Well I hope you guys like this as much as I do. I recently went to Santa Cruz for the weekend and we had the most amazing food as this little restaurant called the Picnic Basket- including an oatmeal that was seriously one of the highlights of the trip for me. I wanted to try and replicate it a little bit and here is the best version I came up with.
There is something so incredibly comforting about a delicious oatmeal to me and this one has a lot of flavor.
The trick with overnight crock pot oatmeal is that it is never really overnight for me. You can supposedly cook this on low for 7 hours or so but for me it turns out burned when I let it go that long.
Also crock pots can vary quite a bit so I use a little cheap one to make this and I have found about 5 hours on low or about 2 hours on high is best. I have a fancy big crock pot but I think this oatmeal would burn really fast in that so you might want to just play with this recipe and see. If you have a programmable crock pot that might work. I just started mine when I was cleaning dinner dishes around 7pm and it was done by about 9pm. I let it cool and scooped into little containers and put it in the fridge.
It should stay delicious for a few days- just heat and serve! I heat and dump in a Thermos and I can take this as I run out the door.
The other thing is that you can switch out the flavoring options to whatever you like. Almonds and dried cherries or blueberries would be a good option, cinnamon and chopped apples, banana and brown sugar… I am going to play with pumpkin puree next so really anything that sounds good to you would work! I would probably reduce the brown sugar just a little if you substitute other ingredients.
- 2 tablespoons real maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons flax seed (optional)
- 1 cup uncooked steel cut oats
- 3 tablespoons brown sugar
- ½ to 1 cup raisins
- 1½ cups milk or cream
- 1½ cups water
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon butter
- Spray your crock pot with cooking spray.
- Add all ingredients to a crock pot and cook on low for 5-6 hours or high for about 2-3 hours.
I like to top mine with a tiny bit of cream once it is heated up and it is super delicious. Chopped pecans would also add a great flavor if you feel indulgent.
And I have tested this with my children and they love it! My 5 year old in particular asks for this about every morning so it is really easy to make ahead and then a delicious, hearty breakfast is on the table in literally minutes.
And here are some other recipes you might enjoy:
- 5 Minute Blackberry Cobbler
- Chai Sugar Cookies
- Creamy Crock Pot Chicken Tacos
- Greek Orzo Pasta
- Molten Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Mexican Grilled Corn
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
When I tried overnight, I got burnt oatmeal, too. One trick I read online and used that worked is: Put the ingredients in pyrex loaf pan, and put that in a water bath in the crockpot. That definitely produces nice oatmeal and no burns, easy to clean up.
Fethiye,
I have heard of water baths too but it seems like too much work for me
. I will try that method soon though. It is nice to wake up to fresh oatmeal 
This was the recipe for that: http://www.food52.com/recipes/3062_overnight_steelcut_oats_with_almond_butter_honey
Forget the “jug” they are talking about, but replace with that pyrex loaf pan mentioned
Still waiting to see one more tab on your website : Recipes
LOVE the recipes you post. I made the cobbler, but used some pears that were about to go bad. Oh my gosh, beyond yummy! Cooking in those little dishes also helps with portion control. It was perfect.
LOL- I made a button! It says recipes in a blue box on the side bar
. I am so glad the cobbler turned out well!
Yay for the recipe button!! Thank you Charlene! I love your recipes too, your iced coffee is one of my favorites
Tried this today. Didn’t have maple syrup so I used agave nectar instead. Still turned out great! Even my 1-yr-old loved it! Delish! Took about 3 hrs with my crock pot on high. Thank you!
Oh I am so glad C!