Throw the ingredients in your slow cooker before bed and you’ll have warm overnight apple cinnamon oats ready when you wake up.
It seems as if I have “themes” every week, but I swear I don’t plan them out on purpose. I literally have an editorial calendar and as dishes I make are photographed, I plop them in the calendar with no rhyme or reason.
Last week was pizza week and this week is apparently crockpot week. But since it’s pretty much fall and we’ve already whipped out our crockpots, I have for you an amazing breakfast that cooks while you sleep so you get to wake up to a stick-to-your-bones breakfast! Not to mention, this will make your entire house smell like fall.
I kept waking up in the middle of the night from the apple cinnamon smell but it didn’t bother me – my stomach was what was bothering me! It was wanting some of that oatmeal!
I’m going to be making more varieties of this in my crockpot because of all the leftovers I get with it. I love scooping a hefty amount in Tupperware and bringing it into work for a warm breakfast. It’s filling too so I’m not starving by 11am.
Throw the ingredients in your slow cooker before bed and you'll have warm overnight apple cinnamon oats ready when you wake up!
- 3 apples, cored and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
- 1 1/2 cup 2% milk
- 1 cup apple cider
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 cup steel-cut oats, heaping
- 2 tbsp dark brown sugar
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tbsp ground flax seed
- 1/4 tsp salt
- Optional garnishes: nuts,dried fruit, bananas
- Coat the inside of your crockpot generously with cooking spray. You will NOT want to miss this step cause otherwise you will be standing over the sink scraping the little sucker.
- Add all the ingredients to the crockpot (minus the garnishes), stir, cover, and cook on low for 7 hours.
- Serve hot and with garnishes, if desired.
- To reheat: put oatmeal in microwave-safe bowl and add a splash or two of milk to re-moisten it up. Zap it for 30 seconds, take it out, stir it around, then zap for another 10-20 seconds.
I love how you do with the crockpot!
Have you ever made beans from scratch in a crock pot? I’m thinking about putting some chickpeas in there this morning and hope that when I come home, I can make hummus!
The one time I made overnight oats in the crockpot they came out terrible (burned on the sides) and I never tried again. But I think it’s because my old crock was cheap and lacking in settings. I upgraded recently and I think I may have to give this a try!
Mine were slightly burned on the sides but I like them like that cause I like crusty stuff (haha that sounded gross), so maybe try it for 6 hours instead of 7? or do it during the day so you can watch it the first time and then you can determine how many hours it will take you so then you can leave it overnight and not fear burnage :)
If your having a problem with burning just cook on low for 1 or 2 hours before bed then switch to warm setting for the rest of the night. Oats are perfectly cooked with no burning on the sides. Hope this helps!
To prevent crusty/ burned sides when cooking oats in the crock, to put the oatmeal ingredients in a separate glass or ceramic bowl that will fit into the crock and fill the crock with water up to the top edge of the bowl. They will cook overnight beautifully without the sticky burnt mess. Good luck!
The perfect solution to our fear of leaving the crockpot on while we’re at work! Overnight crockpotting!
I seriously love that you made an apple slow cooker dish! This is insanely perfect. Thanks so much for making this for the party!! :)
Where and how much do you use of all the ingredients for the overnight apple cinnamon oats recipe? Can’t make this without it Rachel?
Hi Beverly, as stated in the post, you click the photo of the apple or click the highlighted text that links to the recipe on Rachel’s blog. Enjoy!
Love doing oatmeal in the crockpot! Mine always get kinda brown around the edges too, but I don’t care–I just stir it in and mix it all together. I have read if you put it in a smaller dish inside of the crockpot, that doesn’t happen. Too much work for me. ;)
I love oatmeal and this sounds amazing. My crockpot often wakes me up in the middle of the night too with smells of goodness!!
I want to be all up in that like white on rice. BADABING! (I’VE LOST IT)
That’s how I organize posts too!
I know I’m having oatmeal for breakfast this morning. =P
These sound great! Off to check out the recipe. =)
We’re totes on the same wavelength today!
and this pretty much killeth me.
Wow, this sounds amazing and I can never get enough of that apple cinnamon smell! I’d probably sleep by the crockpot all night ;)
I think this would be a GREAT dish for when guests are visiting, that way I wouldn’t have to spend so much time in the kitchen. Pinned!
I’ve never made oats in a crockpot before! Julie, I love that idea. warm oatmeal on a chilly fall morning.. there is certainly NOTHING like it. I love you photos, too :)
I have never made anything sweet in the crockpot and I don’t know why! This looks amazing!
Oatmeal is our breakfast staple…excited to try a new version.
I saw your comment above, and I totlaly like the crusty edges as well. YUMMMM!
