Steel Cut Oats w/ Caramelized Apples

1 cup milk of choice
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup steel-cut oats
1/4 tsp pure salt
2 TBSPs raisins (optional)
1 apple, peeled and diced
2 TBSPs ghee, butter, or coconut oil
2 TBSPs natural sugar (or lakanto)
1/2 tsp cinnamon

FOR THE OATS:

• Heat the milk and water in a saucepan.
• When hot, stir in oats and salt and let cook over med-low heat for about 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Add the raisins (if using) and continue cooking about 10 – 15 minutes more, stirring regularly until oats are done to your liking.

FOR THE APPLES:

• While the oats are cooking, peel and dice the apple.
• Melt the ghee or butter in a skillet over medium-low heat (set to about 4 on an electric range top).
• When the butter is warmed, add the apple and stir to coat.
• Sprinkle in the sugar and cinnamon and stir until all the apple pieces are coated evenly.
• Cook for about 5-10 minutes – until the apples start to soften but still retain a bit of crunch.
• Divide the oats into two bowls and top with warm apples. Don’t forget to drizzle some of the sweet, golden, cinnamon-y butter over the top as well.

Serves two. Enjoy!

________________________________________________________________________

SIDE NOTES:

~ Steel cut oats are oat groats that have simply been chopped into 2 or 3 pieces (as opposed to “rolled” oats that are steam pressed with a roller to flatten). If you’ve never tried them before, you’re in for a treat, as they are delicious, with a chewy and hearty texture.

~  If it starts to get dry before the oats are done to your liking, add a splash more milk or water.

~ There are many ways you can prepare steel-cut oats including soaking the oats overnight in water at room temp (with or without a little added yogurt) which helps to make the grain more digestible and makes it a shorter cook time in the morning (approx 10 minutes total). Alternately, you can soak the oats overnight in the refrigerator with milk which will also shorten the cook time. Another version is to melt ghee or butter, and saute the dry steel-cut oats for a few minutes in the morning before you stir in the water/milk (in this case, I wouldn’t saute the apple in butter – I’d just cook the apples, cinnamon and sugar right in the pot with the oats and milk, or simply slice the apples up, raw & crisp, over each individual serving after it’s done cooking. And of course, there are so many optional add-ins like pecans, walnuts, almonds, sunflower seeds, flax, bananas, peaches, dates…etc. The point is, you can play with something like this, adapting it to what’s most appealing to you and what works best with your morning schedule.

~  If you would like to do the overnight soak method, simply mix the oats with the water (1/2 cup of each), cover (in pot you’ll be using to cook in the morning), and put in a warm place overnight (I put the pot in my oven with only the oven light on which keeps the oats toasty warm all night).  In the morning, add the milk, salt and raisins, and simmer, uncovered for about 10 minutes.  Saute apples as described above and drizzle over oats.

Tweet