Seriously Spectacular Steel Cut Oats

Raw steel cut oats.

I don't know how I have gone on so long without eating steel cut oats. Now that I have finally eaten them I doubt I will ever eat rolled oats again. I had been eating rolled oats most of my adult life. It's a quick, easy, healthful breakfast but it can get boring. And then I discovered steel cut oats! Now, I find myself eating them for breakfast, lunch and sometimes even dinner.

The texture of steel cut oats is so wonderful. They have 4 grams of fiber, 6 grams of protein and are fairly low fat.

Costco has been carrying 4 lb. 8 oz. bags of organic steel cut oats so it's a bargain. This may seem like a rather large bag to consume but you can use steel cut oats for other recipes too. There is a reicpe on the bag for steel cut oat scones that I plan making.

The secret to quick, tasty steel cut oats is to make them ahead of time in a small slow cooker. I find the oats cook more thoroughly and I enjoy the texture more when the oats are reheated. (I have made them on the stove – they take about 20 minutes but it never seems quite done.) I set the cooker to high, add a bit of dried fruit and cook for a couple hours. When it's almost done, I like to add some maple syrup and let it cook another half hour or so. When most of the liquid has cooked away, I put the oats in the refrigerator in a tightly covered container. To serve, scoop spoonfuls into bowl, add some water and reheat, breaking up the clumps. I like to serve with about 1/4 cup of soy milk. Enjoy!

Ingredients
1 cup steel cut oats
3 cups water
dash of salt
sprinkle in some craisins and golden raisins
1/4 cup maple syrup

Directions
Combine ingredients in small slow cooker (mine is one of those mini cookers with several settings: keep warm, low, high and off) and set to high. Cook for 2-3 hours until most of the liquid is gone. Add maple syrup to taste and cook a bit longer until all liquid is gone.

You can easily change the amount of steel cut oats you make. Just make it 1 part oats, 3 parts liquid.

A small pot of awesome deliciousness!