I love hot cereals. I love oatmeal. I love steel-cut oats with all my heart. But they take soooo long to cook. When I’m hungry (which is most of the time) I want to eat now, not 45 minutes from now, especially when we’re talking breakfast. I can’t be the only one who wakes up in the morning feeling like my stomach is clawing its way out through my belly button in an effort to feed itself because I’ve been neglecting it all those hours I was asleep. And until I can fulfill my dream of having my very own house elf (it would be a paid position with holidays), I’m just going to have to keep doing everything myself.
Back to breakfast. Angela from Oh She Glows came to my rescue with her version of Instant Steel Cut Oats! What?! Instant? How is that even possible? I had to test it, to see if it was really true. And, well, it’s all true. This method is so clever and fast and I’ll be happily eating steel-cut oats on mornings long into my future. I can see it now: house elf or no, I step out of bed, walk downstairs to the kitchen, and have a bowl of hot steel cut oats in minutes. [cue the choir]
You will need the aid of either a food processor, a blender, or a small nut grinder (what I used), because the trick is to pulverize your oats into a flour before cooking them! Brilliant. The end result is akin to cream of wheat or grits, only when it comes to a comparable texture. I was so impressed with the taste of this particular recipe, that it reminded me of a delicious hot cereal we were fed most mornings during our trip to the orphanage in the Dominican Republic. Sooo tasty and flavorful. The toppings – if you use any at all – are entirely up to you. I happily dumped toasted walnuts, raisins, maple syrup and shaved chocolate on top of mine.
Oh, and did I mention the banana flavor is a wonderful and subtle undertone to the entire bowl of goodness? I know Angela calls it banana bread batter, and I’m okay with that, but want to be sure you know the banana doesn’t overpower the oats. The maple syrup helps to balance and distribute the sweet flavors across your palate, so you’re not left with an overwhelming sense of too much banana that’s all up in your face.
What is your favorite way to eat hot cereals?
