The combination of pure maple syrup and brown sugar in this Maple Brown Sugar Steel Cut Overnight Oats makes for a delicious and healthy breakfast.
I like to send my kids off to school (keeping their tummies still at home) with a hot and steaming breakfast, but sometimes (always!) mornings are hectic with packed lunches and usually getting out the door.
Imagine my delight when my sister Emily introduced me to the concept of overnight oats. Mmm, right? What? Where was I?
Basically, steel-cut oats are cooked overnight in a slightly sweet bath and the kids and I get up for breakfast right away. I was skeptical that it would actually work and wondered if the oats would break down after cooking for so long.
Using steel-cut oats is key. They hold up beautifully over long cooking times, and the oats are delicious and ready to scoop and pile on top of lots of fresh fruit after a good, thorough stir. The combination of pure maple syrup, brown sugar, and hearty oats creates a wonderful, delicious, and healthy breakfast.
We like our oats with a firmer consistency because we like to pour a little milk into them when we add fresh or dried fruit (I added a note to the recipe below to allow for the perfect oatmeal consistency). I usually pull out countless fruit options, stick them on the counter, chop up what needs chopping, and my kids do it.
I put oatmeal on their plate and they load up on fruit and milk. It’s definitely become a favorite breakfast around here, and our fruit choices include any of the following: raisins, dried cranberries or cherries, dried/fresh/frozen blueberries, sliced bananas, diced apples or pears, diced nectarines or peaches (when in season), fresh pineapple slices, fresh orange slices, fresh or frozen strawberries…and I probably forgot.
We eat breakfast around 7:00, so I set the slow cooker to cook oatmeal around 11:00. And off to bed. It’s perfect for when we all wake up hungry. I’m so glad I was able to add another doable breakfast option to the list below. Enjoy!
Here’s a breakdown of what breakfast looks like on a given week:
2-3 mornings a week = my favorite oatmeal pancake mix
1-2 mornings a week = plain French toast (with homemade whole wheat bread, usually pulled from the freezer)
1 morning a week = scrambled eggs and toast (sometimes we scramble eggs into an omelet with cheese – I know, crazy)
1 morning a week = fresh or frozen fruit smoothies with refrigerated bran muffins or toast
1-2 mornings a week = cold cereal (my kids think I’m so boring because the options usually include shredded wheat, Cheerios, or… Cheerios. I told you we were crazy)
Maple Brown Sugar Overnight Oats
Makes: 6-8 servings
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 8 hours
Total Time: 8 hours 5 minutes
Materials Needed
- 6-8 cups water (see note)
- 2 cups steel cut oats
- ¼ cup pure maple syrup
- ¼ cup packed light brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¾ cup dried cranberries, optional
Instructions
- Lightly coat the inside of a 4- to 5-quart slow cooker with cooking spray.
- Add all ingredients to the slow cooker and stir.
- Cook on low for 7-8 hours. Stir well before serving with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon. Serve immediately.
- Divide leftover oatmeal into Tupperware-type containers and refrigerate, reheat and eat within 3-4 days.
Notes
Oats: Steel-cut oats are essential in this recipe. Quick oats or regular rolled oats don’t cook for very long in the slow cooker.
Liquid: Also, the amount of liquid depends on how you like your oats. My sister, who gave me the recipe, cooks her oats in a slow cooker with 8 cups of water to 2 cups of steel-cut oats, but she doesn’t add milk or liquid in the morning when serving. On the other hand, I like a firmer oatmeal consistency because we tend to pour a little milk over ours when serving, so I use 6 cups of water to 2 cups of steel-cut oats. Determine the ratio of liquid to oats based on how you like to eat your oats.
