Crock Pot Oatmeal Goodness!

Yesterday, the 18th Annual Golden Spurtle World Porridge Making Championship was held in the highlands of Scotland. Sadly, I couldn't be there, but I'm having some porridge for breakfast today :)

Who doesn't love waking up to a hot breakfast on a cold morning? It's a rare thing when you're the parent though!  Unless you put breakfast in the crock pot before you went to bed, that is...

Crock Pot Steel Cut Oatmeal

I love steel cut oats but don't have time to stand at the stove for 20 minutes in the morning. By using my crock pot to slow cook them all night, I don't have to!

I use Bob's Red Mill Steel Cut Oats. 

Bob's was the 2009 Winner of the Golden Spurtle! 

Here is Bob's recipe for the traditional way of preparing steel cut oats. Very simple. Oats, water, pinch of salt. I add an extra half cup of water for overnight simmering. 3½ cups water to 1 cup of oats is perfect for the consistency I like. You may need more or less depending on your slow cooker, and how thick or creamy you like your oatmeal. 

Instead of mixing the ingredients in a pot over the stove as the directions say, I use my crock pot as a double boiler. Here you see a glass bowl that fits inside my crock pot. Beneath the bowl I have placed wads of aluminum foil. They keep the bowl from sitting directly on the crock, so water is between the crock and the bowl, for even cooking and to prevent the crock from cracking. I don't add the water until after the bowl is in the crock, or the foil will float! 

So, my bowl is on the foil in the crock - next I add 1 cup of oats. If you've never had steel cut oats you'll notice they look nothing like rolled oats, the kind used for instant and old-fashioned oatmeal.

Next I stir the water and a pinch of salt into the oats, then slowly and carefully pour water in between the crock and the bowl of oats, until the water in the bowl and the water in the crock are level.

Lastly, I put the lid on, turn my crock pot on low, and go to bed! 

That's it - easy peasy!

In the morning, after about 8 hours of simmering, the pot of steaming, hearty, creamy, chewy, nutty oatmeal is ready for me to spoon into my bowl and add my favorite toppings to! I like a drizzle of Canadian maple syrup and a sprinkling of cinnamon. You can add things to flavour the oatmeal before it cooks or after. Nuts and raisins get sweet and tender with cooking overnight.

I love my crock pot. It's as old as my marriage, and still going strong ♥