I was going to call this Apple Pie Oatmeal, because it really does taste as good as apple pie. I’ve made it twice now. Once I used regular oatmeal (not quick cooking). The second time, I used steel cut oats. They were more expensive, but I thought they held up better in the slow cooker. Jim thought that the regular oats were just as good. They were good, but they were a little mushier than I would like.
The taste of both versions was delish! Apples, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, brown sugar…all for breakfast! And the leftovers heat up great the next day. Just add extra milk and microwave.
Here’s what you’ll need:
- 1 cups oatmeal (regular or steel cut)
- 1 3/4 cups water (2 cups if using steel cut oats)
- 1 3/4 cups apple juice ( 2 cups if using steel cut oats)
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- dash nutmeg
- 1 small apple, peeled and diced tiny
I used a 4 quart slow cooker for this. It has to cook such a long time, you want the oatmeal to fill as much of the crock as possible. If it doesn’t, it will cook too hot.
Spray the crock with cooking spray so you can clean it easier the next morning. Oatmeal is sticky.
Put all the ingredients in the crock and stir to combine. Turn it on low as you’re going to bed. I turned mine on at 10pm and cooked it till about 7am. If you have a programmable slow cooker, cook it for about 5 hours on low for steel cut or 3 for regular oats.
This recipe makes 4 large servings.
I had never cooked or even seen, steel cut oats until I bought them for this recipe. They do cost more money than regular. And I thought they looked like horse food. I’ve never seen horse food either, but that’s what it should look like. Let me tell you, a horse would be very happy to be served a bowl of this apple oatmeal!
Here’s what the steel cut oats look like before they’re cooked:
I preferred the steel cut for this recipe, but the regular work fine too. One trick I’ve heard is to buy a Christmas light timer and hook it up to your slow cooker. That way you can program it to cook for a shorter amount of time. Especially helpful if you’re using regular oats.
ohhh!! I’ve always wanted a good recipe to try steel cut oats!! Thanks.
this is GOOD stuff. Steel cut is best, if price-y. Maybe I’ll try to mix SC with regular (non-quick) oats this winter. (50/50 ratio?)
This sounds great! I can’t wait to try it!
I use my 1-1/2 qt slow-cooker for this. If the cooker is too big, it’ll cook too hot and scorch more.
What a fabulous breakfast for a cold morning!
A few years ago Dr. Oz was talking about steel cut oats on Oprah and a lady said her mother made them in the crock pot with apple juice over night. I had been trying to find out for years now if I was crazy or hearing things but I’m not! lol Can’t wait to finally try this.
Sounds like a different mix with the ingredients you typically find in Apple Crisp. And what could ever possibly be wrong with that? I will make this very soon.
We buy steel cut oats in the bulk organic section of our grocery. Much cheaper than the packaged steel cut oats in the oatmeal/cereal aisle. Maybe not quite as cheap as rolled oats, but close.
Bob’s Red Mill sells them in a bag and they are cheaper.
I cannot wait to try this one! I saw you mention this on facebook and was hoping it turned out good so that you would post. YUM!!
I have tried two of your steel oat recipes and loved them both. Thanks for posting them. Shouldn’t there be one cup of steel oats not two for this recipe?
Rose, I think when I originally tested this recipe I used 2 cups, but later slow cooker oat recipes I tweaked and just used 1 cup of oats. I’ve edited this recipe to show 1 cup. Thanks.
A long time ago I used to help my grandpa scoop oats (for the goats) into a shed from a wagon bed (very small farm operation). When I bought the steel cut oats, my first thought was that they looked just like a chopped up version of the goat feed. 🙂 I tried the orange cranberry oatmeal first and now I am contemplating the apple version. I used a light timer overnight and it worked beautifully. Thanks for the recipes and pictures!
Saw this and couldn’t wait to try. Company came in so I doubled recipe to fill crock pot more. Turned on around midnight~ smells great!
What kind of crockpot do you have? I can not find one that I can set a time for it to turn on itself at a later time.
I don’t have one that will program like that either. I use a christmas light timer hooked up to a small crockpot when I make oatmeal.