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.
Overnight Crock Pot Oatmeal with Almond Butter and Honey
Equipment
- crock pot
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup uncooked steel cut oats
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 cup almond milk, or milk or your choice
- a pinch of salt
- optional: seeds of 1 vanilla bean
- 2-4 Tbsp almond butter
- honey to taste
Instructions
- You can make this in one container, or in two individual containers. I used two glasses that had 1 2/3 cup capacity each.
- Put 1/4 cup oats, 1/2 cup water, and 1/4 cup milk in each container. Add a small pinch of salt to each and stir to combine.
- Set the containers in the slow cooker and add water to come about halfway up the glasses.
- Set the crock pot on low, and leave it until morning (about 10 hours.)
- Give each serving a stir, and then swirl in the almond butter and top with honey just before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
Don’t forget to pin this Overnight Steel Cut Oatmeal with Almond Butter and Honey!
I recently tried overnight oatmeal for the first time and I must say I love how it makes mornings so much easier!!
My husband would love this – printing to share!
This is a wonderful idea for working people and families on the go! I would have never thought to put nut butter in oatmeal but I love the idea. It looks delicious, Sue.
Thanks Susan!
Ooh, I like the idea of almond butter, I can honestly say I’ve never tried that in porridge before. I bet your method is a good one. The best porridge I’ve ever eaten is my mother’s which cooks at a very gently heat in the bottom of the age overnight.
I had never put nut butter in oatmeal before either, it was a great surprise! And I think the very slow gentle cooking must be the secret to the creaminess. I can’t claim to beat your mother’s, but maybe this will come close 🙂
I actually thought of asking for vanilla beans for my birthday just to have around for recipes like this. They make such a big difference!
I can totally get that, if they weren’t so expensive I’d put them in everything!
When do you add the fruit and nuts?
You add those after the oatmeal has cooked, Georgeann, just like with the almond butter.
So I love oats..in muffins ..cookies..bars..etc..I just can’t stand it warm and wet .Jacques loves it..I have tried..the steel cut oats I bought at Costco..I think I have enough for 100 yrs..and made it in the morning..Like you..I hate doing that when I first get up..I am ready to bake and cook soon after breakfast ..not before..so it’s all bran..green tea..a yogurt..etc..Anyways..I have made it..Jacques eats it..I can’t look at it.Maybe this would work for me:) Genius.
i had some fantastic oatmeal the other day and i can’t stop thinking about it. it was my first taste of steel cut oats, and i’m hooked!
What a great idea! I’m like you about cooking first thing in the morning…not going to happen. But I can see the appeal of setting up this recipe at the same time I get the coffee pot ready the night before. Can’t wait to try it!
Can you use almond milk in place of milk?
absolutely!