This creamy apple cinnamon steel-cut oats recipe makes a healthy yet delicious breakfast - with a clever shortcut!
Cook your oats on the stove and apples in the microwave, and you'll enjoy a satisfying bowl of oatmeal in no time!
I'm a big fan of having oats for breakfast. Sometimes, I'll have a smoothie with oats; sometimes, it's an oat-based muffin, but most of the time, I'll have oatmeal.
Apple cinnamon is a classic oatmeal flavour, and I'm sure many of you are familiar with the instant apple cinnamon oatmeal packets at the grocery.
While those have a certain nostalgic appeal, I find them far too sweet for breakfast.
This homemade steel-cut oatmeal has a cozy fall flavour without being so sugary. I like the chewiness that steel-cut oats provide, and the fresh apple really makes it pop!
🍎 Ingredients & Substitutions
- Quick Cooking Steel Cut Oats: these are much more substantial than regular quick oats. Substitute with traditional steel-cut oats or rolled oats.*
- Water: for cooking the oats.
- Salt: adds flavour to the oatmeal.
- Apple: try Honeycrisp or SweeTango apples, or your favourite cooking apple.
- Ground Cinnamon: for warm fall flavour.
- 1% Milk: feel free to use any milk or milk alternative.
- Brown Sugar: for sweetness. Substitute with honey, maple syrup or your favourite alternative sugar. (Optional)
*I used Bob's Red Mill Quick Cooking Steel Cut Oats (not sponsored!) for this recipe. These oats are cut smaller than traditional steel-cut oats, so they cook more quickly.
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If you want to use traditional steel-cut oats or rolled oats, be sure to follow the recommended cooking time on the package.
See the recipe card for the complete ingredient list and recipe instructions.
🥣 How to Make the Oatmeal
This recipe comes together very quickly!
Using quick-cooking steel cut oats reduces the time it take to make this recipe from start to finish. You'll also be able to cook your cinnamon-flavoured apples in the microwave in about a minute!
Step 1: Toast the oats in a dry pan over medium heat until they smell nutty.
Step 2: Add water, stir, and cook for 8-10 minutes.
Step 3: Microwave the chopped apples and cinnamon in a bowl for 1 minute.
Step 4: Spoon oatmeal into two bowls and top with the apple cinnamon mixture, plus more milk and sugar (if desired).
I hope this recipe helps you enjoy a comforting bowl of creamy apple cinnamon oatmeal for breakfast - even on busy weekdays!
Looking for more apple recipes? Try my spiced apple cider or apple pecan crisp recipes!
Recipe Card
Apple Cinnamon Steel Cut Oats
Video
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Ingredients
- ½ cup quick-cooking steel cut oats, substitute with regular steel cut oats or rolled oats (see note)
- 1 ½ cups water
- salt, pinch
- 1 medium apple, chopped (try Honeycrisp or SweeTango apples)
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ cup 1% milk, or milk alternative (oat milk, etc.)
- ¼ teaspoon brown sugar, Substitute with honey, maple syrup or your favourite alternative sugar. (Optional)
Instructions
- Add quick-cooking steel cut oats to a dry pan over medium heat. Toast for 2-3 minutes, or until it smells a nutty.
- Add water and stir. Cook for 8-10 minutes, or until the oats are creamy.
- Meanwhile, in a bowl combine the apples and cinnamon. Microwave for 1 minute, stirring halfway through cooking time.
- Remove cooked oats from heat. Divide oatmeal into 2 serving bowls.
- Top each bowl with the cooked apples with cinnamon. Add milk (and sugar, if using) and serve immediately.
Notes
Please read the full blog post for all of my tips, variations, and recommendations for this recipe.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is an estimate and will vary depending on specific ingredients and brands used. Accuracy cannot be guaranteed.
Shareba says
I'm working on more oatmeal recipes to share on the blog soon! I hope you like the apple cinnamon oatmeal 🙂
Maria Zermeno says
Hi Sara hope your day is going well. Would it be alright if I use Old fashion Oats for this recipe that is all I have today.Hope to hear from you soon. Take Care.🙏💯💓
Shareba says
Yes, that should be fine, you may need to adjust the cooking time though. Let me know how it turns out!
Valerie Gillman says
This looks delicious and I'm glad to find quick steel cut oats. I cook them the night before but they're not as good as fresh, to me. I want to know how the heck do you measure .5 cup of anything? Or 1.5 cups water?
Thank you, Valerie G.
Shareba says
Hey Valerie, so .5 of a cup is just 1/2 cup written as a decimal. Not sure why my recipe plugin is showing the number that way, but I'll see if I can fix it. 1.5 is 1 1/2 cups. I hope this helps!
Tanya Ann Wilson says
Toasting the oats before cooking really did deepen the flavor, and I used a Pink Lady apple - it turned out delicious! Thank you again!
Tanya
Shareba says
Hi Tanya, I'm glad you found the information useful and that the recipe turned out well! Are there any recipes that you are looking for in particular? Let me know and I'll try to help!