Oatmeal Brûlée! (Please don’t faint ~ it might seem like a crazy luxury but it’s no less healthy than regular oatmeal.) I don’t add any sugar to the pot, and what gets caramelized on top is the only sugar I used ~ it’s an incredibly delicious healthy indulgence!
I’m so excited to share this oatmeal brûlée with you!
If you love creme brûlée you’re going to go crazy for this fun spin on breakfast. Just like with the dessert, you’ll have a crackly outer layer of ‘burnt’ sugar, but instead of custard underneath, you get creamy oatmeal mixing with the little melting shards of caramel in your mouth and, oh my, your eyes will roll back in your head. Cinnamon and vanilla flavor the oats and the entire recipe takes no more time than your basic breakfast. Do up a whole tray of them for guests. I don’t like to self-congratulate, but I am taking a little bow here…
This caramelized oatmeal is a morning conversation starter for sure
Recipes don’t get much more fun than this one, and if you already have a kitchen torch collecting dust in the back of your cabinet, this is a great way to get some use out of it. The nice thing, too, is that there’s nothing tricky involved here. If you know how to turn on your torch (which took me an embarrassingly long time to master, btw) you’ll be bruleeing like a pro.
How to make Brûléed Oatmeal
- Just prepare your favorite oatmeal as usual.
- Spoon it into individual serving bowls and smooth out the top so it’s an even layer.
- Sprinkle the surface lightly with granulated sugar.
- Then get busy with the torch, touching every corner to get that fantastic crackly sugar crust. I like to wait until I see specks of black, that way I know it’s done.
- It hardens to a crisp crust in a matter of seconds as the sugar cools. I’m telling you this is a wonderful way to eat oatmeal!
We love oatmeal in this house!
- Overnight Steel Cut Oats with Almond Butter and Honey
- Oatmeal with Whiskey Butter
- Maple Glazed Oatmeal Cookies
- Spiced Vanilla Pear Oatmeal
- Irish Oatmeal Soda Bread
Oatmeal Brûlée
Equipment
- kitchen torch Buy it here
Ingredients
- 2 cups whole milk, any type, including almond, coconut or soy, I used full fat dairy milk
- 1 cup old fashioned rolled oats
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
- 4 tsp granulated sugar, regular granulated white sugar caramelizes best
- cream or half and half for garnish, optional
Instructions
- Heat the milk in a saucepan until little bubbles form around the edges and add the oats. Cook gently for about 5 minutes, stirring often, until the oatmeal is thickened.
- Stir in the cinnamon and vanilla and spoon into two serving bowls.
- Smooth out the top of each bowl with the back of a spoon for form a flat surface for the sugar.
- Evenly sprinkle 2 teaspoons of sugar over each bowl
- Use a kitchen torch to caramelize the sugar, moving the flame in circles as the sugar turns color. Keep heating until the entire surface is browned and you start to see small black spots.
- Serve hot with a dash of cream.
Notes
Nutrition
Oh goodness! I usually sprinkle the top of my oatmeal with a little brown sugar along with some blueberries. Creme Brûlée is my all time favorite dessert. This idea is brilliant!!! Can’t wait to try it! And I love the cup you served it in!
I love seeing this awesome idea!! I eat oatmeal practically everyday. I usually stir in honey but a brulee top!! Wow! Looks amazing!
That’s what I love about this, since most people stir in a little sweetener into their oatmeal anyway, why not make it bruleed??
You are so creative! Such a smart idea – who wouldn’t love that candy top? This is how breakfast should be!
Very creative! I’m not usually an oatmeal for breakfast type of person, but I think I would definitely go for this!!!!
What a fun way to dress up oatmeal and a great excuse to get out that kitchen torch!
I love recipes that require fire! I have one of the blue propane torches that you can get at Home Depot — works great. Anyway, love the idea of oatmeal brulee! Really creative — thanks.
Thanks John — I was going to mention going the hardware store route for a torch, I bet yours is sturdier, too.
Wow! This is brilliant. Someone just served me a greek yogurt breakfast brulee, but over OATMEAL?! I could get behind breakfast 100%.
Oh wow, yogurt brulee? Fabulous idea!
What an innovative breakfast idea. It definitely adds a bit of class to the average oatmeal. Now I just need a kitchen torch. :] // itsCarmen.com ? ?
It took me a while to get one, but I know I’m going to use it a lot…it brings out the inner pyromaniac in me 😉
My kitchen torch is collecting dust AND doesn’t even have butane in it. How bad is that? You’ve got me thinking that I need to rectify that though. Wow.
Yep it’s official! I need a torch so I can make stuff like this.