Ingredients
- 2 c. steel cut oats
- 2 c. milk
- 1 c. yogurt (or another cup milk or part whey)
- 3 c. water
- 4 apples, diced
- 1 1/2 c. fresh cranberries
- 2–4 Tbs. butter and/or virgin coconut oil (use the code STEWARDSHIP for 10% off at that site!)
- 1 tsp. fresh lemon juice
- 1–2 tsp. cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp. nutmeg
- 1/4 c. maple syrup
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 2 tsp. vanilla (optional)
Instructions
- Grease the bottom of the Instant Pot container with butter or coconut oil.
- Soak all but the maple syrup, salt (Use the code kitchenstewardship for 15% off of your first purchase) and vanilla overnight in the Instant Pot.
- In the morning just give it a quick stir and set the Instant Pot to 7 minutes on Manual, high pressure.
- Don’t forget to close the valve!
- It will take about 15-20 minutes to get up to pressure.
- When the timer is done, allow for a natural pressure release of 10 minutes. (Tip: set a timer for 35 minutes when you turn the IP on and that’s about when it should be done.) The oats won’t look done at first, too liquidy, but as you stir it all sort of absorbs the liquid and it’s perfect.
- Stir in the salt, maple syrup, and vanilla and serve with milk. (Tip: Put these ingredients next to the IP the night before so you remember!)
Notes
The Instant Pot will automatically switch to “warm” and cause the pressure to release slowly when the cook time is over. The oatmeal will hold nicely for you whenever you’re ready to eat – which is great in our home as kids leave for school at two different times and our 4-year-old often sleeps in, so we might have four different times that people are ready to eat!
If you want to do even less in the morning, feel free to include the syrup and salt in the overnight soak and skip the vanilla. It’s a pretty flexible recipe!!
Leaving out the salt, by the way, is just an old-fashioned way to soak that some say can make whole grains more digestible. More on soaking grains here.
I bet you could save on prep time and use a cup or two of applesauce instead of the apples, or just have your kids cut them up like we do since our kids learned how to cook.
Dairy-free with coconut milk should work fine too – just use 3 cups coconut milk and 3 cups water, or one can full-fat coconut milk and 4 cups water. You don’t need the yogurt.
No fresh cranberries? I buy them at the holiday season and freeze right in the bag for later, but you could certainly use dried cranberries or cherries. Yum!