Fellow Chicago blogger and momma-to-be Katie posted a link to a recipe lately about how to make frozen oatmeal, and I knew I had to try because 1- oatmeal (particularly old fashioned oats) are excellent for breastfeeding mamas and 2- I don’t have time to make myself breakfast most days with Bryce (let along 40 minutes for oats), so something that is quick & easy is key. So I tried out the recipe and tweaked it a little bit to add a bit more protein and flavor. The result? Awesome-ness. Best hack ever to change old fashioned oatmeal into instant oatmeal with just a couple minutes in the microwave.
This is an easy recipe to prep on a Sunday and freeze so you have full-fiber, satisfying breakfasts for the entire week!
Frozen Old Fashioned Oatmeal
Adapted from this Popsugar recipe
Servings: This recipe makes enough for seven breakfasts if you use three “oatmeal muffins” per serving.
Ingredients
8 cups water
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
2 cups steel-cut or old fashioned oats
7 tablespoons pure maple syrup
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon chocolate PB2
2 tsp vanilla extract
Directions
- Bring water and salt to a rolling boil. Pour in oats, stir, and reduce heat to simmer, cooking for 30 minutes.
- Turn off heat and stir in the maple syrup, cinnamon, PB2 and vanilla extract. Allow to sit for 10 minutes.
- Lightly grease 21 sections of two 12-cup muffin tins, and pour in the oatmeal.
- Freeze flat for five hours. Remove pan from the freezer and allow to thaw for a few minutes. Using a rubber spatula, gently pop the oatmeal “muffins” out of the pan, seal in a freezer bag, and keep frozen.
- When you’re ready to eat, place two to three in a bowl and microwave for 2-3 minutes. Add your favorite toppings (think nuts, dried fruit, brown sugar, milk, chocolate chips, etc.) and enjoy!
Linking up with Peas and Crayons and The Big Mans World.
What a great idea! It looks really yummy and just the right consistency too!
It’s so tasty and fast for the mornings…but I love doctoring mine up with all kinds of toppings- might defeat the purpose of healthy oats ;-)
Oooh, what a great idea for steel cut oats! My mom used to make a big tupperware container of steel cut oats and keep it in the fridge. Then we’d just dish out what we wanted, add some water or milk, and then microwave it. But this would be much more portable if I needed to make my breakfast at work.
That’s a great idea! I like this option because it is instant portion control, too.
Nice! I’m glad you tested the recipe for me! :)
Thanks for finding it! So convenient– eating mine right now :-)
We do lots of oats around here but I use an amazing recipe I found that calls for 1 cup of steel cut and 1 cup of buckwheat groats- takes 5 minutes on the stove and sits overnight and in the morning you have huge batch of oats that everyone in my family loves!
Oh wow- love just the 5 minutes on the stove– genius!
looks so tasty ! :)