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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
Doubled the recipe and used almond milk to replace the dairy. Cooked it on low for about 6 hours overnight, then switched to warm when I got up. Used a crock pot liner and it did not burn, that was a major concern for me. It sat in the crock for another hour on warm while waiting for everyone to get out of bed. It was a big hit. What an easy and delicious way to serve breakfast to a group of 11. I think what sets it apart from other recipes is the apple cider JUICE. It gives the oatmeal an extra apple taste.
Loved making this at 11 pm, cozying down for bed, and then eating it in the morning in front of my envious corgis. I overcooked it by a couple of hours and it turned out drier than I would have liked so I recommend adding extra liquid if you want to sleep in.
These were so simple, easy and yummy! I used my Ninja Foodi slow cooker setting and it was so easy to just scoop into a mason jar to bring to the office the next morning. I added walnuts and a scoop of plain Greek Yogurt on top and loved that. If you like it sweet maybe add more brown sugar but I found it to be perfect.
i have quick cooking oats. will that do? shorter time in the crock pot maybe?
you can, it’s just not recommended. it’ll cook super fast. like 1-2 hours and i’m not sure if the consistency will be good – might be a tad too mushy…but that’s kind of what oatmeal is, right? haha
They turned out a mushy mess…what went wrong
could you please elaborate and/or be more descriptive? it’s hard to diagnose general statements like that as i wasn’t there with you as you made the recipe. some answers to these questions may be helpful:
1. what kind of oats did you use?
2. how much liquid did you use?
3. how long did you cook this for?
4. did you use a slow cooker or something else?
Can I make this with regular oats?
yep, should be fine!
I made this and it taste and smells like apple cider vinegar
yes because you used apple cider vinegar, which is not called for in the recipe. apple cider is called for, which is like a juice.
Apple cider?? This ingredient is putting me off slightly, can you taste it when it’s cooked?
i’m confused. you’re looking at a recipe for overnight apple cinnamon oats so the predominant flavor is going to be apple, which is what is in apple cider. so yes, i would say you can definitely taste it!
I decided to use only 2 apples because they were quite large. Also, I did not have any cider or juice on hand, so I increased the milk by a couple of ounces. I stirred in a small handful of walnut pieces, as well. My slow cooker did the job in under 6 hours. However, even though I sprayed it well, and stirred a couple of times during cooking, I stuck badly and took a long time to clean up. Still, I love this breakfast!
Do I need to peel the apples and do you prefer one apple over other kinds?
You don’t have to peel apples if you don’t want to. I usually keep the skin on. I love gala apples