Overnight Steel Cut Oatmeal with Almond Butter and Honey

Overnight Steel Cut Oatmeal with Almond Butter and Honey  ~ wake up to this healthy, protein rich breakfast, no slaving over a hot stove in your pajamas necessary!

I’m essentially a very lazy cook.  I’m always looking for shortcuts, and the shorter the better as far as I’m concerned.  I’m at my most lazy when it comes to breakfast, but I never want to sacrifice a fantastic meal just to cut corners, so when I find a recipe that satisfies me on both counts, I’m ecstatic.

Oatmeal is one of those things that I love to eat, but hate to cook.  I don’t want to haul out the pan and measuring cups, I don’t want to stand there and stir, not at 7 in the morning.  But I’ve had trouble in the past with overnight oatmeal recipes.  I find that they’re often too dense, not creamy enough, and worst of all, sometimes they get an unappealing crust on them.  I made this overnight steel cut oatmeal in the crock pot several times during the week and they turned out perfectly every time.   They now have a permanent spot on our short list of family favorites.

Breakfast doesn’t get any better, or healthier, than this.  Honestly, I’m not into downing a cold green smoothie first thing on an icy February morning.  A warm bowl of steel cut oatmeal is much more like it.  These steel cut oats are thick and creamy, the almond butter and honey give it great flavor and, if you use chunky almond butter, you’ll get a little extra texture, too.

My husband likes his with dried fruit and nuts.  Since I cook the oats in individual cups, everyone can customize their own.

The key to the perfect creamy quality of this overnight steel cut oatmeal is that you don’t cook it directly in the crock pot, you cook it in separate containers in a water bath in the crock pot.  That gives the perfect amount of gentle heat that results in perfectly cooked oats by morning.  You can even switch the controls from low to warm if you’re not ready to eat right when you wake up.

Almond butter and honey is a combination I never thought of, but it’s wonderful, and if you really want to be decadent, scrape the seeds of a vanilla bean into the oats before you pop them in the slow cooker.  You won’t believe your good fortune when you lift off the lid the next morning and are met with a blast of vanilla scented steam and the creamiest oatmeal you’ve ever eaten.

Have any of you tried this method?  It really is the perfect solution to a hearty, healthy and warm breakfast that’s miraculously waiting for you when you wake up.  Sometimes I want to marry my slow cooker…just sayin’.

UPDATE:  Since posting this recipe I’ve discovered another overnight oats method that I love just as much ~ you can find it with the recipe for OVERNIGHT STEEL CUT OATS WITH WHISKEY BUTTER. My equally delicious DATE NUT OVERNIGHT OATS recipe uses the same method, no slow-cooker required!

Reader Rave ~

“Just finished eating this and it’s fabulous! Comes out perfect! I doubled the recipe and put into two mason jar pints so I could store them easily and eat them without mess. I also used crunchy almond butter and I think it really added a nice texture! Would be delicious topped with banana too! Thank you for the great technique!”  ~ Desirae

Note: recipe just slightly adapted from food52.

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