We woke up to snow last Monday and it was scheduled to fall all day! While I don’t always take the time to make steel cut oats for breakfast, it’s one of my winter favorites. I got up early and put a pot on the stove before everyone else woke up. I added a little vanilla and cinnamon to the oats as they cooked and I chopped up some roasted almonds and got out pumpkin seeds, raisins, dried cherries, fresh blueberries and fresh strawberries for toppings. In 25 minutes, we had a pot of winter warmth ready for us. This is every bit as easy to make as regular oatmeal…it just takes a little longer to cook.

What I should do more often is to make this the night before in our crockpot so it is ready for us in the morning! I found this recipe on recipezaar.

If you’ve never had steel cut oats, they are simply oats left pretty close to their natural form. The whole oat kernel is cut into two or three pieces using steel discs. They are a better source of fiber than rolled oats, but take longer to cook. They taste a little chewier and nuttier than rolled oats.

By contrast, rolled oats have the bran mostly removed and are rolled flat to make them easier to cook. With the bran removed, they have less fiber than steel-cut oats.

Quick-cooking and instant oats are rolled oats that have been cut into smaller pieces and rolled thinner to cook even more quickly. They are an easy source for preparing many oatmeal dishes. But the kind found in packets often has a lot of added sugar! I’d rather get my sugar from my dessert than my breakfast.

So…if you’re waking up to snow and cold today or have a little extra time one weekend, try steel cut oats for breakfast and let me know what you think!