Yes, bring on the crock pot recipes!! These flavors are outstanding!
I’m definitely loving crockpot week! And I would LOVE to wake up to the smell of apple cinnamon and then dig into this in the morning before work! :)
Looks delicious!!! When I tried slowcooker oats before they ended up too burned so it’s now 3 in the afternoon and I just started cooking this to see how long I need to cook it. Can’t wait for the fall smells!
Umm this sounds incredible! Apple cinnamon is one of my favorite flavors of packaged oatmeal. When I am running late in the morning and don’t have time to prep breakfast, it’s usually what I eat because we have a Costco-sized box in our break room. This sounds like a much better alternative! Minimal prep!
Oh my…this sounds soo yummy. I can literally smell it.
I think this would be one thing to get be out of bed early :)
This. Looks. Incredible. I’ve actually never slow-cooked something overnight, but I can imagine as all this apple cinnamon goodness wafts through the house, I’d probably be up at four am with a spoon, digging desperately into this.
I can’t think of anything better than the idea of waking up to my apartment smelling like apples and cinnamon and my breakfast waiting for me!
How nice would it be to wake up to a big bowl of this oatmeal in the morning. It looks super comforting!
I love the idea of waking up to the smell of apples and cinnamon baking. Is it weird to want to set the crockpot in my room while this bakes just for extra smells? :)
There isnt any instructions, can someone tell me please.
There is a link to the recipe within the post.
How many does this serve..ok to double the receipe? How much longer do you think it will take to cook?
Planning a girls weekend..this will be perfect..
This serves 6-8, depending on your portion size. You would just double the cooking time if you doubled the recipe.
How would you slow cook this in the oven??
This recipe wasn’t made for the oven, but I imagine if you really wanted to, bake it at 225 degrees for several hours? Honestly, I can’t tell you how to do this because I’ve never done it before but if you’re willing to experiment then I think that temperature would be a good place to start!
hi, i can’t seem to find the actual recipe for the overnight apple cinnamon oats
Hi, in the text above, it says “please click here or the image to get the recipe” :) hope that helps!
I made this recipe this morning. When I was putting all the ingredients in the crockpot, I questioned the amount of cider vinegar (1 cup) because it seemed like a lot., but since it was a first time effort, I did exactly as the recipe dictated. Unfortunately, I should have listened to my instinct. The oatmeal was inedible. We tried everything to mitigate the vinegar taste, but nothing worked. I can only ask, was there a mistake in the amount, and, if so, what would the correct amount be? Also, is cider vinegar really necessary at all?
Hi Sam, I’m sorry about your oatmeal! However, if you take a look at the recipe again, it is not apple cider vinegar. It’s apple cider. Which is like apple juice but it’s an unfiltered version. If you aren’t familiar with apple cider, here is a good explanation: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_cider
Boy, how dumb do I feel!!! Upon re-reading I see that I misread. That would, of course make a big difference in taste. All I can do now is laugh and try again! Thank you so much for answering so quickly.
Would all these ingredients fit into a casserole crockpot?
I’m not sure what a casserole crockpot looks like? How big is it?
I’ve never left a comment about any recipe ever, until now, but I wanted to thank you. Our family LOVES this oatmeal. I’ve been making it at least once a week for the past 2 months, and each time my kids act excited and surprised in the morning (about oatmeal!!!) . We like it topped with a little butter. Yum! Thank you!
Can you use apple juice instead of apple cider and perhaps leave out the sugar ?
Oh, that is a good thought! Definitely could. If you leave out the sugar entirely, make sure to add some when you eat it (if it doesn’t taste right).
What is the Flax seed supposed to do, other than completely ruin everything?
What was the purpose of this comment, other than to be a troll? If you don’t like flaxseed or care for it…then don’t use it! Or, if you really want to know its benefits, you could Google it.
The steel cut oats… are they the regular ones or the quick cooking?
Regular! :)
Can you make this recipe without the milk?
You can, but I would advise adding more water and apple cider since steel cut oats need a lot of liquid to cook.
I made this tonight and it was delicious! My 5 year old son loved it too. I think it will now be a regular, but I will double it for sure. I peeled the apples first, and added some white sugar to taste before eating. We actually made for dessert/ late-night snack tonight, so I cooked it at warmer setting for 3 hours instead.
Well I didn’t cost my pot with anything 1st, hopefully it won’t be too much of a bear to scrub out! Can hardly wait to taste it now though:)
Made this! Turned out exactly how I think it was expected to be. I have a small crock pot but it didn’t change anything. I wish I had added lessnof the cider, made it too sweet for me (I usually eat my oatmeal with No sugar). I used a liner and nothing burned or stuck.