My slow cooker gets a lot of use at my house. Canned beans or beans cooked on the stove top are no comparison to a crockpot of tender, slow-cooked beans. And a healthy breakfast can’t get much easier! I just put ingredients like whole grains and dried fruit, in the crockpot, turn it on, and in the morning we have a delicious, filling, hot breakfast waiting for us.
The slow cooker is your secret weapon in the kitchen. It’s one of the best – and least expensive – time-saving tools you can own.
Steel-Cut Oats
If you’ve never tried steel cut oats before, you’re in for a treat!
Steel cut oats also have a richer flavor than do regular rolled oats. In fact, most people, once they’ve tried steel-cut oats, say they’ll never go back to regular rolled oats again.
What Are Steel-Cut Oats?
Steel cut oats are oat grains that have been cut into pieces rather than rolled like old-fashioned oats or quick oats. This method leaves steel-cut oats with a texture that’s chewier and heartier than rolled oats.
Because they are cut pieces rather than rolled, they hold up better in a crockpot than do rolled oats.
Where to Buy Steel-Cut Oats?
I’ve occasionally seen steel-cut oats at some major grocery stores, but I find it most convenient to buy them from Amazon or from Thrive.
Overnight Oats Deluxe
I cook this Overnight Oats Deluxe recipe in my little 2-quart slow cooker and it makes enough to serve 3 or 4. But no worries if you’re cooking for only one or two. Leftovers go in the frig, reheat in a pan the next morning, and you have instant breakfast!
More Overnight Cereal Recipes – Healthy Breakfast Ideas!
Here’s how to make lots of different kinds of cereal in a crock pot overnight.
More Crock Pot Cooking
Here’s a super helpful tutorial for cooking beans in a crock pot.
Overnight Oats Deluxe (Sugar-Free)
Prep
Cook
Total
Yield 3 to 4 servings
Make this delicious, hearty, sugar-free breakfast in your sleep.
Ingredients
- 3 cups non-dairy milk
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/4 cup shredded coconut
- 1 tablespoon flax seed
- 1 tablespoon raw, hulled sunflower seeds – optional
- 1 cup steel-cut oats (use gluten-free steel-cut oats if desired)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt, scant
- 2 apples, peeled and diced
- 1/3 cup raisins
- 1/2 cup raw walnuts
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/4 cup pure maple syrup – optional
Instructions
- Place all ingredients, except raisins, walnuts, maple syrup, and vanilla in slow cooker in order listed. Gently stir.
- Cook on low for 5 to 7 hours. (An appliance timer is useful for limiting length of cooking time. See note #3.)
- When cereal is done, remove lid and stir in remaining ingredients. Cereal will be thin, but will thicken when stirred.
Notes
1. This recipe is for a small (2-quart) slow cooker. Recipe may be adjusted for different size slow cookers.
2. All slow cookers cook differently. The amount of liquid given works well for most slow cookers. If your cooker tends to lose more or less liquid than most, you may need to adjust the liquid amount in the recipe.
3. If you would like your slow cooker to turn on and off automatically, you can plug it into an appliance timer. Click here for more information about successfully cooking cereal in a slow cooker.
4. For best results, do not remove lid during cooking process.
Faith
December 28, 2015 at 12:53 pmIt would be nice if your recipes were on a separate page apart from comments etc. so we do not have to print out material that we do not want printed and are wasted pages.
Jennifer's Kitchen
January 1, 2016 at 2:33 pmThank you for your suggestion, Faith. Unfortunately, I’m a better cook than I am a website designer and I don’t really know how to do that. I hope you enjoy the recipes 🙂
KimS
December 31, 2015 at 8:15 amI made this last night. I’ve been wanting to try steel cut oats for a while now. It was a less than perfect apple that pushed me into action. They were great! Thank you for this recipe. I read a tip on another blog to freeze the extras in cupcake liners, heating up in the microwave for 30 secs or so, when you’re ready to use. I’m going to try it.
Jennifer's Kitchen
January 1, 2016 at 2:13 pmYou’re very welcome, Kim. Thanks for your comment. Glad you liked it.
And thank you for the great tip on freezing the extras. If we can ever manage to have any leftovers, I’ll have to try that!
Nancy
January 5, 2016 at 8:42 amWhat is non dairy milk. Do you mean powdered?
Jennifer's Kitchen
January 5, 2016 at 11:10 amHi Nancy,
Almond milk, soy milk, coconut milk, rice milk, cashew milk, and hazelnut milk are the most common varieties of non-dairy milk. (You can click on the links to see examples and purchase some if you’d like.)
I tested this recipe with almond milk and with soy milk and it turned out great. I think it would also taste good with hazelnut milk and cashew milk.
Hope this helps.
Jennifer
Mikkel Magnuson
January 5, 2016 at 9:18 amHello Jennifer! This is new for me but it prefer to go for it first then say something regarding this recipe. But with your description it appears yummy, delicious one.I want to know one thing Can I use some other fruit other than apple in this recipe?
Jennifer's Kitchen
January 5, 2016 at 11:17 amHi Mikkel,
I haven’t tried any other kind of fruit in this recipe. I’m thinking that I would stick with the apple since its flavor holds up well in the crock pot. You may be able to use pears, but I don’t think the end result would be as sweet and flavorful.
Jennifer
Dorian
January 19, 2016 at 8:24 pmShould I blend (ground) the flaxseeds if they are whole? Thanks for the yummy, easy, healthy recipes–exactly what I have been looking for– answer to my prayers!
Jennifer's Kitchen
January 19, 2016 at 8:49 pmHi Dorian,
I use whole flaxseeds. After they’ve cooked several hours in the crock pot, they are somewhat soft and easy to chew.
So glad you like the recipes! Thank you for your comment.
Jennifer
Malin Andersson
March 21, 2016 at 7:41 amHey Jennifers. Can we use chocolate in place of vanilla? Because, I do not like the vanilla flavor.
Jennifer's Kitchen
March 21, 2016 at 11:42 amHi Malin,
I personally would just leave the vanilla out and not replace it with chocolate. (Here’s why.) But of course, you can feel free to experiment with the recipe as you would like.
Enjoy 🙂