Many of you have probably heard of the new ‘oatmeal craze’ of Steel Cut Oats. What are steel cut oats you ask?
Well, the life of an oat begins in the form of a GROAT. These groats look a lot like a hard red wheat kernel. These groats are tough and take a long time to cook, just like wheat kernels do. You can cook these groats just like you would a wheat kernel, or you can grind them into oat flour just like you do with wheat. These are great to have in your storage because they will last up to 30 years, just like wheat.
A groat can now either be sliced or cut into steel cut oats or rolled into what most people know as Regular or Quick Oats. The only difference between regular vs. quick oats is that the quick oats have been rolled two times instead of once, like regular oats. This is why they can cook up more quickly than the regular oats. With each rolling however, the shelf life is shortened (about 5 years) and the nutrients are decreased. These are great to have in your storage to make oatmeal mush, use in cookies, granola, cereals and cakes.
I have recently been introduced to the steel cut oats by my mother in law and they are now my new favorite breakfast food! The only difference between groats and the steel cut oats is that they are a groat kernel that has been cut 2 to 3 times by a machine (if your wheat grinder has a large/coarse setting you can cut your own groats). These cut oats cook up much more quickly than a whole groat kernel.
So..what do you do with these steel cut oats? You make a copy cat recipe of this AMAZING Oatmeal sold at Jamba Juice! Sounds weird doesn’t it..oatmeal at Jamba Juice? Well, let me tell you, they are DELICIOUS!! However, the price of $3 for a VERY SMALL cup is ridiculous!! I decided to recreate my own recipe of this restaurant favorite and it was just as AMAZING and probably even healthier!
At Jamba Juice they have several different flavors–Banana Cinnamon (just add a banana that has been sliced and the same brown sugar crumble), Berry Pecan (just add fresh, dried, or cooked berries with the brown sugar crumble and some candied pecans on top), or the Apple Cinnamon version which I made below.
[buymeapie-recipe id=’740′]
Now, for the apple filling. I bottle my own apple pie filling so I just cut the apples up into large chunks and added them on top of my bowl of steel cut oats. If you don’t have your own apple pie filling you can use canned pie filling (blueberry, apple, cherry-any would be great). Or..you can just simmer on the stove a fresh apple that has been cut into cubes with a little bit of water and cinnamon until the apples are tender.
This was SO easy to make and was a very hearty and delicious breakfast. My kids thought it was divine! It tasted like apple pie for breakfast–YUM Give it a try!
For those who would like to be even healthier, just use honey or xagave instead of the brown sugar crumble.
Here is an apple pie filling recipe that can be canned and put in your storage-
