This Slow Cooker Oatmeal Tastes Like Apple Pie Without Added Sugar

Apple pie flavors don't have to wait for dessert. Apples, cinnamon, apple juice, and steel-cut oats can spend a few hours in the slow cooker, turning into a thick breakfast with the fruit and spice found in the fall favorite.

Added sugar isn't needed here. Apple juice and diced apples provide the sweetness, while steel-cut oats give each bowl more bite than instant or rolled oats. Make a batch during the evening, divide it into portions, and breakfast can be reheated the next morning.

Steel-Cut Oats Give the Oatmeal More Bite

Steel-cut oats hold their shape through the long cooking time, making them a good match for the slow cooker. Instead of becoming a smooth bowl of porridge, the oats retain some texture as they absorb the cooking liquid.

Their hearty texture also works with diced apple. Each spoonful gets soft oats and pieces of fruit rather than relying on apple flavor alone.

Apple Juice Takes the Place of Added Sugar

Apple juice brings sweetness to the oatmeal without spoonfuls of brown or white sugar. Fresh apple adds more natural sweetness as it cooks and softens among the oats.

Using both also pushes the oatmeal closer to apple pie territory. The juice spreads apple flavor throughout the pot, while diced fruit keeps pieces of apple in each serving.

Cinnamon Brings in the Apple Pie Flavor

Cinnamon provides the spice that connects the apples and oats to the flavor of apple pie. As the oatmeal cooks, the spice spreads through the liquid and coats the steel-cut oats.

No pie crust or dessert filling is involved, but the combination of cooked apple and cinnamon gives the breakfast its pie-inspired flavor without turning it into a bowl loaded with added sugar.

Make a Batch at Night for the Next Morning

Slow cooker oatmeal doesn't have to be made right before breakfast. Prepare a batch during the evening, then portion the cooked oatmeal into containers once it has cooled enough to store.

Keep the portions in the refrigerator and reheat one when breakfast comes around. Making several servings at once also avoids waiting for steel-cut oats to cook on a busy morning.

Cold weather may make a bowl of apple-and-cinnamon oatmeal more tempting, but the make-ahead method is just as useful as the fall flavor. Cook one batch, portion it for the refrigerator, and the next bowl only needs reheating.