Apple Cinnamon Overnight Oats

Apple Cinnamon Overnight Oats are a mix of steel cut oats, apples, cinnamon, almond milk and maple syrup, cooked overnight in your slow cooker! When you wake up in the morning you'll be greeted with breakfast all made and ready-to-eat. This warm and comforting breakfast is delicious anytime of the year.

This delicious and healthy breakfast recipe gets prepared in your slow cooker before you go to bed at night. Simply add all of the ingredients to the crock pot, set it to low and go to bed.

You'll wake up in the morning and briefly think someone snuck into your kitchen in the middle of the night and baked apple cinnamon muffins. That is how good your house will smell!

My recipe for Apple Cinnamon Overnight Oats only calls for 7 ingredients, preps in 5 minutes and is packed with flavor.

I've been making this recipe for years. It's perfect for mornings that you know will be hectic. Making your breakfast the night before takes one thing off of your to-do list in the morning.

Serve Apple Cinnamon Overnight Oats with my yummy dairy free Matcha Chai Latte made with oat milk.

Jump to:

• Ingredients
• Equipment needed
• Why use a slow cooker?
• What are steel cut oats?
• Step-by-step instructions
• Variations
• Substitutions
• FAQ
• Breakfast recipes you might also like
• 📖 Recipe
• 💬 Comments

Ingredients

• Steel cut oats - I prefer to use Bob's Red Mill steel cut oats but you can use any brand that you prefer.
• Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk - I strongly suggest using unsweetened vanilla milk. You will be adding maple syrup and you can top your oatmeal with brown sugar after it has finished cooking.
• Maple syrup - I hope I don't have to tell you to only use pure maple syrup... Pure maple syrup contains absolutely no artificial ingredients. It does cost quite a bit of money, but it's one of those ingredients that are worth splurging on.
• Vanilla extract - Vanilla extract is another baking ingredient that is worth paying extra for. Avoid imitation vanilla extract and opt for the real thing.
• Apples - Any kind of apple will work for this recipe. My preference is gala or Cortland apples.
• Ground cinnamon
• Water
• Optional toppings: walnuts & brown sugar

Equipment needed

• Slow cooker - I recently purchased this slow cooker. It doesn't have any extra fancy functions, but it does the trick!
• Measuring cups & spoons
• Cutting board & chopping knife

Why use a slow cooker?

I cook steel cut oats in the slow cooker because steel cut oats take much longer to cook than regular rolled oats, old fashioned oats or quick-cooking oats. Even when they are cooked on the stovetop, they can take up to 45 minutes to prepare.

What are steel cut oats?

Steel cut oats are oat groats that have been cut into 2-3 smaller pieces. Steel cut oats, sometimes referred to as Irish oats, have a chewy, dense texture. Thanks to their high fiber content, they are very filling and satisfying. The main difference between steel cut oats and rolled oats, is that rolled oats are oat groats that have been steamed and flattened. As a result, rolled oats require less cooking time.

Step-by-step instructions

Step 1: The first thing you need to do is spray the inside of the slow cooker with non-stick cooking spray! This is a must! If you skip this step, prepare to have a half inch of oatmeal stuck to the sides of your slow cooker in the morning.

Step 2: Add all of your liquid ingredients to the slow cooker first - the water, unsweetened vanilla almond milk, maple syrup and vanilla extract. Next add your dry ingredients - the steel cut oats, ground cinnamon and apples.

Step 3: Cover your slow cooker and cook on low for 7.5 hours. If your slow cooker does not have an automatic timer, then you will have to make sure you start your slow cooker 7.5 hours before your will be waking up the next morning.

Step 4: After your cinnamon overnight oats have finished cooking, give the oats a good stir to combine the mixture. Serve topped with brown sugar and walnuts.

Variations

You could eliminate the apples from this recipe and slightly increase the cinnamon. This would give the oatmeal more of a cinnamon role overnight oats flavor. You could also make your own icing to drizzle over the oatmeal when you're ready to eat it!

Another way to add variety to this recipe is to add different toppings. I really like adding walnuts and brown sugar. You could also add sliced bananas, slivered almonds, chia seeds, apple sauce, apple butter or a dollop of Greek yogurt.

Substitutions

• Almond milk - Swap out the almond milk for any other unsweetened vanilla dairy free milk. I love coconut milk and oat milk!
• Maple Syrup - Instead of maple syrup you could try honey or agave nectar. Both are regularly used as substitutions for maple syrup.
• Toppings - I listed a variety of different topping options under the Variations section!

FAQ

Breakfast recipes you might also like

• Sausage Spinach Quiche
• Air Fryer Breakfast Potatoes
• BLT Bagel Sandwich
• Matcha Chai Latte

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📖 Recipe