Slow Cooker Appie Pie Steel Cut Oats

Apple Pie Steel Cut Oatmeal is easy to throw in the slow cooker before bed for an effortless breakfast the next day…and with a special, no-stirring-required trick, you won’t have to worry about burnt edges in the morning!

Ingredients:

• cup steel cut oats (no substitutes!)
• 2 medium apples, peeled & diced (about 2 1/2 cups)
• 2 cups apple juice
• 2 cups milk
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• Optional garnishes: cinnamon, chopped nuts

Instructions:

1. Locate an oven-safe, not-too-shallow baking dish (such as Corningware or Pyrex) that will fit in your slow cooker. In the baking dish, place oats, diced apples, apple juice, milk, maple syrup, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt; stir to combine. Carefully place baking dish down in slow cooker and slowly pour water into the bottom of the slow cooker until its level is about 1 inch below the top of the baking dish. Cover and cook on LOW for 8 hours. Stir before serving.

Notes:

You may leave the skin on the apples, if you wish.

I use a 2.5-liter round Corningware baking dish in a 6.5-quart slow cooker. It's okay if your baking dish is suspended by its sides on the edges of the slow cooker and doesn't touch the bottom...the lid of the slow cooker just needs to be able to close securely.

Once the oatmeal is cooked, be careful stirring it or removing the baking dish from the slow cooker as the water in the slow cooker will be extremely hot.

rs.