I don’t know how the weather is where you are but in Ohio it is absolutely dreadful. One day it is 40º and the next it is 12º. It  has gone back and forth like that for weeks but this last week in particular has been terrible. It hasn’t gotten above 15º in days. My feet are actually frozen as I write this… not fun at all.

During the week I park between a quarter to a half a mile from my office (though I have not actually tracked the distance so I could be way off). It feels like a mile in the winter with the wind whipping down the streets. Did I mention that it did not get above 15º this week? The point of all of this … when it is that cold outside a hot breakfast is absolutely necessary. Personally, I don’t have time to make myself breakfast every morning, steel cut oats take about 20 minutes to cook on the stove. For Christmas my mom Santa brought me a slow cooker. It has been the greatest piece of kitchen equipment (next to my Ninja of course)! I have had a batch of slow cooked oats ready for me to heat up pretty much every single day since Christmas. There are so many different ways to make these oats but my favorite is apple cinnamon so far. I will tell you though, banana coconut comes in a close second (more on those another day).

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Warning, when you wake up your house will smell amazing!

Slow Cooker Apple Cinnamon Steel Cut Oats

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(Makes 4-5 servings)

Ingredients

• 3 apples, cored, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 3 cups almond milk
• 1 cup uncooked steel-cut oats
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons chia seeds
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• Toppings: chopped nuts, raisins, maple syrup, agave nectar, extra milk, butter

Directions

COAT SLOW COOKER WITH COOKING SPRAY – if you don’t you will be sorry. I have forgotten to do this before – it is a terrible stock on mess and takes forever to clean up! I have also forgotten, added all of my ingredients in, turned it on and remembered like an hour later. Trut me, I was cursing under my breath as I poured the contents in a large bowl, wiped out the interior, sprayed it, then put everything back in. A huge pain but totally necessary.

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Add all ingredients besides toppings, stir. Cook on low for about 7 hours. I started checking on mine at 5 1/2 hours the first time I made these. It took about 7 1/2 hours with my slow cooker. Every cooker is different so be sure to keep an eye on  yours to make sure they do not burn.

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Serve hot with additional toppings of choice or refrigerate and use throughout the week. For someone who gets to work at 7:30am (ugh yes) it really helps having a stockpile of oats in the fridge. To reheat, place single serving in microwave for approximately two minutes. I usually add a little extra almond milk when I do this so they do not dry out. They can also be reheated on the stove – make sure to add a little extra milk if you use this method.

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And yes my kitchen counters look almost identical to my desk at the office… ew.