Carrot Cake Oatmeal

I found this recipe on annies-eats.com, and I am glad I tried it. Keep in mind two things. First, I eat oatmeal every morning, so anything that changes that up and adds a twist is a winner. Secondly, I typically eat unsweetened oatmeal, so adding any type of sweetness will typically make me very generous in my ratings because the alternative is, you know, unsweetened oatmeal. Now, I will add this to my permanent recipe file, simply because I need options. I give this a 7.7. As always, I noted my changes in bold below.

Carrot Cake Oatmeal

Yield: about 6 servings

Ingredients

3 cups water
1 cup low-fat milk*
1 tbsp. unsalted butter* I cut this at least in half, if not more
1 cup steel-cut oats We used quick-cooking steel cut oats
¼ tsp. salt
3 tbsp. brown sugar I used 1 tsp. for half a batch
3 carrots, peeled and shredded
½ cup shredded coconut I cut this way down and toasted it first. I used 1 Tbs. total, combined it with 3-4 T. pecans, toasted it in the leftover pan from the oats, and put about half of it in the oatmeal
1/3 cup raisins I did 2 Tbs. for half a recipe
½ tsp. ground cinnamon
¼ tsp. ground ginger
¼ tsp. grated nutmeg I would go scant on this

Directions

• Combine the water and milk in a medium saucepan.  Bring to a simmer.  Meanwhile, melt the butter in a 10- or 12-inch skillet over medium heat.  Add the oats and toast, stirring occasionally, until golden and fragrant, about 2 minutes.

• Stir the toasted oats into the simmering liquid.  Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer gently until the mixture is very thick, about 20 minutes.

• Stir in the salt, brown sugar, carrot, coconut, raisins, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg.  Continue to simmer, stirring occasionally, until all of the liquid has been absorbed and the oatmeal is creamy, about 10 minutes more.  Remove from the heat and let stand 5 minutes before serving.

• *To make this vegan/dairy free, use coconut milk and coconut oil in place of the milk and butter.

• ** This recipe can be made in advance and reheated before serving.  When reheating, stir in an additional splash of milk to help loosen the cooled oats.

Source

adapted from The America’s Test Kitchen Healthy Family Cookbook, inspired by Kitchen Simplicity

http://www.annies-eats.com/2013/05/13/carrot-cake-oatmeal/

Melissa’s Source

recipe retrieved 4/14/15 from http://www.annies-eats.com/2013/05/13/carrot-cake-oatmeal/