Last week I was on twitter and saw someone raving about steel cut oats from Simple Bites.  To be honest with you, steel cut oats have always scared me a little.  I have a hard time selling oatmeal in my house…but STEEL CUT oatmeal?!  I didn’t know how this is going to go down, but I had a feeling, I’d be eating all the steel cut oats in a corner by myself.  Sooo, when the tweet about these tasting like apple pie came across my screen, I was in.  Oh and waking up to apple pie smell…BONUS.

Here’s how it goes.  Head over to Trader Joes and buy the can that looks like it was made a hundred years ago.  Then haul that dusty crock pot out.

Dump these ingredients into a glass bowl…3/4 cup oats, 1/2 cup half-and-half, 2 T brown sugar, 1 t cinnamon, 1/4 t nutmeg, 1/4 t salt, 1/2 cup applesauce, 1 grated apple and 2 cups water.  Stir it well and place it in a crock pot filled with water.  Turn it to low and wake  up to the most delicious oatmeal you’ve ever had.  It’s not super sweet, so after adding a little more milk, I sprinkled with brown sugar and added some toasted pecans for crunch.  It has a custard-y taste and the first time I made it Brent and I both said we skipped lunch because we were still full.

I do want to add that I’ve made it a few times and tried omitting the grated apple because that’s the most time consuming part of the process.  It still tasted delicious without, so if you’re feeling lazy…go for it with just the applesauce.  Lastly, I typically don’t stay up until midnight and wake at 6am to allow for the 6 hour cooking time, so I made mine at 10pm and we at at 7am.  Guess what?  Still amazing.

Oh one more thing…I want to make this with strawberries or peaches when they come into season…I’m telling you.  Best breakfast evah!

These are all iphone photos by the way.  It’s just to early to drag out the big camera at breakfast!!