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Throw the ingredients in your slow cooker before bed and you’ll have warm overnight apple cinnamon oats ready when you wake up!
These slow cooker overnight apple cinnamon oats pack all the flavors of Fall into a warm, cozy bowl. They’re loaded with all the Fall flavors that you’re accustomed to such as cinnamon, apples, and pecans. I love how easy this comes together as well. It’s nearly hands-off and you wake up in the morning to the most amazing smell in your house. It’s like having a house full of Bath and Body Works candles.
I remember when I first wrote this recipe, overnight oats were just becoming a thing and it’s interesting years later, they are still ever-so popular.
There are so many unique “flavors” out there now and even I’ve got some:
Why slow cooker overnight apple cinnamon oats?
Well, in general, overnight oats are one of my favorite things to make because it’s so hands off.
The best way to utilize this is when you’re having overnight guests.
Everyone wakes up at different times and instead of being concerned about, “what’s for breakfast?” if you have a batch of slow cooker overnight apple cinnamon oats ready when everyone wakes up, they can serve themselves a bowl with their coffee.
It helps the entire household out and you won’t have any hangry guests or anyone rummaging through your pantry for something to tame that hunger!
What You’ll Need:
- Apple – fresh apples! I would go for Fuji, Gala, Honeycrisp, or whatever variety you like. I would stay away from Red Delicious (I think the exterior is too waxy) and Granny Smiths.
- Milk – cow’s milk or dairy-free works!
- Apple Cider – please, NOT apple cider vinegar. Apple cider!! If you can’t find apple cider, you can substitute for apple juice.
- Steel cut oats – I love the texture of steel cut oats and it’s the perfect candidate for an overnight slow cooker oats recipe such as this because it doesn’t get super mushy and steel cut oats typically take longer to cook anyway.
- Brown sugar – dark brown sugar to be exact. I love the depth of flavor the dark brown sugar gives.
- Ground cinnamon
- Ground flaxseed – for that extra fiber, ya know?
- All the toppings – nuts, maple syrup, more apples, and do you dare add some whipped cream?!
Can I use another fruit?
You could but this is for apple cinnamon oats so maybe another hard fruit that compliments apples well?
How to make overnight apple cinnamon oats:
Spray the insert of your slow cooker. You definitely don’t want to miss this step otherwise you’ll be scrubbing the insert for a bit! You can also use a slow cooker liner if you prefer.
Add the ingredients. Add all the ingredients (apples, milk, apple cider, water, oats, brown sugar, ground cinnamon, ground flaxseed) to the insert of the slow cooker.
Stir, cover, and cook on low for 3-4 hours. You can cook this on high for half the amount of time too. It’s okay if this cooks for a bit longer (hence overnight). Just add some liquid in and stir and it’ll be all good!
What’s the difference between steel cut oats and old fashioned oats/rolled oats or quick cook oats?
It comes down to texture, processing, and cooking time.
Steel cut oats are oat groats that have been cut into two or three pieces and they’re relatively unprocessed while old fashioned/rolled oats are made by steaming and rolling the oat groats for faster cooking. Quick cook oats are the same but cut into smaller pieces for even faster cooking.
Can I make this in the Instant Pot?
I haven’t tried this with the pressure cooking function but the slow cooker function on the Instant Pot would work.
Is it safe to have a slow cooker run overnight?
Absolutely. People leave their slow cookers on during the day to cook their meals.
Again, freakier things have happened so I’m not liable for anything.
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.
Slow Cooker Overnight Apple Cinnamon Oats
Equipment
Ingredients
- 3 apples, cored and cut into ½ inch cubes
- 1 ½ cup (366 g) 2% milk
- 1 cup (236 g) apple cider
- ½ cup (118 2/7 g) water
- 1 cup (160 g) steel-cut oats, heaping
- 2 tablespoon dark brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon ground flax seed
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- Optional garnishes: nuts,dried fruit, bananas
Instructions
- 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 3-4 hours or high for 1.5-2 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.
Video
Nutrition
Photography by Eat Love Eats
Would all these ingredients fit into a casserole crockpot?
I’m not sure what a casserole crockpot looks like? How big is it?
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.
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!
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!
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.
There isnt any instructions, can someone tell me please.
There is a link to the recipe within the post.
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? :)
How nice would it be to wake up to a big bowl of this oatmeal in the morning. It looks super comforting!
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!
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.