioned a brand of organic steel cut oats in the comments section, that I had not heard of before. When I saw the comment, I found the brand on line, but failed to order them. Now I cannot recall the brand name. It is from a small farm. Can anyone help?
Thanks!
about 1 year ago oregon cassie
This came-out great -- love learning new time- saving techniques for great food.
about 1 year ago Zim
I'd never thought about doing a water bath in the slow cooker. I'd been using Alton Brown's overnight oatmeal recipe, but had gotten sick of a big bunch of the oats burning to the bottom of my cooker. I've been too lazy to hack my slow cooker into a sous vide machine to combat the high temps of modern slow cookers.
over 1 year ago Geri
Would love to try but without the almond butter (allergy), would love to hear substitutions.....
over 1 year ago mward
You can add raisins, butter, honey or maple syrup afterward, or anything you would add to regular oatmeal.
about 1 year ago susan g
There are other 'butters' you might like, such as sesame tahini, sunflower butter, or - if you could have them - other nuts (or peanuts).
over 1 year ago rheg18
Can i use old-fashioned oats instead of steel-cut?
over 1 year ago mward
I haven't tried it, but I'd think you'd end up with a gooey mess. The point of cooking the steel cut oats this way is that they're a pain to cook on the top of the stove--they take a long time to cook and thy splatter. This way you don't have to deal with them except for the minute it takes to mix stuff together the previous evening and you have breakfast waiting for you in the morning. They're also supposed to be more healthy than old-fashioned, which take very little effort to prepare anyway.
over 1 year ago EveryoneIntoTheKitchen
I just acquired a slow-cooker and this was my first try with oatmeal. Based on my daughter's reaction this morning I'd say it's a keeper. I used 1% milk (it's what we drink) and substituted a Pyrex loaf pan for the measuring cup and it worked beautifully.
over 1 year ago Head2Tail
Thank you so much for this recipe. This creamy, delicious, effortless hot cereal in the morning makes mornings at our house so much easier. One recipe feeds my husband, myself, and our twin one year olds (who thankfully never tire of good oatmeal). Has anyone tried cereals other than steel-cut oats?
almost 2 years ago deedeebear
This is the first recipe I tried from this site and loved it. I've been gnawing my way through stove top steel cut oats for a while now and this technique transformed the oats into something more like pudding. Thank you for such a great recipe. I also love anything I can do the night before since I usually have a foggy brain in the morning.
about 2 years ago Cookie16
I've added a little spoonful of jam or preserves in my steel cut oats with almond butter—a nice pb&j twist.
about 2 years ago Ozzy
I made something similar this week with a layer of apples dusted in brown sugar and pumpkin pie spice on the bottom of the crock pot and then added the oatmeal (I used Bob's Red Mill old fashioned oats). It was delish. I've never heard of adding nut butters to oatmeal, I will definitely try that next time.
over 2 years ago Carriejk
Would I put the cover on the slow cooker? Sorry if that's a dumb question!
over 2 years ago GoodFoodie
Yeah, you have to use it with the top on.
Also, fyi, last time i made this, I forgot to turn on the slow cooker overnight and the milk and everything sat for about 9 hours before I turned it on the next morning - and it was fine.
over 2 years ago jackiecasey
made this for this morning!! LOVE IT!! Instead of a glass 4 cup measuring cup, I used a pyrex loaf pan, it worked great! Not a huge fan of almond butter, think I will experiment with different variations, but it is still very good. My daycare kids show up soon, pretty sure they will love it too!!! Thanks!
over 2 years ago flossy
made this the night of the blizzard for a nice blizzard morning. superb!
about 3 years ago jillf212
Addicted as well! My favorite way to enjoy oatmeal! I frequently substitute dark maple syrup (usually grade B) for honey- yum!